SEO

This is a quick HOWTO for people who want to use the XFree86 4.4
rc1/2 binaries. The XFree86 4.4 rc binaries have fixed several
important bugs for the ATI Radeon mobility cards, so that the X
server does not crash any more for some cases, e.g., when you
exit from the X sessions.

Important: this HOWTO does not tell you how to compile XFree86
4.4 rc from source. It tells you how to use the binaries from
xfree86.org directly. :-)

1. Hardware requirement
ATI Radeon 7500 mobility video card. Other Radeon card may
work as well. I've tested it on another different Radeon mobility
card without any problems, but forget its model. ;-)


2. How to install the XFree86 4.4 rc binaries
. Backup the following files:
/usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/ati_drv.o
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/atimisc_drv.o
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/radeon_drv.o

. Download the XFree86 rc binaries from a xfree86.org mirror,
e.g., http://mirrors.mix5.com/xfree86/snapshots/4.3.99.902/
binaries/Linux-ix86-glibc23/:
Xmod.tgz
Xxserv.tgz

. Extract the following files from the .tgz files:
XFree86
ati_drv.o
atimisc_drv.o
radeon_drv.o

. Copy the extracted files to correct locations
/usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/ati_drv.o
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/atimisc_drv.o
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/radeon_drv.o


3. How to enable DRI
. Choose the correct kernel: Linux kernel 2.4.23, 2.6.0,
FreeBSD 5.1 and later have included the correct DRI modules.
You can choose to build ATI Radeon DRM module into the kernel
or as a kernel module.

. To load DRI kernel module, add the following line in the
Section "Module" of XF86Config:
Load "dri"

. To enable normal user to use DRI, add the following lines
in XF86Config:
Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

. To use the Radeon driver, change the Section "Device" in
XF86Config:
Identifier "ATI Radeon"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Option "DPMS"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "AGPFastWrite" "True"


4. How to solve xdm/kdm refusing login problem
Unfortunately, xdm (X Display Manager) refuses any login attempts
after you have installed the XFree86 4.4 rc binaries. The error
messages in /var/log/xdm-errors are like the following:

AUDIT: Sun May 27 22:59:37 2001: 7624 X: client 2 rejected from local host
Auth name: XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 ID: -1

To fix it, you need to change the file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/
xdm-config, add the following line:

DisplayManager*authName: MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

Somebody have proposed to change DisplayManager*authorize to
`false' in xdm-config, this is not a very good solution. We want
authorization for security reason.

I do not know the option to fix it in kdm. But it should be
similar.

BTW, gdm does not have this problem.


5. How to solve xdm crash problem on IPv4 only kernel
The xdm may crash if the kernel does not support IPv6, and you
will see error messages in /var/log/XFree86.0.log as follows:

_XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for inet6
_XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for inet6/your.host.name:0
_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to open listener for inet6

Fatal server error:
Failed to establish all listening sockets

To fix it, you need to change the file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/
Xservers as follows:

:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -nolisten inet6


6. Test platform
Slackware 9.1, FreeBSD 5.2