August 20, 2008
This releasenote provides information on the latest posting of AMD’s ProprietaryLinux driver. This particular driver updates the software version to8.522.
The AMD Linux release notes provides information on the following:
- Web Content
- ATI Workstation Product Support
- ATI Mobility™ and Integrated Mobility™ 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 Mobility™ 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: 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:
Note: The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite may install on a number of otherLinux distributions. Refer to the Package Generation installationinstructions for more information.
Note: AMD has acceptedcontributed packaging scripts to allows creation of other packages, butdoes not necessarily test, verify or warrant the reliability. CurrentlyRed Hat Enterprise Linux suite and Novell/SuSE product suite aresupported Linux distributions
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
This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces product support for the following new operating systems:
- CrossFireX support
- Adaptive Anti-Aliasing support
- Support for new Linux operating systems
- ATI OverDrive™ Support for Linux
- ATI MultiView™
- Auto Detection and installation of distribution packaging
CrossFireX support
Thisrelease of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for CrossFireXconfigurations using the ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series on systems runningthe Linux operating system.
Adaptive Anti-Aliasing support
Thisrelease of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces Adaptive Anti-Aliasingsupport for the ATI Radeon HD 4800, ATI Radeon HD 3000 Series, ATIRadeon HD 2000 Series, and ATI Radeon X1000 Series of productsinstalled on systems running the Linux operating system. AdaptiveAnti-Aliasing substantially improves image quality by anti-aliasingtransparent textures. This option is available in the Catalyst ControlCenter Linux Edition.
Support for new Linux operating systems
This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for the following new operating systems:
ATI OverDrive™ Support for Linux
ATIOverDrive™ maximizes the performance of the graphic processing unit(GPU) on your graphics card. This provides the ability to improve theperformance of your GPU, especially if you are using a custom coolingsolution.
Caution: Using ATI Overdrive™ toincrease the graphics processor or memory clocks above normal limitsmay result in graphics corruption, data loss or system hangs. If ATIOverdrive™ detects unsafe conditions, it will automatically reduce theclocks. However, ATI cannot guarantee results, and will not beresponsible for data loss or other problems that may occur as a resultof using ATI Overdrive™.
ATIOverDrive™ on AMD Linux driver is a command line GPU overclocking toolfor supported graphics adapters. It allows the users to:
- Enable or disable ATI OverDrive™
- Get GPU and memory clock range
- Manually set clocks within the available range. Note that there
- Test clocks with a stress utility
- Obtain GPU temperature
Graphics cards supported include:
- ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 X2
- ATI Radeon™ HD 4800
- ATI Radeon™ HD 4670
- ATI Radeon™ HD 4850
- ATI Radeon™ HD 4550
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3870
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3850
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3830
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3690
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3600
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3470
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3450
- ATI Radeon™ HD 3430
- ATI Radeon™ HD 2600
Note: The ATI Radeon™ HD 2900, ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 X2, and ATI Radeon™ HD3850 X2 series of products, along with Workstation, and FireStream™products are currently not supported.
Note: Mobile GPU OverDrive™support is individual for each vendor, i.e. the same mobile GPU mayhave or may have not Overdrive 5 support. Please contact your vendorfor more information.
More details on how to use ATI OverDrive™ can be found in the aticonfig help file.
ATI MultiView™
ATIMultiView™ provides the ability to utilize GPUs from multiple adapterson an independent multi-display desktop. It allows a user to configure,manage and use a Multiview configuration under Linux and allows OpenGLapplications run on any displays driven by multiple GPUs. ATIMultiView™ provides:
- Multi-GPU configuration support
- Up to 4 displays support
- Enhanced display configuration and selection through the Catalyst Control Center Linux Edition
- Administratorshortcut which provides access to configuration options that requireroot privileges. Root privileges are required for multi-screenconfigurations, including enabling and disabling certain multi-screenconfigurations and screen placement.
- ATI MultiView™ only works on systems with two identical FireGL™ products which include:
- ATI MultiView™ does not operate with Compiz environments
- ATI MultiView™ (released in 8.52/8.53) does not operate with Xinerama enabled
Auto Detection and installation of distribution packaging
Withversion 2.0 of the AMD Graphics Driver distribution packagingApplication Programming Interface (API), each Linux distribution willhave the option of updating their packaging scripts to provide autodetection and installation of the AMD graphics driver.
Version2.0 of the API installation option will automatically generate andinstall a distribution-specific package using the distribution’spackage management system, it automatically check for build and installdependencies when generating and installing distribution-specificpackages.
Note: This is achieved in supported distributions by using the following command: aticonfig –buildandinstallpkg
Version 2.0 enhancements include the following:
- AutomaticOS detection. Users will be able to generate and installdistribution-specific packages without having to providesystem-specific information
- Dryrun option. Users will have the ability to request a test run of the installer to ensure that all dependencies are met
Tip: Dryrun can be added after either –buildpkg or –buildandinstallpkg to simulate those actions.
Currentlyonly RedHat, Slackware and Ubuntu support these enhanced options. Asmore distribution packaging scripts implement the AMD Graphics Driverdistribution packaging API version 2.0 this list will grow.
Resolved Issues
Thefollowing section provide a brief description of resolved issues withthe latest version of the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite. Theseinclude:
- Settingthe Overscan to an invalid value no longer results in segmentationfaults. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35211
- XServer no longer fails when playing media files with XVideo enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35968
- Anincorrect error message is no longer returned when applying anunsupported TV geometry in a console terminal. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35212
- Connectinga CRT display device to a system containing an ATI Mobility RadeonX1600 product no longer results in the display device flashing multipletimes or failing to display an image when attempting to launch theCatalyst Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number737-34300
- Quake3 Arena (demo): Segmentation faults no longer occur when attempting toplay the game. Further details can be found in topic number 737-34302
- OpenGL PBOs no longer fail to work with GL_RGB texture format
- Ubuntu 7.04: aticonfig –enable-monitor no longer results in X restarting
- Launchingthe Catalyst Control Center (Linux Edition) and clicking on thehyperlink located on the Welcome screen no longer results in thebrowser taking an extra long time to load the web page
- The initial RPM installation no longer results in an libGL.so, no such file or directory error
- The Linux installer now automatically determines the package to build
- The Linux kernel module is no longer installed to wrong location if the Linux kernel is updated
- RunningX server without a window manager no longer results in the X serverflashing green for a moment, going black, and the computer becomingunresponsive
- Creatingtwo successive connections no longer results in direct GL context tofail. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35215
- Doom3:Connecting a secondary display device and configuring the game tolaunch on the secondary display device under x, no longer results thegame failing to launch on the secondary display device
- A segmentation fault no longer occurs in kdesktop_lock application
- X no longer fails to start after installing the driver and configuring the driver using default values
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
- An X segmentation fault may occur when launching SUZI/textured video. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35214
- The X Server may fail to reset clearly when AIGLX is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35217
- Running Xtest may result in the operating system failing to respond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35927
- SoftimageXSI Ariane x64: A segmentation fault may occur when loading theapplication. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35963
- The entire X desktop including the mouse cursor is choppy during playback of video files or suzi test app
- Some display resolution mode may fail to be available when using component video
- Connecting an HDMI display device may result in the audio failing to be heard
- Entering a standby state while running a 3D application may result in desktop corruption being noticed when resuming the system
- Logging out one of multiple users may result in X failing to display an image
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: www.ati.com/install
Driver Update Notification
To receive driver notifications, add the following RSS feed to your RSS reader: http://www.ati.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 />
