Troubleshooting

Kernel Related Issues

No 3D acceleration

If you see output that looks like this:

$ fglrxinfo 
display: :0.0 screen: 0 
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org 
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect 
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (1.5 Mesa 6.4.1) 

Then try these two commands:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri 
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/dri/fglrx_dri.so /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri 

Source

If that doesn't work confirm fglrx is loaded:

lsmod | grep fglrx

If it returns nothing then try this:

sudo depmod -ae
sudo echo fglrx >> /etc/modules

(If this returns "bash: /etc/modules: Permission denied" then sudo su first.)

If it doesn't still work, open up /etc/modprobe.d/lrm-video with an editor, and uncomment any line(s) that contains fglrx in it.

nForce 3 AGP Issues

For nForce3 based motherboards: if the install seems to go well, but fglrx still fails and $ fglrxinfo tells you you're still running Mesa, there may be a problem with the nVidia AGP-PCI Bridge module's compatibility with your BIOS (or vice versa, I haven't yet investigated). (Confirmed at least for ASUS K8N-E Deluxe.) A solution is to downgrade your BIOS to a previous version (see your motherboard manual/manufacturer's website for instructions). Here is a list of compatible BIOS versions (if your model is not listed here and you find a version that fixes the problem, please add it to the list so others can benefit):

(Update: March 22nd, 2007) It appears that the beta ASUS bios 1012 will also fix the problem. I had the ATI drivers installed but fglrxinfo was still reporting Mesa as the OpenGL provider. I flashed the BIOS to 1012, rebooted into Ubuntu. Problem solved.

• ASUS
  • K8N-E Deluxe: Version 1006
  • K8N-E Deluxe: Version 1012 beta
  • K8N Bios versions up 1003 to 1011, my Solution -> K8V-X (Asus with Via-Chipset) It is working really good now. (Always Problems: nForce3 Chipset)

• ASROCK
  • K8Upgrade-NF3

(A little workaround for K8Upgrade-NF3 is to edit xorg.conf, in section "Devices", adding this line: Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no")

AGP Initialization fails with amd_k7_agp module

With Kernel 2.6.16.x, there came a new feature called "EDAC" which creates a conflict causing amd_k7_agp not to work. This results in a

(EE) fglrx(0): [agp] unable to acquire AGP, error "xf86_ENODEV"
(EE) fglrx(0): cannot init AGP

Message in the error-log.

To resolve the problem, in your kernel config change

CONFIG_EDAC_AMD76X=y

to

#CONFIG_EDAC_AMD76X is not set

(just comment it out) recompile/reinstall/reboot your kernel. Everything should work now.

X Server Related Issues

System lockup on logout or switch to virtual consoles

If your system locks up after you logout or when you try to switch to a virtual console, this might be an instance of this bug. It is likely that the problem only occurs for users with an Xorg version of at least 7.0. Probably it only affects users of DVI.

There is a workaround: Use a standard D-Sub VGA connector instead of the DVI connector.

This workaround was posted as a comment to another related bug: see here.

BigDesktop doesn't work after GDM login screen

This can occur on Ubuntu Feisty Fawn sometimes.

System > Prefrences > Screen Resolution

Select the resolution that is a combination of both screen resolutions wide and your height.

Computer Freezes while using fglrx (UMA and SIDEPORT)

If after choosing fglrx as your driver in either xorg.conf or xfree86.conf files, the computer freezes and becomes unresponsive while trying to start X this may be the solution.

Some ATI cards have the ability to run in three modes: UMA, SIDEPORT, or a combination of both. UMA mode is that one in which the video card does not use its dedicated memory, but rather uses and shares the system memory. On the other hand, SIDEPORT mode is the one in which the card uses its own dedicated memory. And finally, the third mode is a combination of the previous modes in which the card uses both the system memory and its dedicated memory.

If your computer hangs, this settings may be where the solution lies. If your computer hangs, try using either UMA by itself or a combination of both. However, if you choose the combination, make sure that the UMA one is at least 128MB. In my case, I have SIDEPORT 128MB and 128MB UMA. If I choose any less for UMA, it does not work. This is definetly not an attractive solution since it compromises your systems performance. Hopefully, this will be solved very soon.

On some systems, the BIOS screen may not offer a choice of UMA or SIDEPORT. In this case, you can try turning the amount of RAM dedicated to the video card down, from 128Mb to 64Mb for example.

Graphical Anomalies

This was experienced with an ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 512mb:

After following instructions for both Method 1 and Method 2, whenever the Composite Extension is disabled, the display would be almost unusable, but the fglrxinfo command would display the correct information. If the Composite Extension is re-enabled the display would be usable, but fglrxinfo would report using mesa drivers.

To resolve the problem it maybe needed to lower the AGP Aperture setting in my BIOS to 128mb (or lower worked too). The AGP Aperture was initially set to 256mb. After setting the AGP Aperture to 128mb, everything worked perfectly; the Composite Extension is disabled, fglrxinfo reports the correct drivers, and direct rendering is enabled. Some systems may require setting the AGP Aperture to the highest setting (256mb or 512mb).

X800/X850 fan is very loud / constantly works

It seems fglrx has a bug with all X800/X850 cards causing them to heat up excessively even when not in 3D mode. This behaviour will cause the cards' fans to function on full blast continuously. There is no known fix as of driver 8.31.05 or previous. Open source "radeon" driver does not exhibit this problem.

System freezes after logout with GDM or KDM

If you use GDM, which is the default Login Manager on Ubuntu, modify

sudo gedit /etc/gdm/gdm.conf

File: /etc/gdm/gdm.conf

AlwaysRestartServer=true

If you use KDM, which is the default Login Manager on Kubuntu, add to the [X-:*-Core] section the following

sudo kate /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc

File: /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc

TerminateServer=true