Comments on: ATI Cards

By: Ubuntu 9.04: Issues I’m having - nullrend

Ubuntu 9.04: Issues I’m having - nullrend — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:42:06 +0000

[...] OpenGL for video acceleration will crap out when Compiz is enabled. It does look like the issue is highly dependent upon your video hardware and [...]

By: nullrend

nullrend — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:19:07 +0000

Right after I left my comment I went and disabled compiz in System>Appearance>Visual Effects.

OpenGL rendering immediately began working as expected. I guess I’ll have to do without the eye candy.

By: nullrend

nullrend — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:13:03 +0000

OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
OpenGL version string: 2.1.8575

Integrated Video on a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H motherboard with an Athlon X2 CPU at 2.3Ghz and 2GB DDR2 RAM. Gave 256M to video in the BIOS.

Ubuntu 9.04 (fresh install)

Compiz is running without problems with the proprietary ATI drivers, installed via the Proprietary Drivers applet. However, /anything/ that depends actively on OpenGL for rendering gets turned into crap, with constant flashing throughout. Happens the same on video (VLC) or emulators (Snes9xgtk).

I don’t watch much video, but it does get annoying to be reminded how much easier it is to get games and video to work on Windows, which — I’m sure — is the reason most of us keep a real (not virtualized) install of Windows around.

By: Jayson Rowe

Jayson Rowe — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:11:12 +0000

VisionTek Radeon HD 2600 Pro – 512MB PCIe

Works fine w/ fglrx.

By: Kalle Svensson

Kalle Svensson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:39:04 +0000

I have a HD 4850 which works fine with fglrx in Ubuntu Intrepid. Originally, I wrote a longer answer but the captcha ate it.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:56:47 +0000

I have a Radeon 9600 (R300), and it works fine with the free r300 driver both in Hardy and Intrepid. Not perfect, not quite as fast as it should be, but quite usable.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:40:14 +0000

OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
OpenGL version string: 2.1.7412 Release

Currently using Hardy at 1280×800, all ok

By: Jeff Schroeder

Jeff Schroeder — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:41:15 +0000

lspci says:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV630 [Radeon HD 2600XT]

By: Alaa Salman

Alaa Salman — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:08:45 +0000

I also have a 3870 and it is terrible. It works well under windows, but the Linux driver is crap.

Although some of the compiz effects work, it is really a step down from any nvidia card(and it cost me a fortune). I had to disable compiz effects because it was affecting video playback, I got an ATI card to show my support since they opened up their specs, but apparently it was more of a marketing gimmick.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:02:27 +0000

OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2300
OpenGL version string: 2.1.7659 Release

I also have this problem. Interesting fact: it didn’t start until I upgraded to Hardy. Compiz and video were perfect on Gutsy.

To fix it, do these:
GSTREAMER (TOTEM):
For Totem with the gstreamer backend (totem-gstreamer) open a terminal and type gstreamer-properties
Then click the Video tab and under Default Output select “X Window System (No Xv)” for the plugin. then restart totem. this will work for any video app that uses gstreamer

MPLAYER:
If you use mplayer (gmplayer) right-click on the screen and select Preferences then select the Video tab and under Available Drivers select “X11 (XImage/Shm)”
then restart mplayer. The issue here is that it won’t go fullscreen with the video. I suggest using VLC or totem-gstreamer.

XINE:
if you use xine then click File>>Configure>>Preferences
make sure under experience_level you select Master Of The Known Universe
you will then get a tab at the top for video. under driver select “xshm”. then restart xine. this also works if you are using the totem-xine backend. just run gxine at the terminal and follow the steps.

VLC:
for VLC select Settings>>Preferences then in the bottom-right of the window check the Advanced Options box. Then expand the Video item on the left and select Output modules. Then in the list on the right for Video output module change it to “X11 video output”. then restart VLC.
[c/p] from an old Ubuntu forums post

It increases CPU usage, but it does work.

Daniel