ATI

From openSUSE

This guide is to help you install the ATI drivers. They cannot be integrated into the openSUSE distribution due to their end user license. For the ATI Radeon XPress cards, please see ATI Radeon Xpress.

For any way you will go, you have to make sure that your card is supported.

See

• http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

then browse trough 3 lists, selecting Linux 32 or 64 bits, type and model of your card, and at the end it will show you driver download page with list of supported cards.

Now, before you try to download driver from ATI/AMD read the rest of this article, because download from ATI is not the easiest way to install the driver.

The Easy Way

The easy way of installing the proprietary driver does not require that one recompile the kernel module when updating the kernel.

Please, consider that many older ATI cards are supported very well by the standard free driver radeon, which is probably installed during installation.

Before using the drivers below, try running your 3D application using the default open source drivers: radeon (for older cards) and radeonhd (for newer cards)

1-click install

This is for openSUSE 11.1.

You can use 1-click-install, but before you use 1-click update openSUSE. The first time you do this, the online updater usually update itself only and restarts offering more updates. You should do that too.

• Installs ATi driver for HD 2000-series and newer.

• Install ATi driver for Radeon 9500 to X1900.

• When done with installation, you have to configure graphic.
  To do that log out. When new login appear switch to the terminal by pressing Ctrl-Alt-F1, login as root user (you know your root password - right), and type:

 init 3
 SaX2 -r -m 0=fglrx

Note that above is 0=zero, not letter O .
This will configure X to use the ATI driver.

• Restart X window manager with command:

 init 5

• You are done. Enjoy using openSUSE!

The command line way

If you have problems with 64 bit architecture and 1-click solution, you might wanna build your kernel module your self.

• Download latest Ati driver from http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
• To create an installer package using the ati tool in graphical environment and for that you need to start your file browser with super user rights. I.e gnome desktop type into terminal:

gnomesu nautilus

• Browse to your download folder where you have ati-driver-installer-9-9-x86.x86_64.run (I had it on desktop)
• double-click and select run
  • Select “Generate distribution specific driver package”
  • Agree the license
  • Select SuSE Packages and your distribution

• You should have something like “fglrx64_7_4_0_SUSE111-8.65-1.x86_64.rpm” on your desktop (your working directory) now
• Go back to your terminal and install 6 packages to be able to build the kernel module by typing

sudo zypper in kernel-source linux-kernel-headers kernel-syms module-init-tools make gcc

The graphical installer don't show you any warnings, if the kernel module won't compile, so that's why we're making it on command line too:

sudo rpm -Uvh /home/<username>/Desktop/fglrx64_7_4_0_SUSE111-8.65-1.x86_64.rpm

The kernel module can be also compiled with "sudo sh /usr/bin/fglrx-kernel-build.sh" but you shouldn't need this if everything goes fine.

To configure xorg to use fglrx (ATI) driver, log out, switch to the terminal by pressing Ctrl-Alt-F1, login as root, and type:

 init 3
 SaX2 -r -m 0=fglrx

Note that above is 0=zero, not letter O . Restart X window manager with command:

 init 5

Just to be sure, reboot and off you go.

The repository way

This is for people who prefer not using 1-click install can do it the direct way and actually see a bit of what is happening.

Prerequisites

• Being able to use YaST Software Manager or zypper
• Know which kernel you use (default, pae, ...), use 'uname -r' in a console

Add ATI Repository

Choose the one corresponding to your openSUSE version: http://en.opensuse.org/Additional_YaST_Package_Repositories#ATI_Video_drivers and add it to your repository list

Installation

KERNEL is {pae, default, trace, debug}, the one corresponding to your running kernel

install: x11-video-fglrxG01, ati-fglrxG01-kmp-KERNEL

Restart and run 'sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx' or whatever you like to setup the new driver configuration

Manual installation openSUSE 10.3, 10.2, 10.1

See ATI/Old_Versions for procedure without 1-click install.

The Hard Way

See ATI/The Hard Way for installation from sources.

See Also

• ATI/Testing Test your 3D.
• ATI/Troubleshooting See what to do in case of problems.