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Package:AMD Catalyst Video Drivers
AMD Catalyst Video Drivers
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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 loadingblacklist 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) --->
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
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
If you would like to have a full-resolution framebuffer with ati-drivers, check out uvesafb
Multi-Head Display
To enable a multi-head display, 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 may need to restart your X session.
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