View source for Arch Linux

Installing and using fglrx drivers on Arch Linux should be a piece of cake, as the distro provides pre-built packages in its official repos, accessible through the pacman package manager.

The installation instructions I've taken straight from Arch's own wiki page, linked below in the External Resources section.

==Installation==

=== Stock Kernels ===

====kernel26====

To install ATI's Catalyst drivers for the <code>kernel26</code> package, you need to install the <code>catalyst</code> package.

    # pacman -Sy catalyst

====kernel26beyond====

To install ATI's fglrx drivers for the <code>kernel26beyond</code> package, you need to install the <code>fglrx-beyond</code> package.

    # pacman -Sy fglrx-beyond

====Notes====

* These packages contain '''only''' the kernel module, and depend on the <code>ati-fglrx-utils</code> package.  The <code>ati-fglrx-utils</code> package is kernel-independent and provides the libraries and utilities for Xorg, including ATI's own <code>libGL.so</code>.
* After installing the package, you'll need to either <code>source /etc/profile</code> or log out, then back in to set up the environment properly.
* If you run both <code>kernel26</code> and <code>kernel26beyond</code> then install both ati-fglrx module packages.  They won't conflict with one another.

=== Custom Kernels ===

To install fglrx for a custom kernel, you'll need to build your own <code>ati-fglrx-$kernel</code> package, containing the kernel module compiled specifically for your kernel.

If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced making packages, read up Arch's [http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ABS ABS] wiki page first so things go smoothly.

==== Obtaining PKGBUILD ====
Obtain the <code>PKGBUILD</code> and <code>ati-fglrx.install</code> files from CVS or ABS.  Either:

* Visit http://www.archlinux.org/packages.php?id=10416 and click "View CVS Entries" to find them, or 
* Run <code>abs</code> as root and locate the files in <code>/var/abs/extra/modules/ati-fglrx</code>.

==== Editing the PKGBUILD and building ====
Three changes need to be made here: 

'''First''', change
    pkgname=ati-fglrx
to
    pkgname=ati-fglrx-KERNEL_NAME
where KERNEL_NAME is whatever you want (custom, mm, themostawesomekernelever)

'''Second''', remove <code>kernel26</code> from the dependencies list.

'''Third''', change
    _kernver=2.6.15-ARCH
to
    _kernver=`uname -r`
(or directly insert the output of uname -r '''when running your custom kernel''' there)

Finally, build and install the package.  (<code>makepkg -i</code> or <code>makepkg</code> followed by <code>pacman -A pkgname.pkg.tar.gz</code>)

==== Notes ====

* No changes need to be made to the <code>ati-fglrx-utils</code> package, which is completely kernel-independent.  '''All''' you need to do is compile a kernel module.
* To build and run the fglrx kernel module with 2.6.16 kernels, patches are needed!  Check out the cvs entries for ati-fglrx in testing for the required patch.

==Related Resources==
* [http://www.archlinux.org Arch Linux Homepage]
* [http://bbs.archlinux.org Arch Linux Forums]
* http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI_Radeon_

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[[Category:Distributions]]