Package:AMD Catalyst Video Drivers

AMD Catalyst Video Drivers

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   Important

Version 14.12-r3 and above now include ATI GLESv2 and EGL libraries, which should improve stabilty with GNOME.

Introduction

x11-drivers/ati-drivers (often referred to as "fglrx", the name of its kernel module) is the proprietary, accelerated driver for AMD (ATI) graphics cards.

Preparing to Install

Blacklist Radeon and DRM Modules

To avoid having the open source Radeon drivers automatically load and ruin your day, create a blacklist file as follows:

   /etc/modprobe.d/radeon.conf - Prevent open source DRM and radeon drivers from loading

blacklist radeon
blacklist drm

Configuring the kernel

Configure the kernel as follows. Note that the Direct Rendering Manager is not enabled. It's possible to have it selected as a kernel module, but should not be built-in to your kernel.

[*] Enable loadable module support
Processor type and features --->
      [*] MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) support
Bus options (PCI etc.) --->
      [*] PCI Express Port Bus Support
      [*] Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI and MSI-X)
Device Drivers --->
      Graphics support --->
            < > Direct Rendering Manager (xFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support) --->

   Note

If you need support for AGP cards, enable the following kernel options:

Device Drivers --->
      Graphics support --->
            <*> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support) --->
                  Select an appropriate AGP driver:
                  <*> AMD Opteron/Athlon64 on-CPU GART support

Editing make.conf

Add the following to your /etc/make.conf:

root # nano /etc/make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="fglrx"

Enabling AMD Catalyst Control Center

Then, add the following to /etc/portage/package.use if you would like to enable support for AMD Catalyst Control Center:

root # nano /etc/portage/package.use
x11-drivers/ati-drivers qt4

   Note

If you are using a desktop or workstation profile, this USE flag will be enabled by default.

Installing

Emerging the package

If you allready have emerged xorg-server, all you need to install the drivers is running the following command:

root # emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world

otherwise you may install the drivers with

root # emerge -av x11-drivers/ati-drivers

Before using the driver, ensure that the "fglrx" module has been loaded -- run modprobe fglrx as root -- it should return with no error. If the module can't be found, run depmod -a as root -- then the modprobe command should work. If you are switching from the open source Radeon driver, then shutting down your desktop and rebooting your system (be sure to disable xdm) may be required to get the new "fglrx" module to load cleanly.

Configuring

Next, set ati-drivers to manage the system's OpenGL and OpenCL implementations:

root # eselect opengl set ati
root # eselect opencl set amd

Afterwards, run aticonfig to modify the X-server configuration file to work with the ati-drivers:

root # aticonfig --initial

   Tip

If you would like to have a full-resolution framebuffer with ati-drivers, check out uvesafb

Multi-Head Display

There are a couple of options for setting up a multi-head display. For some systems, all you need to do is plug in your additional monitor, and it will be detected by your desktop environment, and will work.

If your second display does not appear to allow windows to be dragged to it, you'll need to use the Catalyst Control Center amdcccle GUI configuration tool, which is enabled by the qt4 USE variable.

Open up a graphical terminal, and become root by typing su - -- your user will need to be in the wheel group to do this:

user $ su -
Password: *******
root # source /etc/profile
root # amdcccle

Navigate to Display Manager, and choose the option Multi-display desktop with display(s) X for each display. Then, drag and drop the blue displays to arrange them to match how they are arranged in front of you. Click OK. The Catalyst Control Center will tell you that you will need to restart your system for the changes to take effect. Simply log out if you are running xdm, or end your X session, and start it up again. You should now have a fully-functioning multi-head display.

Troubleshooting

I am using a HDMI connection, and my monitor's display has a black border around it.

Disable overscan using the following command, as root:

root # aticonfig --set-pcs-val=MCIL,DigitalHDTVDefaultUnderscan,0

You will need to restart your X session for the changes to take effect. If you are using a display manager, logging out and back in again should cause the new settings to be visible.

Compton with backend glx does not work well with ati-drivers

Try running compton with the following switches:

root # compton --backend glx --vsync none --paint-on-overlay