Configuring ATI cards for Compiz-fusion 0.7.3

ATI cards have always had problems with Compiz on Fedora 8 -- at least for me. I had to go without Compiz for several months on Fedora 8 before I finally found out how to configure the darn thing to work. So here's how I went about it. Hope it helps any other fellow Linux ATI owners.

Step 1 : Uninstall old version of ATI driver

1. The latest version of the ATI driver for linux released by AMD is Version 8.3 released on March 5th. If you have an older version of the driver, run the following commands to uninstall it. (If you have a customized xorg.conf, make sure to back it up first. The uninstaller deletes the file)
   
   cd /usr/share/ati
   sudo ./fglrx-uninstall.sh
   



2. Now the system is clean. Make sure you have got the latest driver package from ATI and switch to a virtual terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Fx where x can be any number between 1 and 6.



3. Put the system in runlevel 3 - the single user mode. (This is not really necessary. But I prefer this way since it enables me to restart X and all services without really rebooting)
   
   sudo init 3
   
   


4. Run the installer
   
   chmod +x ati-driver-installer-8-3-x86.x86_64.run
   sudo ./ati-driver-installer-8-3-x86.x86_64.run
   



5. Once the driver finishes installing. Regenerate xorg.conf
   
   sudo aticonfig --initial -f
   



6. Change back to runlevel 5 to see whether the driver installed correctly.
   
   sudo init 5
   



7. If you see the graphical logon screen, congratulations. The driver was installed correctly.
   Open a console window and type
   
   fglrxinfo
   



8. Check whether the output is something similar to:
   display: :0.0 screen: 0
   OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
   OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon X2300
   OpenGL version string: 2.1.7412 Release
   

Step 2 : xorg.conf modifications

1. My favourite editor is vim and here's how to invoke vim to edit xorg.conf
   sudo vim /etc/X11/xorg.conf
   if you prefer to copy and paste, it's easier to invoke an editor like gedit or kwrite
   sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf &
   



2. ServerLayout Section
   Add the following line
   Option "AIGLX" "true"



3. Module Section
   Load "dri"
   Load "extmod"



4. Device Section
   Option "DRI" "true"
   Option "XAANoOffScreenPixmaps" "true"



5. ServerFlags Section
   Option "AIGLX" "on"



6. Create two new sections as follows
   Section "DRI"
   Group 0
   Mode 0666
   EndSection
   
   Section "Extensions"
   Option "Composite" "enable"
   EndSection
   



7. That's all the configuration required. Here's a full dump of my xorg.conf for your reference:
   Section "ServerLayout"
   Identifier "aticonfig-Layout[all]"
   Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]" 0 0
   Option "AIGLX" "true"
   EndSection
   
   Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier "Keyboard0"
   Driver "kbd"
   Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
   Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
   Option "XkbOptions" "altwin:super_win"
   EndSection
   
   Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier "Synaptics"
   Driver "synaptics"
   Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
   Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
   Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
   EndSection
   
   Section "Files"
   EndSection
   
   Section "Module"
   Load "dri"
   Load "extmod"
   EndSection
   
   Section "Monitor"
   Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]"
   Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
   Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
   Option "DPMS" "true"
   EndSection
   
   Section "Device"
   Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]"
   Driver "fglrx"
   Option "DRI" "true"
   Option "XAANoOffScreenPixmaps" "true"
   EndSection
   
   Section "Screen"
   Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]"
   Device "aticonfig-Device[0]"
   Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]"
   DefaultDepth 24
   SubSection "Display"
   Viewport 0 0
   Depth 24
   EndSubSection
   EndSection
   
   Section "ServerFlags"
   Option "AIGLX" "on"
   EndSection
   
   Section "DRI"
   Group 0
   Mode 0666
   EndSection
   
   Section "Extensions"
   Option "Composite" "enable"
   EndSection
   

Step 3 : Install Compiz-fusion 0.7.3

1. Before proceeding, make sure all older versions of Compiz have been removed from your system.
   sudo yum remove *compiz*



2. Delete Compiz gconf settings
   rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/compiz



3. Install the Compiz YUM repository. (Thanks to leigh123 at FedoraForums.org http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=173317)
   sudo wget http://www.dfm.uninsubria.it/compiz/fusion/compiz-fusion.repo\ -O /etc/yum.repos.d/compiz-fusion.repo



4. List out all your enabled repos
   sudo yum repolist



5. Disable all repos except "fusion" repo while installing compiz. For example, if you only have fedora and livna repos enabled in addition to the fusion repo, this is how you would install compiz:
   sudo yum --disablerepo=fedora --disablerepo=livna install compiz-all \ fusion-icon-all compiz-fusion-plugins-unsupported compiz-bcop ccsm \ emerald-themes



6. Now you should be able to run Compiz ! Start Compiz by running fusion-icon from the Applications > System Tools menu



7. If Fusion-icon doesn't work. Try running compiz as follows
   LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1; compiz --replace ccp emerald

Important: Some updates cause the ATI OpenGL libraries to be replaced by Mesa libraries. If you see a white screen when running Compiz after a system update, simply run the ATI driver installer again and restart the X-server by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Checkout some awesome Compiz effects :)