Puppy 2.12: 3D-Control-Center V2.00

[withasong]

I got here from a link posted by tempestuous in the 85582 forum topic.

Tempestuous suggested I download the 3DCC instead of attempting to install the ATI proprietary drivers, which is what I'm trying to do.

I installed 3DCC, followed the first 2 steps outlined in the comment area successfully, but when I went to the 3rd step to install the DRI-Graficscard-Drivers, I get a file integrity error as a result of a failed download. I notice the download window (which closes rather quickly) says 404 error - file not found for the DRI-_dri.so.pup file.

I did a search for this file within the forum, but the search yielded no results.

[stargazer]

edit

[withasong]

Thanks stargazer for your response about the missing DRI download within 3DCC.

On my 9500, I first did install the DRI-radeon_dri.so.pup file and reboot as you suggested. The 3D demo still reports that DRI is not active and I get a frame rate of 14.29. MPlayer has a blank, black screen while the sound plays fine for all types of videos, and both MPlayer and gXine have the same response to DVDs (i.e., nothing on the screen but sound plays fine).

Then, also with my 9500, I noticed the Ati-8.28.8.pup file at the dotpups download site and figured I had nothing to lose since I was not in a winning position at the moment, so I downloaded it too, installed it and then rebooted and got different results. The 3D demo still reports that DRI is not active and I still get a frame rate of 14.29, but now MPlayer will play NO videos of any type at all (it just reports "Error opening/initializing video out (-vo) device" and it stops) uniformly for all avi's, mpg's, and DVDs, BUT gXine now plays DVDs with a grainy video picture with highly fractured movements. Progress for sure, but not positive!

Since I have 3 ATI Radeon cards (an 8500, 9500 and a 9600, each on a different computer), I have some questions about 3DCC and the two files I listed above (I've only tried to install the above files on the one computer that has the 9500 card, since it's the most troubled, but I want to get video working well on the other 2 computers too with Puppy):

1. Should I install only one of the above files (if yes, which one)?

2, Should I install both files (If yes, should one be before the other?...if yes, which one first)? Also, when the program which is installed second asks about overwriting files which the first put in place, I assume I answer "yes" -- correct?

3. Should nothing be installed from the DRI component of 3DCC then, if I do #1 or #2 above (that's, of course, if I get something more than a 404 error in the future with 3DCC's DRI component)? In other words, is the DRI-radeon_dri.so.pup equivalent to, and a replacement for, the 3DCC-based DRI-_dri.so.pup file, or should both types of DRI-files be installed to make things work properly?

4. Should I ignore the "DRI not active" message that continues to be reported after I install (and reboot) the DRI-radeon_dri.so.pup file and also the Ati-8.28.8.pup file (like so many in this thread have reported)? In other words, is this actually NOT an important message?

5. Should frame rates be so low? The 9500 ATI Radeon Pro that I have with 128 MB is far more capable than 14.29 FPS if it is properly accelerated, so I don't have something right here I'm sure (but I don't know what yet).

BTW, my 8500 and 9600 on my other 2 computers with Puppy 2.12 work moderately well with both MPlayer and gXine (I play avi's, mpg's, DVDs, etc., with viewable picture and sound), but I've still got the fractured-flickers thing whenever there's much video movement in both programs, but for some reason, the 8500 and 9600 don't have the fully blank, black video screen in MPlayer for all video types that the 9500-based computer has (which is a puzzle, since I set up all 3 computers with the same video parameters in Puppy)!

I hope I can get some useful feedback about questions 1 through 4 above to help me resolve question 5 and finally obtain a competitive result to what I have in Windows (which is full-motion videos of all types with no fractured movements or hesitations on all 3 computers, including, on the 9500 & 9600, full-motion 3D games with wonderful, fluid fog). We just have to get the right combination of things in Linux to bring forth what's there in the hardware already (just eagerly waiting to come out)!

[Gn2]

Should frame rates be so low? ~ 9500 ATI Radeon Pro ~ 14.29 FPS

Results from Non-customised Nvidia 128MB DDR -W/8762 driver ) =

$ glxgears
26874 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5374.800 FPS
28765 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5753.000 FPS
28613 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5722.600 FPS
28750 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5750.000 FPS
28702 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5740.400 FPS
28447 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5689.400 FPS
28626 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5725.200 FPS

DRI = Direct Rendering Infrastructure
Mesa was used in lieu of proprietary drive support
(NOT for Nividia chipset use)

http://www.mesa3d.org/faq.html

Please use these resources:

http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/DriTroubleshooting

http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/linux_3.14.6.html

The X-server configuration is in /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Error logs are found in /var/log/ (Xorg._xx_logs)
NOT in /tmp -that folder MAY contain some Msg's - but is not the Linux default placement

If still problems , please paste in any errors & present xorg.conf file content

[MU]

Ati related issues

I just downloaded and installed again:
http://dotpups.de/3DCC/2.12/3DCC.pup

Clicked on: DRI-Graficscarddrivers -> Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 -> install

The Ati-dotpup is downloaded and installed.
So I don't understand, why it will not download for you

You can try this however:
save this dotpup:
http://dotpups.de/3DCC/2.12/Ati-8.28.8.pup
in the folder:
/root/dotpups-downloads

Then in 3DCC click again on
DRI-Graficscarddrivers -> Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 -> install

Now the downloadwindow opens again very shortly, but will not download again, as the pup is already there.
It then continues to install this dotpup and does some final configuration-steps.

It is not sufficient to install the dotpup "manually" (from Rox), as then you still would have a xorg.conf, that does not match this driver.
So please try it the way I desrcibed.

#########################
Concerning the other, "radeon"-drivers:
radeon:
Very old Ati-Radeon cards, like the 7000 series
r200:
Radeon chipsets R200/rv250/rv280 (models 8500-9250)
r300:
New Ati graficscards (model 9500 up)

Those drivers are more stable than the Ati-fglrx-8.28, in general I'd suggest to use those.
Only games like Doom3 or Quake4 will not work, as they need some OpenGL-specific features not included. But most other games run fine.
Even with the Ati-fglrx-drivers, Doom3/Quake4 crash with Kernel 2.6 (at least on my Radeon 7000 and 9250), so I personally still use a old Puppy 1.0.8 (Kernel 2.4) to play those games.

Short:
Ati fglrx: usually not recommended driver, only in seldom cases.
Radeon/r200/r300: recommended driver

###############################
Video acceleration:
In mplayer, choose another "video-out" in the options (right click in mplayer).
For the Ati-fglrx driver, use OpenGL.
For the "radeon/rxx" drivers, use "xv".

Mark

[withasong]

Thanks Mark for your reply.

I did as you suggested and installed the preferred r300 driver from 3DCC for my ATI Radeon 9500 with Puppy 2.12 and this time the driver installed (duh, previously I didn't think to highlight any driver and just clicked install with nothing selected, as I recall, so it seems obvious to me now why nothing loaded ). I then rebooted after r300 successfully installed.

I tried the 3D demo, but it still says uniformly (as before) that DRI is NOT active and I still get only 14.29 fps in the demo (suggesting that there is no video acceleration in effect). When I recheck what 3DCC says, it says DRI is active, but another run of the 3D demo still says it's not active (these two messages conflict obviously, as so very many people have reported in this thread -- so I'm not sure these are useful messages, I assume).

Regardless of the above, I ran MPlayer and right-clicked the player as you said and then, I assume, you meant for me to select the Preferences option and the video tab (though you didn't say to do this). The available drivers have the xv on top, and when I click on it, the "Configure Driver" button stays grey and of course won't activate if I click on it (in fact, if I select one-after-another all the options, "Configure Driver" always stays grey for each individual option). I really see nothing that exactly seems to fit the terms you used "choose another "video-out" in the option" except to do what I described in the previous sentences (it doesn't exactly say "video-out" is what I'm trying to say and I did try to find "exactly" what you indicated), but with the grey color of the "Configure Driver", nothing seems configureable in MPlayer's Preferences. I assume there's still something wrong with the GraficsDriver and that's what is making the "Configure Driver" button continuously grey for everything that I highlight.

Regardless of this, I then ran gXine and it still does not play DVDs (it shows the same uniform blue screen that it always displays when I have selected 16 bit color in the intial setup, and when I select 24 bit color, it always displays black instead), and it always freezes the time display after a few seconds and does nothing more (but I hear the sound start OK). I did go into the Configure Preferences, set the level to Expert, and then set Video to xv and clicked save and close and restarted gXine, but gXine just gives me the blue or black screen with DVDs then freezes the time display again and again as before (even with the r300 successfully installed after a reboot).

Since you indicated that the r300 would be preferred for my 9500 to the ATI driver, that's what I did; but I'm going to try the ATI driver now after I post this intial result since the r300 didn't seem to do resolve the issues with my video display in both MPlayer and gXine (BTW, I assume, but am not sure, that there should be no negative interaction between my having installed the r300 first and the ATI second) and then I will reboot and see what happens.

Again, I want to emphaisize the this ATI Radeon 9500 Pro is a great working card in Windows and gives me no troubles with videos of any type or games of any type, so I just think we've got some kind of driver issue here. I will continue to explore drivers (mostly) by reburning fresh Puppy 2.12 ISO's again and again and setting up fresh video drivers (I'm afraid that there'll be some kind of accumulative interaction between drivers if I try to add driver upon driver, and this is why I tend to burn a fresh ISO CD as I try new drivers -- unless you indicate that I should add driver upon driver).

As a somewhat last resort, I shall go to my ATI Radeon 8500 and 9600 computers and see what happens with the r200 (for the 8500) and the r300 (for the 9600) and see if I get smoother videos with the 3DCC option (previously on these other computers, without the 3DCC, the videos of all types played just fine, but they were always fractured flickers in Puppy, but smooth as silk in Windows). After I try the rxx options on these other computers, I'll try the ATI-fglrx if rxx doesn't smooth things out, and then finally maybe the proprietary drivers offerred by ATI (as Gn2 encourages me). Now that I have 3DCC and more driver options, perhaps I'll finally get smooth video at some point in Puppy to compete with Windows.

Finally, I'll see what 2.13beta does with my 3 computers and the 3DCC group of drivers (I just downloaded the beta to try); so there's a lot to do still. I'll report back after I get time to try some of these combo's and I'll keep my eye out for your response, Mark, to this posting in case you (or anyone else) have other things for me to try (but at the moment, I think I've tried everything you've suggested in your last post -- and I thank you very much again!).

[MU]

concerning mplayer:
try this dotpup, it supports most video-options:
http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Multimedia/Mplayer-1.0rc1/
You should use the "unichrome"-dotpup.

Options-screenshot:


X11 is a slow standard.
xv is an accellerated driver, but not working on my card with the fglrx-driver
OpenGL is the only fast mode with fglrx-driver on my system.

Maybe depending on the card, other settings are optimal.

---------
concerning the DRI-results:
run in a consolewindow:
/usr/local/3DCC/resource/xdriinfo

If you get a positive result, accelleration is enabled.
This does not automatically mean, that the 3D-demo will run fast, because that one also relies on other factors, like a correct OpenGL-library.
3DCC should set up everything right, but I can't guarantee that, as I just have 2 different Ati-cards for testing.

For further troubleshooting, you had to attach /var/log/Xorg.0.log and /etc/X11/xorg.conf

If the rxx-driver don't work, it is of course worth a try, to test the Ati-fglrx driver.

Mark

[withasong]

Got your 1:22 pm post, Mark, and I shall try what you suggest before I try the ATI or any other drivers. I'm glad I checked this just now (whew)!

Thanks!

[withasong]

Mark, I downloaded and installed the MPlayer version you mentioned. I allowed the install to overwrite the indicated files, and then I ran the new version. I went into Preferences and the video tab, and the screen looks just like the one you displayed in your last post (the Configure Driver button is grey and therefore inoperable even when an item is highlighted). I assume that I woud have to be able to click on the Configure Driver button to set up the driver, but the button is non-responsive.

I opened a console window, typed in what you said and here's a copy of the events:

sh-3.00# /usr/local/3DCC/resource/xdriinfo
Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
Screen 0: not direct rendering capable.
sh-3.00#

Attached are the 2 files of which you spoke; however, I had to add the extension zip to them in order to attach them (but they are not zipped files; they are just SavedAs to another folder and then renamed with the zip extension added in order for them to be attached -- i.e., they are fake zip's).

One oddity I have noticed when I have checked these resource files previously is that my APG video card is sometimes listed as PCI in these files. I'm not sure why this is, since AGP boards will not plug into PCI slots (and the 9500 does not come in a PCI format, only in AGP that I'm aware of). Is this normal? (BTW, my 9500 PRO is an 8X capable board and my motherboard's AGP slot is 8X capable too.)

[MU]

ok, the log contains this:

(II) RADEON(0): AGP card detected
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (No such device or address)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (No such device or address)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
[drm] failed to load kernel module "radeon"
(EE) RADEON(0): [dri] RADEONDRIGetVersion failed to open the DRM
[dri] Disabling DRI.

So there is a problem with the Kernelmodule.
Did you install the Kernelmodules with 3DCC?
Do you have this file?:
/lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/radeon.ko

If yes, please type these comands in a consolewindow, and report what messages you get:

depmod
modprobe radeon

Mark

[withasong]

You asked whether I installed the Kernelmodule and I did install it first. Then I installed the 3rd item in the list, the OpenGL. Then I installed the 2nd item in the list, the Graficscard-drivers. I did it in the order you indicated in the comment area of 3DCC.

Yes, I do have the radeon.ko file in the folder structure you indicated, and here's what the console window shows:

sh-3.00# depmod
sh-3.00# modprobe radeon
WARNING: Error inserting drm (/lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/drm.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
FATAL: Error inserting radeon (/lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/radeon.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
sh-3.00#

[MU]

these errors should not appear, I'm puzzled
According to your log, you have the correct kernel.
Anyone has an idea?

Please run and post the results:
modinfo drm
modinfo radeon

Mark

[withasong]

Mark, here's the info you requested in the last post:

sh-3.00# modinfo drm
filename: /lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/drm.ko
author: Gareth Hughes, Leif Delgass, José Fonseca, Jon Smirl
description: DRM shared core routines
license: GPL and additional rights
vermagic: 2.6.18.1 mod_unload 486 gcc-3.4
depends: agpgart
parm: debug:Enable debug output (int)
parm: cards_limit:Maximum number of graphics cards (int)
sh-3.00# modinfo radeon
filename: /lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/radeon.ko
author: Gareth Hughes, Keith Whitwell, others.
description: ATI Radeon
license: GPL and additional rights
vermagic: 2.6.18.1 mod_unload 486 gcc-3.4
depends: drm
parm: no_wb:Disable AGP writeback for scratch registers
(int)
sh-3.00#

I tried an experiement with a new burn of a 2.12 ISO, on which I tried to install the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 driver on my 9500-based computer. I followed the instructions in the comment area of 3DCC and installed #1 and #3, then went to #2 for the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 install. At that point, I noticed when I clicked on Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 that I shouldn't have installed #3 (the OpenGL drivers), but I didn't know that until after I had already installed them and it was too late at that point anyway. So I went ahead and tried to install Ati-fglrx-8.28.8. When I was asked if I wanted to overwrite the already installed files, I said OK, but then the installation responded with "Canceling, OK". I tried it repeatedly a few times with it always canceling on the overwrites, then decided maybe the OK and Cancel buttons were crossed (which I knew was a VERY longshot), and when I clicked Cancel, it just gave me another "Canceling, OK". Did I get this strange response because I installed #3, the OpenGL's, or is it something else? I could try another ISO burn, skipping #3 in the 3DCC list (since I now know not to do that), but if that doesn't work, I wonder why I can't install the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 driver with my 9500 (NOTE: I didn't try installing any other driver with 3DCC before I tried to install Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 on this fresh 2.12 ISO burn). Should I just try another ISO burn, skipping #3 before I try #2's Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 -- or is that a waste of time because the canceling is related to some other issue (unknown at the moment)? Again, this was just an experiement to see if the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 might resolve some issues.

BTW, on one of my other computers with the 8500 ATI Radeon, I installed 3DCC, installed steps #1, #3, and then #2 with the r200 driver which is appropriate to the 8500 series, and when I rebooted I got a blank, black screen and nothing more (and I did try to reboot a few times by pressing the computer's reset button, but the result was always the same: I couldn't see any desktop after the bootup cycle was completed). When I rebooted and stepped back one session on my multisession disk, I got the desktop back. It seems at the moment like the r200 can't be used with the 8500 (another BTW, it's an 8500 AIW, All-In-Wonder, if that makes any difference). I did note when I was trying to install the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 driver on my 9500-based computer that 8500-AIW's are listed as included in the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 driver; so perhaps on another day I'll try the Ati-fglrx-8.28.8 with my 8500 -- but right now, it appears that the r200 is incompatible with my 8500.

A last BTW, I wonder if in some future upgrade of 3DCC, whether the order of installing #1, #3, and then #2 could be changed to a top-down sequence by switching the arrangement of OpenGL and Graficdrivers (so then it'd be #1, #2 and #3).

Mark, thanks for all the time and attention you're giving to all the strange things that are happening here at my end of the world. You make me feel not alone, and that's SO appreciated!

[MU]

ok, the modinfo results show, that you have the correct kernelmodule.
But you get errors trying to modprobe them, so my only idea at moment is, that is really incompatible with your 8500. For whatever reason, I have no idea why.

So ok, try the Ati-driver.
It does not matter, that you installed OpenGL before, as the Ati-dotpup overwrites those files.
At least it should, but you get this strange behaviour, that it refuses to overwrite existing files.
I tried it again now myself (in Muppy006), and I have no problems.
It overwrites my already installed files.

The only idea I have at moment:
there might be a problem with xmessage.
This can happen in theory, when you have a wrong font-setting, or strange locale-setting. Or a broken theme.
It should not happen, but is the only idea I have at moment.

Please type these commands and post the result, maybe they help to find out what is wrong:

ls /root/.gtkrc*
echo $LANG
xmessage -v
Xdialog -v

Mark
Ps: at what end of this world do you live? (sorry, I'm just curious )

[tempestuous]

Mark, does the radeon module depend on the drm module?
Run "lsmod" to see what modules are loaded. We should see "agpgart" and "intel-agp/via-agp/..." as well.

It's feasible that the manuafacturer of that graphics card "messed" with the pci-id of the ATi chip, so the radeon module refuses to load because it thinks the hardware is incompatible.

As a last resort, try to force the module to load, like this -

modprobe -f radeon

Check for error messages, then run lsmod to see if it loaded.

[MU]

Mark, does the radeon module depend on the drm module?

yes. The relevant lines from "lsmod":

Code: Select all

radeon                110048  1 
drm                    68324  2 radeon

radeonfb              107008  0 
i2c_algo_bit            9144  1 radeonfb
i2c_piix4               8380  0 
i2c_core               21408  3 radeonfb,i2c_algo_bit,i2c_piix4
intel_agp              22668  1 
agpgart                34608  2 drm,intel_agp

I don't know what radeonfb is good for.

I wonder if "modprobe agpgart" will work for withasong?

Mark

[withasong]

Sorry to have been away so long (though it's only been a day). My problem was that I had SO many CDs with 2.12 test runs on my video cards (there were more than a dozen), and then I added more with 2.13beta test runs, that I couldn't tell which ones were which any more and though I kept notes, I just couldn't go on with what I had been doing. So, I started with a whole new group of CDs with freshly burned ISO's so I could sort things out.

On my 9500-based computer, I again (and again) installed 3DCC, doing steps #1, then #3, then #2, and I used the r300 driver. I had to do it again and again since I would get nutty multisession total blackout's when I tried to reboot after installing the r300 driver (but even after that worked, I'd still get total blackout's just doing other things too -- which is SO frustrating since everything that was done has to be repeated repeatedly since nothing is saved when I click on reboot and everything just goes totally blank and black with nothing further happening). Anyway, frustration aside (yeah, sure!), I got similar results in both 2.12 and 2.13beta on some things when things did happen successfully (but I don't mean I got the results I wanted here). I did some 2.12 and 2.13beta tests on both my 9500 and 8500-based computers today. Right now I'm in 2.12 with the r300 driver and want to start responding to some of the questions that were posed.

Mark, you asked me to do the following:

ls /root/.gtkrc*
echo $LANG
xmessage -v
Xdialog -v

I got:

sh-3.00# ls /root/.gtkrc*
ls: /root/.gtkrc*: No such file or directory
sh-3.00#
sh-3.00# echo $LANG
en_US
sh-3.00# xmessage -v
sh-3.00# Xdialog -v
2.1.1
sh-3.00#

When I entered "xmessage -v" I got a box with a "-v" in it and an okay button. I confirmed the "No such file or directory" to the ".gtkrc" in the root folder with uxplor, and indeed, there's no such thing there. To confirm I typed it correctly, you asked me to type "LS" as the command but in lower case, correct?...and there's a dot in front of the "gtkrc*" correct?

Since I'm afraid of instability problems (I've had them all day in both 2.12 and 2.13beta AND on both computers, and it's evening here now), so I'm going to post this that I have written so far, and I'll come back to tempestuous' posting, and then back to Mark's posting which was done after that, and then finally with some other stuff (but I might poop-out energetically and need to finish some of this tomorrow morning, since I've been at this since this morning -- so stay tuned if I don't get through all these itemized responses until a bit later). I've been at this testing stuff for more than 8 hours already today, and, yikes, I'm getting tired (not lacking in enthusiasm, just lacking in energy)!

[withasong]

Tempestuous, here's responses to what you asked me to do:

sh-3.00# modprobe -f radeon
WARNING: Error inserting drm (/lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/drm. ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
FATAL: Error inserting radeon (/lib/modules/2.6.18.1/kernel/drivers/char/drm/rad eon.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
sh-3.00# lsmod
Module Size Used by
usb_storage 83904 0
snd_mixer_oss 17328 0
snd_seq_midi 8608 0
snd_emu10k1_synth 6800 0
snd_emux_synth 35760 1 snd_emu10k1_synth
snd_seq_virmidi 6896 1 snd_emux_synth
snd_seq_midi_event 6960 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_virmidi
snd_seq_midi_emul 7344 1 snd_emux_synth
snd_seq 48592 5 snd_seq_midi,snd_emux_synth,snd_seq_virmidi,snd_ seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi_emul
lp 12520 0
parport_pc 32100 1
parport 35080 2 lp,parport_pc
usbhid 40736 0
radeonfb 107008 0
i2c_algo_bit 9144 1 radeonfb
emu10k1_gp 3696 0
gameport 14904 2 emu10k1_gp
snd_emu10k1 112864 1 snd_emu10k1_synth
snd_rawmidi 24064 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_virmidi,snd_emu10k1
snd_ac97_codec 90448 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_ac97_bus 2128 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm 77592 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_ac97_codec
snd_seq_device 7996 6 snd_seq_midi,snd_emu10k1_synth,snd_emux_synth,sn d_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi
snd_timer 23540 3 snd_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 10008 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm
snd_util_mem 4560 2 snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1
snd_hwdep 9076 2 snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1
snd 51396 11 snd_mixer_oss,snd_emux_synth,snd_seq_virmidi,sn d_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_seq_device,snd_timer,sn d_hwdep
soundcore 9408 1 snd
sis900 22288 0
mii 5680 1 sis900
i2c_sis96x 5460 0
i2c_core 21408 3 radeonfb,i2c_algo_bit,i2c_sis96x
fuse 44388 2
unionfs 77696 1
nls_iso8859_1 3984 0
nls_cp437 5648 0
sr_mod 17412 0
ide_cd 40100 0
cdrom 39424 2 sr_mod,ide_cd
ehci_hcd 30200 0
ohci_hcd 20564 0
uhci_hcd 23356 0
usbcore 126116 6 usb_storage,usbhid,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd,uhci_hcd
sh-3.00#

[withasong]

Mark, here's what you suggested I try after tempestuous' posting:

sh-3.00# modprobe agpgart
FATAL: Module agpgart not found.
sh-3.00#

Up until now, I've been using the r300 video driver and reporting results on my 9500-based computer.

I'll have to hold the results on the ATI-fglrx-8.28.8 driver on 2.12 and on 2.13beta until tomorrow morning because I'm just too pooped to pop, but I'll preview the results as saying that I got dis-similar outcomes (which surprised me) -- AND I'm talking about both versions of Puppy on both my 9500-based computer and ALSO my 8500-based computer (I've been busy)!

Goodnight for now (yawn!)...time for dinner and a movie, then zzzzzzz

[Gn2]

Unknown symbols usually relates to module version dependency mis-matches.
OR it can be bad re-compiles of modules only (vs full kernel re-compiling)

If still having problems - try downloading kernel source (match the Puppy version number)
Then try reinstalling ATI proprietary drivers as per their recommendations for individual chipsets.
Use ATI instructions for configuring all -

User supplied Puppy wizards cannot cover all hardware variations
Esp if the packager didn't have access to the hardware to test all before uploading.
When additional enhancements (3d accell etc) are not needed - "generic" Vesa modelines work great.

Puppy has frame buffer choices (kernel makefile support * then subsequent boot probes) issues still not fully resolved !

For your expressed wants - you may need to bite_the_ bullet & really get into the inners for your own systems.
Do not expect one Cfg will work for all hardware.
Nice if it does - seldom are we are so lucky ?