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This page is a draft
This page is still an active work in progress, and so vital parts of information may be missing.
This page is still an active work in progress, and so vital parts of information may be missing.
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The author has not tested these steps yet!
The author of this wiki has sourced his information from various sources, including the Fedora forums and http://gofedora.com. However credible they may be, it is best to wait a day for the author to actually try these steps first - this warning will be removed when he, or another brave person has.
The author of this wiki has sourced his information from various sources, including the Fedora forums and http://gofedora.com. However credible they may be, it is best to wait a day for the author to actually try these steps first - this warning will be removed when he, or another brave person has.
AMD Catalyst
Fglrx, or AMD Catalyst, is both more efficient and faster than the open source gallium driver, although the source code is closed, so the Linux developers can not edit the source code to fix a bug, for example.
It is not included in Fedora because it is proprietary, copyrighted software, and therefore does not adhere to F/LOSS standards.
Getting AMD Catalyst
Root is needed
All of the following commands will require superuser priveleges. Become root using:
All of the following commands will require superuser priveleges. Become root using:
$ su -
Preperations
Upgrade your system
# yum upgrade
# shutdown -r now
Download and install the rpmfusion repositories (according to your Fedora version):
- Fedora 18
- Fedora 17
- Fedora 16
- If your browser has downloaded these packages, as opposed to requesting to open the Fedora package installer, you may install them using the following command:
# yum install /path/to/package(s).rpm
Installing AMD Catalyst
Install the Catalyst driver and libraries
# yum install xorg-x11-drv-catalyst xorg-x11-drv-catalyst-libs
Install akmod for Catalyst
# yum install akmod-catalyst
Akmod vs. kmod
Many will be confused and mistakenly install kmod instead of akmod. Akmod is the preferred option, similar to dkms, in that is dynamically rebuilds the kernel module whenever a new kernel is installed, instead of the user having to rebuild each kernel module whenever there is a new kernel release.
A disadvantage to akmod is that it required more space than kmod-compiled modules.
Many will be confused and mistakenly install kmod instead of akmod. Akmod is the preferred option, similar to dkms, in that is dynamically rebuilds the kernel module whenever a new kernel is installed, instead of the user having to rebuild each kernel module whenever there is a new kernel release.
A disadvantage to akmod is that it required more space than kmod-compiled modules.
Finishing touches
Blacklist old radeon modules
# echo "blacklist radeon" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# echo "blacklist radeonhd" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
Remove the old radeon driver from initramfs
# mv /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)-radeon.img
# dracut /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)
Reboot
# shutdown -r now