Bug 299928

Summary:	x11-base/xorg-drivers cannot be compiled with multiple graphics drivers for ATI cards.
Product:	[OLD] Docs on www.gentoo.org	Reporter:	wolfgang <ezzieyguywuf>
Component:	Other documents	Assignee:	Docs Team <docs-team>
Status:	RESOLVED INVALID
Severity:	critical
Priority:	High
Version:	unspecified
Hardware:	x86
OS:	Linux
URL:	http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/ati-faq.xml
Whiteboard:
Package list:		Runtime testing required:	---

Description wolfgang 2010-01-06 18:57:15 UTC

The linked document should mention that the user's VIDEO_CARD variable in make.conf should only contain one of fglrx or radeon (have not tried radeonhd yet). If you compile both drivers, even when trying to specify just one in xorg.conf, Xorg gets confused and tries to load both for some reason. 

In order to get hardware acceleration working on my ati card, I had to:
emerge -C ati-drivers
emerge --newuse xorg-drivers  <--after updating VIDEO_CARDS
rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf   <--- let Xorg use defaults since, since it only has one option.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. VIDEO_CARDS="fglrx radeon" in make.conf
2. emerge --newuse xorg-drivers
3. /etc/init.d/xdm start

Actual Results:  
Xorg usually hangs.

Expected Results:  
Xorg to start.

Comment 1 nm (RETIRED) gentoo-dev

2010-01-07 06:30:26 UTC

Not a bug. You can actually do both; it's just trickier. You have to select which module you want to autoload -- read around the forums for the tips from people who actually use more than one graphics driver.

The xorg guide lists only one driver in VIDEO_CARDS, as that's all the guide covers. Because it gets trickier from setup to setup when mixing and matching graphics cards/drivers, it's a bit beyond the scope of the guides.