need help installing ati drivers (again)

[robotics56a]

this will be my third distro I'm installing these drivers (I don't choose to use ati but I got this laptop and the ati is kinda welded in there good...)

I gave the driver a try but it didn't do anything (says glxgears). I don't know what log files to post. I'll give this a few more tries on my own but I would like some help. (It would also be nice if I knew that a few people have gotten ati to work with debian).

[Slackitude]

I put an ATI card in my wife's computer and when she asked me to install linux I googled and found this site
http://xoomer.virgilio.it/flavio.sta...installer.html
I don't know if this is where you got your driver from but I used this driver and info to install on her machine and it worked out fine.

[robotics56a]

ok here is where I got stuck.

apt-get install kernel-source-2.x.y
cd /usr/src
tar xjvf kernel-source-2.x.y.tar.bz2
cd kernel-source-2.x.y
cp /boot/config-2.x.y-flavour .config
make-kpkg --append-to-version "-flavour" --revision 2.x.y-z --config old configure

I couldn't figure out what my "flavour" is.

root@box:/usr/src/kernel-source-2.6.11# uname -r
2.6.11

?

[IsaacKuo]

I've used Debian and I've used Knoppix, and three of my workstations use Ati cards. I have never bothered with the official Ati drivers, since the open source "ati" driver included in Knoppix (and Debian) has so far been good enough for me.

With the open source ati driver, I have all the 3d acceleration I need--enough to do CrystalGL's transparent shaded lens effect window borders, and enough to 3d accelerated xscreensavers (albeit some of them have funny graphical glitches). My workstations also handle GLiv, a really slick OpenGL image viewer--smooth zoom and rotation, and smooth fade transitions between images.

[robotics56a]

That sounds great. Where can I get these open source drivers?

[IsaacKuo]

The open source drivers are already included. You can specify the driver by editing /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

If you're using Knoppix, it probably is using the default "vesa" driver. Replace "vesa" with "ati".

[robotics56a]

well... there isn't a vesa in there. (a couple of 'ati's though). Could you post your config file so I can modify mine?

[IsaacKuo]

Well, it sounds like you're already using the open source ati driver, then. Your problem might be with the agp module, or it might be a limitation of the particular Ati chipset, or maybe mobile Ati graphics aren't quite as well supported by the open source driver.

I had a problem with my agpgart something-or-other not working, and fixed it with the help of this discussion I somehow found via Google:

Module loading question

Basically, it explains how to add "options agpgart agp_try_unsupported=1" to something-or-other in Debian. I can't say I really understand it but it worked for me.

[robotics56a]

no good, I get an error message that looks like this:

insmod: can't read 'agpgart' no such file or...

However I think I can get this to work if I had a copy of a working XF86config-4 file.

[ToastedToad]

--flavour is the sequence of nubers or letters that follow the kernel number ie: 2.6.8(-2-386). The -2-386 is the flavour of kernel.

That site http://xoomer.virgilio.it/flavio.sta...installer.html, is the one i use, and it works every time, as long you get the proper syntax when substituting your info.