ATI R200 Linux Misconceptions
On the ATI/AMD section of the forums there continues to be confusion among some readers and contributors over the legacy drivers along with Beryl support by ATI/AMD. Beyond what I have said in the forums, below are some additional statements. This blog post might also be of relevance to you.
The R200 generation of GPUs, from the Radeon 8500 to Radeon 9250, are no longer supported by the mainstream drivers post version 8.28.8. However, the firegl_public code (which is where the kernel compatibility with newer releases is at) is compatible with more recent versions (8.34 works and 8.35 this month still should work if back-porting it to 8.28.8). This is essentially what my Fedora Core 6 legacy script does; it fetches newer firegl_public code and applies it to the 8.28.8 driver in order to support the newer kernels.
However, the 8.28.8 driver (even with the legacy script) will not support newer versions of X beyond 7.1. The only choices for using the fglrx driver with R200 generation components would be if AMD released a new legacy driver, which they could but the chances of doing so at this point would be minimal. Though with the reliable R200 open-source support, the fglrx drivers shouldn't even be needed unless you are after good TV output support.
The open-source R200/R300 driver will also work with Compiz and Beryl, where the fglrx (currently) will not unless using XGL.
So really if you're an R200 owner, be forewarned that with newer distributions you will be in a pickle due to no fglrx legacy driver for X11R72. If you're a Fedora Core 6 user with the Linux 2.6.20 kernel, you'll need to copy the patch/newer firegl_public code. After fglrx 8.35 is out the door this month I'll probably update the legacy script I previously made available. But all in all, unless your objective is to use TV out, you should go after the open-source drivers and a side benefit is enjoying the benefits of desktop eye-candy.
The R200 generation of GPUs, from the Radeon 8500 to Radeon 9250, are no longer supported by the mainstream drivers post version 8.28.8. However, the firegl_public code (which is where the kernel compatibility with newer releases is at) is compatible with more recent versions (8.34 works and 8.35 this month still should work if back-porting it to 8.28.8). This is essentially what my Fedora Core 6 legacy script does; it fetches newer firegl_public code and applies it to the 8.28.8 driver in order to support the newer kernels.
However, the 8.28.8 driver (even with the legacy script) will not support newer versions of X beyond 7.1. The only choices for using the fglrx driver with R200 generation components would be if AMD released a new legacy driver, which they could but the chances of doing so at this point would be minimal. Though with the reliable R200 open-source support, the fglrx drivers shouldn't even be needed unless you are after good TV output support.
The open-source R200/R300 driver will also work with Compiz and Beryl, where the fglrx (currently) will not unless using XGL.
So really if you're an R200 owner, be forewarned that with newer distributions you will be in a pickle due to no fglrx legacy driver for X11R72. If you're a Fedora Core 6 user with the Linux 2.6.20 kernel, you'll need to copy the patch/newer firegl_public code. After fglrx 8.35 is out the door this month I'll probably update the legacy script I previously made available. But all in all, unless your objective is to use TV out, you should go after the open-source drivers and a side benefit is enjoying the benefits of desktop eye-candy.
Posted on March 16, 2007 at 01:13 PM in Graphics
Tags: Linux, ATI, fglrx, AMD, R200, Radeon 9200
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ATI R200 Linux Misconceptions
....and to think i was just going to ask about it on the forums :]
Posted by yoshi314 on March 16, 2007 at 02:28 PM
ATI R200 Linux Misconceptions
how can i get the script if the link is down?
Posted by MikeR on June 28, 2007 at 03:22 PM
ATI R200 Linux Misconceptions
Is there any similar problem with the newer generations of GPU's?
Posted by Krisz on February 9, 2008 at 12:49 PM