I'm trying to get my ATI Radeon 9800se working in Slackware 10.1 with a
2.6.12.2 Kernel.

Here is a basic rundown of what I did:
- Installed Slackware 10.1 with X and all the common options.
- Downloaded 2.6.12.2 from kernel.org, compiled it, 'everything' seems
to work no problem
- Attempted to install the ati display drivers (fglrx, more details on
what I tried below). No go.

The driver works fine for 2D, however I get no 3D acceleration. I
traced the problem to the kernel module not compiling correctly. The
output is pretty much the same for every way I tried it, and is given
at the end of this post.

I tried using the package for 10.1 from linuxpackages that is supposed
to work with 2.6.x, no go.

I tried downloading the rpm from ATI's website, converting it to tgz,
and the whole shmeal. Module still fails to compile.

Finally I tried to use the graphical installer from ati's site, and
what'd you know... fails in the exact same place.

I know this is a common problem, I've seen people post various patches
for it, I tried them, none of them made any difference.

I have gotten this to work perfectly before in FC3, so it 'should' be
able to work in Slackware too.
Has anyone got these drivers to work in a setup similar to mine?

Thank in advance


------------ begin sample compile output (from graphical install log,
but it's the same for any way I tried it ) -----------

[Message] Kernel Module : Trying to install a precompiled kernel
module.
[Message] Kernel Module : Precompiled kernel module version mismatched.
[Message] Kernel Module : Found kernel module build environment,
generating
kernel module now.
ATI module generator V 2.0
==========================
initializing...
cleaning...
patching 'highmem.h'...
assuming new VMA API since we do have kernel 2.6.x...
doing Makefile based build for kernel 2.6.x and higher
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.12.2/build
SUBDIRS=/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x
modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.12.2'
CC [M] /lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agp3.o
CC [M] /lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/nvidia-agp.o
CC [M] /lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.o
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c: In function
`agp_find_supported_device':
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7136: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7156: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7161: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7187: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7207: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7227: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7232: error: structure
has no
member named `slot_name'
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c: In function
`__fgl_agp_init':
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7613: warning:
`pm_register'
is deprecated (declared at include/linux/pm.h:106)
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c: In function
`__fgl_agp_cleanup':
/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.c:7623: warning:
`pm_unregister_all' is deprecated (declared at include/linux/pm.h:116)
make[2]: *** [/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/agpgart_be.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.12.2'
make: *** [kmod_build] Error 2
build failed with return value 2
[Error] Kernel Module : Failed to compile kernel module - please
consult
readme.

---------------- end sample output -----------------------

Just to let everyone know, I figured it out.

The basic howto of how to get this working can be found here:
http://web38.austria182.server4free....opic.php?t=188

Instead installing the drivers they provide there, I used the graphical
installer from ATI to install the xorg ones. Then followed the rest of
the steps and it worked!

Make sure you disable, or modulerize DRM when compiling your kernel
though, since the new fglrx kernel module will need to load in it's
place.

Hope this helps someone else!