June 18, 2008
This releasenote provides information on the latest posting of AMD’s ProprietaryLinux driver. This particular driver updates the software version to8.501.
The AMD Linux release notes provides information on the following:
- Web Content
- ATI Workstation Product Support
- ATI Mobility™ and Integrated Product Family Support
- ATI Desktop and Integrated Product Family Support
- Operating Systems Distributions Supported
- System Requirements
- New Features
- Resolved Issues
- Known Issues
- Installing the AMD Proprietary Linux Software Driver
- Driver Update Notification
- AMD Customer Care
- Linux Feedback Program
Web Content
The ATI Catalyst™ Linux Graphics Driver software suite is available through an Installer executable.
Note: Refer to the minimum system requirements listed below to ensure you have downloaded the correct driver package for your system.
ATI Workstation Product Support
The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI Workstation products:
ATI Mobility™ and Integrated Product Family Support
The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI Mobility™ products:
ATI Desktop and Integrated Product Family Support
The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI desktop products:
Note: AGP variants for the ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 and 2600 series of products isnow supported with this release of the AMD Proprietary Linux driver.
Note: The ATI Radeon™ HD 3870X2 series of product is currently not supported by the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite
Note: All-In-Wonder™ variants based on the above are also supported. Video capture however is not supported.
Note: Software driver support for ATI FireGL™, Integrated, Mobility™ and Desktop products prior to the Radeon™ 9500 is available from ati.com
Operating Systems Distributions Supported
The latest version of the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following Linux distributions:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux suite
- Novell/SuSE product suite
Note: The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suitemay install on a number of other Linux distributions. Refer to thePackage Generation installation instructions for more information.
Note: AMD has accepted contributed packagingscripts to allows creation of other packages, but does not necessarilytest, verify or warrant the reliability. Currently Red Hat EnterpriseLinux suite and Novell/SuSE product suite are supported Linuxdistributions
System Requirements
Before attempting to install the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite, the following software must be installed:
- XOrg 6.8, 6.9, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2 or 7.3
- Linux Kernel 2.6 and above
- glibc version 2.2 or 2.3
- POSIX Shared Memory (/dev/shm) support is required for 3D applications
TheATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite no longer provides precompiledKernel Modules; all installations require GCC compiler andkernel-headers or kernel-source in order to enable 2D and 3Dacceleration.
For best performance and ease of use, AMD recommends the following:
- Kernel module build environment – should include the following:
- The rpm utility should be installed and configured correctly on your system, if you intend to install via RPM packages
The following packages must be installed in order for the ATI Catalyst™ Linux driver to install and work properly:
New Features
Thisrelease of the Catalyst™ Linux software driver introduces UYVY and YUY2pixel format support. This support provides interleaved stream supportfor video playback applications such as TVTime and MythTV.
Resolved Issues
Thefollowing section provide a brief description of resolved issues withthe latest version of the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite. Theseinclude:
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars:Playing the demo on a system running X no longer results in corruptionbeing noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35208
- Maya 2008:An incorrect colormap is no longer displayed for texture selector onsystems running X. Further details can be found in topic number737-35207
- Quake 3 Arena(demo): Segmentation faults no longer occur when attempting to play thegame. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35206
- Quake3:Corruption is no longer noticed when changing the display resolutionwhen the game is running. Further details can be found in topic number737-35209
- SECAM,NTSC or PAL signal changes when using aticonfig or Catalyst ControlCenter and now gets applied to the TV display output. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-34297
- RunningX server without a window manager no longer results in the X serverflashing green for a moment, going black, and the computer becomingunresponsive. Further details can be found in topic number 737-34299
- Corruptionis no longer noticed when connecting a DFP display device to a systemrunning X after setting the TV mode to 1080i. Further details can befound in topic number 737-34301
- ClockGating is now supported and enable under the Linux operating system.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35191
- Thedesktop background color is no longer displayed incorrectly when usingxcommgr. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35192
- Usingthe wrong delimiter in aticonfig–set-dispattrib=<disp>,<attr>, <value> no longerresults in a segmentation fault. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35194
- Audioout is now functioning after the installation of the ATI graphicsdrivers for Ubuntu 7.10. Further details can be found in topic number737-35196
- Bandwidthcorruption is no longer noticed when setting the desktop resolution to2048x1536 on systems containing an ATI Radeon HD 3200 series ofproduct. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33499
- Playinga video clip using mplayer with the Xv extension enabled no longerresults in an error indicating that Xv could not find a free Xv port.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35198
- Corruptionis no longer noticed when enabling Big Desktop on systems containing anATI FireGL X1 series of product and running X. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35199
- Runningthe X server generations test no longer results in the operating systemfailing to respond or a Kernel panic to occur after first servergeneration on SuSE 10.3 64 bit. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35200
- Attemptingto resize a 2D application window no longer results in poor performancebeing noticed when composing is enabled. Further details can be foundin topic number 737-35201
- Screen flicker is no longer noticed after running amdcccle in X. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35202
- Corruptionis no longer noticed when connecting a DFP display device to a systemrunning X after setting the TV mode to 1080i. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35203
- Glxgears corruption is no longer noticed in big desktop mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35204
- Startingglxgears and/or fgl_glxgears no longer results in the gears failing torender on SuSE 10.2 x86_64. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35205
- FGL_GLXGEARSor GLXGEARS: X no longer fails to respond when launching either of theapplications. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35210
Known Issues
Thefollowing section provides a brief description of known issuesassociated with the latest version of ATI Catalyst™ Linux softwaresuite. These issues include:
- DiscoveryStudio1.7: The print preview and save as functions may fail to work properly. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35219
- Desktopcorruption may be noticed when dragging the overlay/video when usingdual-display mode. Further details can be found in topic number737-29578
- Bandwidthcorruption may be noticed when setting the desktop resolution to2048x1536 on systems containing an ATI Radeon HD 3200 series ofproduct. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33499
- Connectinga CRT display device to a system containing an ATI Mobility RadeonX1600 product may result in the display device flashing multiple timesor failing to display an image when attempting to launch the CatalystControl Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-34300
- DiscoveryStudio1.7:The print preview and save as functions may fail to work properly.Further details can be found in topic number 737-34278
- Settingthe Overscan to an invalid value may result in segmentation faults.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35211
- Anincorrect error message may be returned when applying an unsupported TVgeometry in a console terminal. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35212
- Desktopcorruption may be noticed when dragging the overlay/video when usingdual-display mode. Further details can be found in topic number737-35213
- An X segmentation fault may occur when launching SUZI/textured video. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35214
- Creatingtwo successive connections may result in direct GL context to fail.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35215
- Movingthe mouse or tapping a key may fail to close an OpenGL screen-saver andbring the user back to the x desktop. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35216
- The X Server may fail to reset clearly when AIGLX is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35217
- Openinga terminal and running semiautomated DPPT tests via lnxtest.sh mayresult in the operating system failing to respond. Further details canbe found in topic number 737-35218
For further information and general help on driver or software installation, game issues, and more, visit the ATI FAQ website.
Installing the AMD Proprietary Linux Software Driver
Installation information can be found at: ati.amd.com/install
Driver Update Notification
To receive driver notifications, add the following RSS feed to your RSS reader: http://ati.amd.com/online/rss/atilinuxdriver.rss
Note: In order to receive notifications you will need to have an RSS reader installed.
AMD Customer Care
TheAMD Customer Care website provides a high level of technical supportand easy of navigation. The AMD Customer Care website provides accurateand up-to-date product support for optimum usability and performance.Technical issues are categorized and personalized to enhance userexperience. The AMD Customer Care Website can be found at: support.ati.com
To view a known or resolved issue, do the following:
- Go to: support.ati.com. The AMD Customer Care web page is displayed.
- In the top left hand pane, click Advanced Search. The Advanced Search pane is displayed.
- Under Search Type: Select the By: ID option.
- Enter the Topic number.
- Click Go.
Linux Feedback Program
The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite releases may incorporate suggestions received through the Linux feedback program.
Please refer to http://apps.ati.com/linuxDfeedback/ to provide us with feedback.
<a href="http://ati.amd.com/"> Advanced Micro Devices Inc.</a><br /> http://ati.amd.com<br /> Voice: (905) 882-2600<br /> Fax: (905) 882-2620<br />
