# ASUS A7N8X + RADEON 9500/9700  --HELP!!

## nater21

Hello I just got this motherboard an video card and I have been reading up on installing gentoo on it.  I have been a gentoo fan since June 2002 and I love it.  I have heard that people are having problems booting with the Gentoo cd 1.4-rc2 and getting the nics, sound, and whatnot to work.  I have also read that there are major problems getting AGPGART working on this chipset with the ATI Cards.  So I am starting this thread with the hopes of helping anyone else with this combination through the install and getting everything set up.  I have not completed the install yet, or even attempted xfree setup but I do have the base install done, so for now I will relay how I got that far with this board.  I am hoping others will chime in with any advice they may have and feel free to ask any questions.

Ok.  First of all, my system specs so you know what hardware I am dealing with

ASUS A7N8X DLX  Bios: 1002

Athlon XP 2100+ @ 2700+

Radeon 9500np 

1GB PC2700 RAM

WD 80GB Harddrive

Using onboard Sound

Using onboard Nics (nvidia and 3com)

I think that is all the pertinant information.

After much playing around, this is what I found...

Change the bios setting for plug and play to manual.

When you boot off of the cd, you want to give boot option no net:

```
boot: gentoo nonet

```

this will keep the startup from hanging on the network autodetect sequence.  

Once you are in: 

```
 

# modprobe nvnet 

# net-setup eth0

```

this should allow you to setup your nvidia nic.  (From what I have read, the 3com card requires a kernel patch to get working, so I am leaving that for later.  The nvidia nic seems to be working flawlessly for me... so far.

after the modprobe, you will get a warning saying that loading the nvnet module will taint the kernel.  Ignore this as it is simply a message telling you that the nvnet module is not open source.

From this point I was able to proceed with the bootstrap and emerge system.

This is as far as I've gotten.  Tonight I plan to work on the rest of install, and kernel compiling. As well as installing MB drivers, and maybe giving XFree a shot with the Radeon Drivers.  If anyone has any hints or suggestions before I begin, please post, otherwise, I will post my progress in the hopes of helping others out with this.

My biggest worry is the Radeon.  Well wish me luck.Last edited by nater21 on Fri Feb 28, 2003 1:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

----------

## nater21

UPDATE

After about 10 kernel recompiles, I was able to get a working kernel where the nForce2 ide chipset is recognized and the built in nics are kind of working (explanation below).  I have been trying to get it working with the gentoo sources kernel, but to no avail.  The kernel I got working was the vanilla sources.  I then had to apply several patches to get the 3com nic working as well as the ide chipset.  Code is as follows:

```

gentoo# emerge sys-kernel/vanilla-sources

```

Next, I downloaded the following patches

patch-2.4.21-pre4               (latest pre-release)

patch-2.4.21-pre4-ac4         (Alan Cox patch, includes nforce ide support for UDMA might include modules for onboard SATA, but I am not using this)

asusa7n8x_3com.diff           (contains necassary ID for onboard 3com NIC)

to get and install these patches use the following code (must be root or su)

```

gentoo# cd /root

gentoo# wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/testing/patch-2.4.21-pre4.bz2

gentoo# wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/alan/linux-2.4/2.4.21/patch-2.4.21-pre4-ac4.bz2

gentoo# wget http://home.t-online.de/home/Johannes.Deisenhofer/asusa7n8x_3com.diff

gentoo# bunzip2 patch-2.4.21-pre4.bz2

gentoo# bunzip2 patch-2.4.21-pre4-ac4.bz2

gentoo# cd /usr/src/linux

gentoo# patch -p1 < ~/patch-2.4.21-pre4

gentoo# patch -p1 < ~/patch-2.4.21-pre4-ac4

gentoo# patch -p1 < ~/asusa7n8x_3com.diff

```

You should not be prompted while installing the patches.  Next, I downloaded sample config files from here:

http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~dkopko/a7n8x.tar.gz

with the following code

```

gentoo# cd /root

gentoo# wget http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~dkopko/a7n8x.tar.gz

gentoo# gunzip a7n8x.tar.gz

gentoo# tar -xvf a7n8x.tar

```

I then copied this config file into the linux dir because I am not sure which options were used to detect the nforce2 ide chipset.  The code is as follows:

```

gentoo# cd /usr/src/linux

gentoo# cp ~/a7n8x.config .config

```

Then run make oldconfig (you should not be prompted, if you are just press enter.)

```

gentoo# make oldconfig

```

Next I ran make menuconfig 

```
 

gentoo# make menuconfig

```

so I could change some of the kernel options.  Go through and select what you want, the default config has many modules compiled that I didn't want.  Be sure to check the gentoo install guide for some of the necesary kernel options.  Some real important ones are devfs, and virtualfs.  I left all of the options in the IDE/ATA section alone, because I am not sure which ones affect the nforce2 chipset detection.  feel free to mess around with it and let me know   :Smile: .  For the 3com nic you must select the 3c59x driver (either as module or built in)

Ok, next I compiled the kernel:

```

gentoo# make dep && make clean bzImage modules modules_install

gentoo# cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot

```

Now there are two more things to do, install the Nvidia nic driver, and add entries for both nics in /etc/modules.autoload

To get and install the nvidia (nic) drivers (will worry about sound drivers later):

```

gentoo# cd /root

gentoo# wget http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/nforce/1.0-0248/NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0248.tar.gz

gentoo# gunzip NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0248.tar.gz

gentoo# tar -xvf NVIDIA_nforce-1.0.0248.tar

gentoo#cd nforce/nvnet

gentoo#make && make install

 
```

Ok now make sure you have 3c59x and nvnet int your /etc/modules.autoload file.

I seem to have a problem where whichever module I have listed first in modules.autoload, that module loads fine, but the second one doesn't, not a big deal because I only need one nic, but it is still rather peculiar.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this please let me know.  

Now just reboot (make sure you have grub or lilo installed!!) and you should be able to see that the NForce ide chipset was detected.  You should also have your nic/nics detected.  

Tonight, I will be working on the ATI video drivers and XFree86 I will post a report tomorrow.  Then I will be dealing with sound.

Most of this was done using this tutorial by Daniel Kopko:

http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~dkopko/a7n8x.txt

the rest of it was found digging around on forums and whatnot.

Please let me know if this is at all helpful or if I should not waste time with these lengthy posts  :Smile: 

----------

## nater21

Ok, I am having major problems getting the video card to work. Its a Sapphire version of the board, and it is the 9500 non-pro.  I got it installed with XFree 4.2.99 and the ati drivers, I compiled agpgart in the kernel with no specific chipset, and I left out dri/drm I also did an emerge xfree-drm.  When I try to start X, I there are a couple error messages that start up.  

it says that my board is a third party board, which I thought the new drivers from ATI was supposed to fix, but it detects the graphics card I have so I am not sure that this is the problem.  I also get a dri error that says I have dri 4.1.0 and it was expecting 3.0.x.   I have no Idea what the problem is here.  I unmerged xfree 4.2.99 and emerged 4.2.1-r2.  After this, when I emerge ati-drivers, it won't compile/install them because it gets a bunch of errors when trying to call some GLX functions.  I have no Idea what to do, now when I install, I get xfree 4.3.0 (wow, gentoo got that into portage fast!!)  And I don't know if this will help or hurt.  

Those of you who have the radeaon 9500/9700 working, please post the following:

Version of xfree

Drivers used

XF86Config-4 settings

compile options for kernel char area (drm/dri/agpgart)

anything else that might be helpful!  Thanks!!

-NH

----------

## fca

I have the same board, except the deluxe part, and also an ATI Radeon 9500 Pro.

As far as I understood, there was no way to get AGP support in the kernel with an ATI card and nForce 2 mb (at least, it never worked for me, and I tried a few different kernels, from gentoo-source 2.4.19 till 2.4.21-pre4-ac6).

I have the card working, but without real 3D support I think, as glxgears gets only 120 fps.

However here are my answers to your questions:

Xfree 4.2.1-r2

ati-drivers 2.5.1-r1

comments and inputdevices snipped from XF86Config.

```

Section "dri"

    Mode 0666

EndSection

Section "Module"

    Load        "dbe"     # Double buffer extension

    SubSection  "extmod"

      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension

    EndSubSection

    Load        "type1"

    Load        "freetype"

    Load        "glx"   # libglx.a

    Load        "dri"   # libdri.a

EndSection

Section "Files"

    RgbPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"

EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"

    Identifier  "Monitor0"

    HorizSync   30-96

    VertRefresh 50-160

EndSection

Section "Monitor"  #new

    Identifier "Monitor1"

    HorizSync 30-61

    VertRefresh 50-120

EndSection

Section "Device"

    Identifier  "Standard VGA"

    VendorName  "Unknown"

    BoardName   "Unknown"

    Driver      "vga"

EndSection

Section "Device"

    Identifier                          "ATI Graphics Adapter0"

    Driver                              "fglrx"

    Option "no_accel"                   "no"

    Option "no_dri"                     "no"

    Option "DesktopSetup"               "0x00000000" 

    Option "GammaCorrectionI"           "0x00000000"

    Option "GammaCorrectionII"          "0x00000000"

    Option "Capabilities"               "0x00000000"

    Option "VideoOverlay"               "on"

    Option "OpenGLOverlay"              "on"

    BusID "PCI:2:0:0"    # vendor=1002, device=4e45

    Screen 0

EndSection

Section "Device"

    Identifier                          "ATI Graphics Adapter1"

    Driver                              "fglrx"

    Option "no_accel"                   "no"

    Option "no_dri"                     "no"

    Option "DesktopSetup"               "0x00000000"

    Option "GammaCorrectionI"           "0x00000000"

    Option "GammaCorrectionII"          "0x00000000"

    Option "Capabilities"               "0x00000000"

    Option "VideoOverlay"               "on"

    Option "OpenGLOverlay"              "on"

    BusID "PCI:2:0:0"    # vendor=1002, device=4e45

    Screen 1

EndSection

Section "Screen"

    Identifier  "Screen0"

    Device      "ATI Graphics Adapter0"

    Monitor     "Monitor0"

    DefaultDepth 24

    #Option "backingstore"

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth       24

        Modes       "1280x1024"

        ViewPort    0 0  # initial origin if mode is smaller than desktop

#        Virtual     1280 1024

    EndSubsection

EndSection

Section "Screen"

    Identifier  "Screen1"

    Device      "ATI Graphics Adapter1"

    Monitor     "Monitor1"

    DefaultDepth 24

    #Option "backingstore"

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth       24

        Modes       "1024x768" "1024x768"

        ViewPort    0 0  # initial origin if mode is smaller than desktop

    EndSubsection

EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"

    Identifier  "Server Layout"

    Screen 0 "Screen0"

    Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

   Option "xinerama" "true"

EndSection

```

And my linux kernel char config:

```
# CONFIG_FTAPE is not set

# CONFIG_AGP is not set

# CONFIG_DRM is not set

# CONFIG_MWAVE is not set

```

Also, when trying to run fgl_glxgears, I get the following error:

Error: couldn't get fbconfig

Anyone who knows what's going on here?

----------

## nater21

Thanks for the information, I'll have to try some of this out.  Unfortunately I don't have time till sunday.  Any thoughts on whether this will work on xfree 4.3.0?  Also any thoughts on why emerge ati-drivers gives me a bunch of errors when trying to setup the GLX stuff, (Gears, and whatever else)?  Oh well, I guess I will wait till sunday and play some more  :Smile: 

----------

## superleon

My Epox 8rda+ is also a nforce2 chipset based motherboard. And I have a radeon 9100 display card. It is a nightmare for me to bring theme to work together.

I read some posts in this forum and they said the official ATI driver can't work with XFree86 3.0. I decided to use the XFree86's radeon driver.

I compiled agpgart in the kernel and dri with no chipset support,then emerge xfree-dri. Everything seemed fine but X server could not start. 

Does anybody solve this problem and get 3D work?

Sorry for my English...

----------

## sihker

Got a new rig about 3 weeks ago, but I've had no time to linux it. Although AFAIK no agpgart for non nVidia cards. Old rig had ATI rage 128 and gentoo 1.2, so no problem there. Hope something will sort out soon. We could spam nVidia support, but they are lazy asses to answer/do anything(maybe not lazy asses  :Confused:  ).I have Epox 8-RDA+, and Epox support was so nice to answer, that they don't deal with problems like this  :Rolling Eyes: 

ATI-s linux drivers are far and away too  :Sad: 

Anyway, thanks for the snippets.

----------

## wh0r3

Yeah its sad to say but no support until nvidia makes a driver for agpgart or something. heres a thread that can explain more http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=894eff933d25552a802a5020107ecc8e&threadid=9396&highlight=nforce2+ati

----------

## darkphoenix16

Check out the new info:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=00477c07c67148ed082586073a750a5f&threadid=9396&pagenumber=2

----------

## jiriki

and now look on page 3 for a working 2.4 patch  :Wink: 

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=0cfa83768ea5b164948ddc6478a57336&threadid=9396&pagenumber=3

With my Radeon 9700Pro and a Asus A7N8X it just works fine (yet)

----------

## Crazy

how would you apply this patch?

----------

## darkphoenix16

Just type "man patch" and a prompt to figure it out

----------

## chriso11

Hi. So far, all I've gotten out of this discussion and following some links. is:

1) you need drivers from ATI for 3D accel for, say, a 9700AIW

2) you need a patch from Nvidia for the AGP to work properly.

It also seems like ATI did release a new driver for Xfree 4.3, but it doesn't mention the 9700 explicitly. Or did I miss something?

Nvidia also released the #2 recently, but it is a patch to 2.5kernels, not the 2.4 that most are playing with. 

So, what files do I get from where for: 

an nforce2 (Asus a7n8x dlx) with a Radeon 9700AIW, running xfree 4.3 and a 2.4.20 gentoo kernel?  Can I dream of an ebuild for it?

Thanks,

----------

