The ATI/AMD Linux display driver was released last night for both x86 and x86_64 platforms. This release introduces the Catalyst Control Center version 1.0. The Catalyst Control Center software provides a 3D aspect page which allows one to make adjustments in 3D applications such as graphic-design applications, games and CAD applications.

Starting with this version, ATI Catalyst Linux software suite no longer provides precompiled Kernel

Modules. All installations require GCC compiler and kernel-headers or kernel-source in order to enable 2D and 3D acceleration.

Issues resolved in this release:

￭ Logging out of a session to the graphical login manager no longer crashes the Xserver

Known issues of this release

￭ Using the xgl enabled x-server interface disables display switching hot plug support
￭ An increase in CPU utilization will be experienced for video playback using GLESX compared with GSL.
￭ Video tearing during playback.
￭ There is no support for video playback on the second head in dual head mode.

In order to gain the best performance and ease of use, ATI/AMD recommends the following:

￭ Kernel module build environment - should include the following: Kernel source code: Either the Kernel Source or Kernel Headers packages
￭ ISSE Support enabled in your Linux Kernel (applies to Intel Pentium III and later CPUs only; enabled by default on version 2.4 and later kernels)
￭ The rpm utility should be installed and configured correctly on your system, if you intend to install via RPM packages
￭ QT version 2.x.x is needed for the ATI Control Panel, but is not mandatory

Requirements:

￭ XOrg 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 7.0, or 7.1; XFree86 version 4.3
￭ Linux kernel 2.4 or higher
￭ glibc version 2.2 or 2.3
￭ POSIX Shared Memory (/dev/shm) support is required for 3D applications

For installation instructions and more information about this release, please go here.

You can download the ATI/AMD Linux Display Driver now from Softpedia.