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:

mkdir -p /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri 
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

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")

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.

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.