ATI and NVIDIA drivers

Currently I installed PC-BSD 0.7 on a DELL Latitude D600 and the is no 3D acceleration, the resolution is 1024x768 by default and my monitor can do 1400x1050. Everything looks fuzzy. If basic things like video cannot be fixed by teh final release I don't see who's gonna use it. Nobody's using 1024x768 anymore or very few people ayway.

Hi,

I had the same issue on my desktop using a Radeon 9200se. Here's what I did to get 3D going:

1. First, edit the X file config using vi or ee (vi /etc/X11/XF86Config)
2. Replace the ATI driver with Radeon
3. Uncomment the lines with the GLX and DRI Modules
4. Add the following to the section for the video card

VideoRam 131072 (or whatever, mine is 128MB)
Option “AGPMode” “2”
Option “AGPFastWrite” “on”
Option “EnablePageFlip” “on”

5. Add any resolutions you want to use and be sure your H and V scan rates are correct. If you're not sure, boot up a Knoppix disk and look at the startup messages or check the specs in the manual if you have it.

6. Restart X by Ctrl-Alt-Backspace

You should be all set! I hope this helps.

Hi,

I just realized what I typed above only works with 0.6. I tried it with 0.7 and it crashed. I will try to get 3D working in 0.7 and will report when I have it working.

Okay, I have it working under 0.7 and it was pretty much the same deal. Here's what you do:

1. edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf with your favorite editor
2. uncomment (or add) the following lines-

Load "glx"
Load "dri"

3. uncomment (or add) the DRI section. It looks like the following:

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
End Section

4. make sure the driver is set to "radeon" in the video card section.

5. edit /boot/loader.conf with your favorite editor and add the following line-

radeon_load="YES"

6. restart using Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.

Your 3D should now be working. Enjoy!

[kaffelars]

Is it possible for this to work with a Rage 128 Pro?

(Or, is it possible that is the same prosedure, except that I need r128_load instead of radeon_load?)

Hi kaffelars,

I believe the generic "ati" driver rather than "radeon" should work. Make a backup of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and then replace radeon with ati in your xorg.conf and loader.conf and see what happens. Be sure to post your results so people with similar issues can get help resolving them. Good luck!

I assume that the "ati" driver supports 3D, then?
Do i have to add "load_ati" to the config file, or is the ati driver supported by default?

I will post my results as soon as i get to install PC-BSD

Hi,

I have had FreeBSD run 3D using the ATI driver so it shouldn't be a problem. Also, I don't think it could hurt by having the load ati line in the loader.conf file. Try it both ways and see what happens. Good luck!

[pcbsdusr]

I am running PCBSD with a GF2TI and i managed to install the nevidia driver but i still cant get past 1024x768 resolution.
Without the driver my sistem would hang and crash randomly
I even made a tutorial using the "Readme" present on nvidia's site and some more info i gathered online but it only shows the basics install of the deiver.

There are a few things i hadnt seen before you guys brought it to my attention as the DRI section for example. I also think i should set correct refresh values for my monitor but i dont know how to find those values...

There is a guy working on a Quake3.pbi package tonight and i would like to test it tomorrow

Can you guys help me with this? Whatever i do to get my card running will be on that tutorial so more people can enjoy PC-BSD!

[josolanes]

Hi,

I had the same issue on my desktop using a Radeon 9200se. Here's what I did to get 3D going:

1. First, edit the X file config using vi or ee (vi /etc/X11/XF86Config)
2. Replace the ATI driver with Radeon
3. Uncomment the lines with the GLX and DRI Modules
4. Add the following to the section for the video card

VideoRam 131072 (or whatever, mine is 128MB)
Option “AGPMode” “2”
Option “AGPFastWrite” “on”
Option “EnablePageFlip” “on”

5. Add any resolutions you want to use and be sure your H and V scan rates are correct. If you're not sure, boot up a Knoppix disk and look at the startup messages or check the specs in the manual if you have it.

6. Restart X by Ctrl-Alt-Backspace

You should be all set! I hope this helps.

I just tried all of these steps, and my graphics have come a long way (much better resolution...). I just can't figure out how to get 3d acceleration to work now...i've followed all of your steps and used some of Ziggy's steps as well (but with XF86Config) but still have not 3d acceleration. I run an ATI Radeon 9700...and the screensavers run very slow. I've run linux (Fedora Core 3) before and managed to make it run very smoothly on it, so I'd imagine it's possible with PCBSD.