ATI detected as Mesa

I have a Dell 131L notebook with ATI Xpress 1150 integraded video card.
Running the linux client it detects it as generic Mesa3D driver, therefore assuming a Class0 driver.
fglrxinfo and glxinfo report the correct ATI OpenGL driver, and it works full speed with other apps.
I'm running the latest fglrx driver with Xorg 7.2 and Fedora 7 x86_64.

Any ideas to correct this or force the correct Class driver? I've tried editing the gpu_table.txt to force Class 1, 2 and 3 drivers for the Mesa string without success.

This is always what comes out:

2007-08-05T17:48:49Z WARNING: loadGPUClass: Couldn't match GPU to a class: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org Mesa GLX Indirect
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: initGraphicsFeatureMasks: Setting GPU Class to Class0
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: maskFeatures: Applying Feature Mask: Class0
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: maskFeatures: Applying Feature Mask: NoPixelShaders
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: maskFeatures: Applying Feature Mask: NoVertexShaders
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: maskFeatures: Applying Feature Mask: OpenGLPre15
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: saveToFile: Saving settings to file: /home/alroger/.secondlife/user_settings/settings.xml
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: saveToFile: Saving settings to file: /home/alroger/.secondlife/user_settings/settings.xml
2007-08-05T17:48:49Z INFO: LLViewerImageList::doPreloadImages: Preloading images...
2007-08-05T17:48:50Z INFO: decodeAllImages() took 1.0069 seconds.
2007-08-05T17:48:50Z WARNING: loadFaceFallback: Couldn't load font unicode.ttf
2007-08-05T17:48:50Z WARNING: loadFaceFallback: Couldn't load font unicode.ttf
2007-08-05T17:48:50Z WARNING: loadFaceFallback: Couldn't load font unicode.ttf
2007-08-05T17:48:50Z WARNING: loadFaceFallback: Couldn't load font unicode.ttf
2007-08-05T17:48:51Z WARNING: loadFaceFallback: Couldn't load font unicode.ttf
2007-08-05T17:48:51Z INFO: main: GL_VENDOR Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
GL_RENDERER Mesa GLX Indirect
GL_VERSION 1.4 (1.5 Mesa 6.5.2)


Thanks for any support you can give me.

Royer Pessoa

Please post the output of glxinfo.

Here you go:

name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer
client glx vendor string: ATI
client glx version string: 1.3
client glx extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_ARB_multisample,
GLX_ATI_pixel_format_float, GLX_ATI_render_texture
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_multisample
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Radeon Xpress Series
OpenGL version string: 2.0.6650 (8.39.4)
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array,
GL_S3_s3tc, GL_ARB_depth_texture, GL_ARB_fragment_program,
GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow, GL_ARB_fragment_shader,
GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_occlusion_query, GL_ARB_point_parameters,
GL_ARB_point_sprite, GL_ARB_shader_objects, GL_ARB_shading_language_100,
GL_ARB_shadow, GL_ARB_shadow_ambient, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp,
GL_ARB_texture_compression, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map,
GL_ARB_texture_env_add, GL_ARB_texture_env_combine,
GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar, GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3,
GL_ARB_texture_float, GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat,
GL_ARB_texture_rectangle, GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_ARB_vertex_blend,
GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object, GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object,
GL_ARB_vertex_program, GL_ARB_vertex_shader, GL_ARB_window_pos,
GL_ARB_draw_buffers, GL_ATI_draw_buffers, GL_ATI_envmap_bumpmap,
GL_ATI_fragment_shader, GL_ATI_separate_stencil,
GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3, GL_ATI_texture_float,
GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once, GL_ATI_vertex_streams,
GL_ATIX_texture_env_combine3, GL_ATIX_texture_env_route,
GL_ATIX_vertex_shader_output_point_size, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra,
GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_func_separate, GL_EXT_blend_minmax,
GL_EXT_blend_subtract, GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint,
GL_EXT_draw_range_elements, GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_framebuffer_object,
GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays, GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_point_parameters,
GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_color,
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color, GL_EXT_shadow_funcs, GL_EXT_stencil_wrap,
GL_EXT_texgen_reflection, GL_EXT_texture3D,
GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc, GL_EXT_texture_cube_map,
GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic,
GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias, GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp,
GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_texture_rectangle, GL_EXT_vertex_array,
GL_EXT_vertex_shader, GL_HP_occlusion_test, GL_NV_blend_square,
GL_NV_occlusion_query, GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_SGI_color_matrix,
GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap, GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp,
GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp, GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SUN_multi_draw_arrays

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x23 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x24 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x25 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x26 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x27 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x28 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x29 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2a 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2b 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x2c 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x2d 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x2e 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x2f 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x30 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x31 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x32 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x33 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x34 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x35 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x36 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x37 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x38 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x39 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x3a 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x3b 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x3c 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x3d 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x3e 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x3f 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x40 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x41 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x42 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x43 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x44 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x45 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x46 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x47 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x48 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x49 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x4a 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x4b 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x4c 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x4d 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x4e 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x4f 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x50 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x51 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x52 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x53 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x54 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x55 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x56 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x57 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x58 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x59 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x5a 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x5b 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x5c 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x5d 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x5e 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x5f 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x60 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x61 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x62 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x75 32 tc 1 0 0 c . . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None

Funny thing. Using Xgl on top of Xorg (for running Beryl) SL works pretty fast, eventhough glxinfo shows NO Direct Rendering.
With this I edited the gpu list for the Xpress string, and forced Class3 and everything is working good. It does detect the right video board (ATI Xpress).

If I can only run on regular Xorg, it will be probably faster then the Windows version on the same notebook!


Xgl glxinfo:

name of display: :1.0
Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":1.0".
display: :1 screen: 0
direct rendering: Noname of display: :1.0
Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":1.0".
display: :1 screen: 0
direct rendering: No
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
client glx vendor string: ATI
client glx version string: 1.3
client glx extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_ARB_multisample,
GLX_ATI_pixel_format_float, GLX_ATI_render_texture
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_multisample
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Radeon Xpress Series
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (2.0.6650 (8.39.4))
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map,
GL_ARB_texture_env_add, GL_ARB_texture_env_combine,
GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3, GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_EXT_abgr,
GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x2c 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2d 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2e 32 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon
0x2f 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon

server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
client glx vendor string: ATI
client glx version string: 1.3
client glx extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_ARB_multisample,
GLX_ATI_pixel_format_float, GLX_ATI_render_texture
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_multisample
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Radeon Xpress Series
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (2.0.6650 (8.39.4))
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map,
GL_ARB_texture_env_add, GL_ARB_texture_env_combine,
GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3, GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_EXT_abgr,
GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x2c 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2d 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2e 32 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon
0x2f 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon

I don't see anything very suspicious in that first glxinfo, so it's pretty mysterious.

Tofu, please take a look at other posts too. I think some of them are related to the same thing.
I just got a reply from: /263/ca/202030/1.html#post1619501

And indeed the problem is not the ATI driver or any of its configs. It is that SL is detecting the wrong card vendor/OpenGL driver.

I dont have the experience to try to compile from source and find the detection part. But I will try ay testing versions that I can get my hands on.
Isn't there a way to force the SL client to assume its an ATI card Class1, 2 or 3?

Any ideas?

You could edit the file ./gpu_table.txt, where all the gfx cards are listed, along with their classes. But the X1300 is already there. Maybe some cAsE sEnSiTiVe matching problem?

Same problem here with ATI Radeon Mobility X1400 / fglrx 8.39.4 on Gentoo being detected as "Mesa". glxinfo / fglrxinfo both correctly show ATI as OpenGL provider, and DRI works in other apps as expected.

But strangely enough, when I look at the info shown by the new GUI "ATI Catalyst Control Center" (comes with the newer fglrx drivers) there is Mesa listed as the OpenGL Provider ("OpenGL-Renderer: Mesa GLX Indirect" etc.)!!

Seems like even ATI does not detect itself properly

Exactly! Same thing here. Control center also detects Mesa... very strange!
I've tried editing the gpu list to inser the Mesa string like below, but it has no effect. Am I using the regular expression correctly?

---------- gpu_table.txt ----
Mesa .*mesa.* 3


glxinfo and fglrxinfo show the correct information (vendor ATI, etc).
How does the SL client try to get this information? If I knew, I could dig in deeper.

Maybe a "32-Bit viewer on x86_64" issue? I just compiled slviewer 1.18.1.2 from source (as x86_64 app, using ebuild fom http://overlays.gentoo.org/dev/matsuu/wiki), and it *does* correctly detect ATI as OpenGL provider on the very same system.

I can not actually use that build (crashes constantly during "connecting to region" progress bar). No problem, that is "bleeding edge" anyway. But it runs long enough to see the graphics card, OpenGL capabilities etc. are indeed detected correctly (and I even get a working login screen

Ok, it was a 32/64 bit issue.

Newer versions of the ati driver seem to use the environment var LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH to determine where to look for fglrx_dri.so

Just setting LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH="/usr/lib64/dri:/usr/lib32/dri" did the trick for me. Now libGL first tries /usr/lib64/dri/fglrx_dri.so (that fails) and then falls back to /usr/lib32/dri/fglrx_dri.so (that works).

Actually, all I did on gentoo was a "env-update && source /etc/profile" to correct this (should have be done automatically by the ati-drivers ebuild, but somehow was not).

Let me try to understand here.
Are you saying you got the regular SL client to detect the ATI correctly? Or are you talking about the OpenSource compilation?
Looks like I need the 32-bit version of the ATI driver also, is that correct?
I have /usr/lib64/dri/fglrx_dri.so but not the the 32-bit version (/usr/lib in Fedora7).

Great, I'm a happy guy now.
I forced installation of the 32bit ATI fglrx driver from Freshrpms, and put your tip in /etc/profile like this:

# patch by Wanda Sands for 64bit users, in reply to Alroger's post:
# /263/63/202227/1.html
export LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH="/usr/lib64/dri:/usr/lib/dri"

And everything worked! 45 FPS steady, better than windows. Textures look much better than in Windows. I can even switch resolutions and full-screen/windowed mode without any problema.
Using 1280x800 in fullscreen right now.

Thanks for the help!!!

Carefull with what I did just above.... the 32bit (i386) driver overwrote some ligGLs and 64bit apps have problems working now... since SL was the only OpenGL app I wanted so far, it's fine for me. fgl_glxgears doesnt work anymore.... but SL works great!
If I have any news on the 32/64 bit thing I will post here.

Glad it worked for you (although I would not call setting an env-var a "patch"

On Gentoo the 32 Bit ATI driver is installed along with the 64 Bit version automatically (as are most packages when using the "multilib" option).

I do not know a thing about Fedora, but a quick search indicates that it knows about multilib, too. Perhaps you should try looking along that line instead of ruin a healthy 64-Bit installation?

Oh, and to make that perfectly clear: The SL Viewer did nothing wrong. Looking at the source (linden/indra/llwindow/llgl.cpp) it correctly looks at the GL_VENDOR string delivered by libGL. The problem was that the wrong libGL.so / fglrx_dri.so was looked up by the system. BTW, correcting LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH even made ATI Catalyst Control Center showing ATI now (instead of Mesa) as OpenGL provider.

So: SL WAS RIGHT. SYSTEM WAS WRONG

That's some good troubleshooting. I'd like to make something like this a standard part of the ./secondlife launch script as a workaround for such systems - do you see any reason why not?

I guess the script shoud look into some dirs, like /usr/lib64, /usr/lib32, /usr/lib.
If it depends on the 32bit lib it would be good to point that out. I would never have thought of that. I thought it just looked for a function, independent of arquitechture, and the OS would deliver it right to the App.. guess I was far wrong.
Maybe a warning screen, or diagnostics popup? I havent found this variable to be set anywhere in Fedora7.

I was seeing the same thing...

Asus laptop (x86_64) with ATI Radeon X1700 using fglrx 8.39.4 on Fedora 7.
Catalyst control center was reporting the mesa driver.

I built my own rpm's using ATI's installer, and in addition to installing the compulsory files, also installed ATI-fglrx-IA32-libs-8.39.4-1.f7.x86_64.rpm This does not clash with the existing x86_64 libs.

export LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH=/usr/lib64/dri/:/usr/lib/dri/

and now amdccle reports the ATI driver, and fgl_glxgears still works as before.

Yep, I just removed the freshrpms version and installed the original ATI instaler from AMD, and it does install the 32bit required libs to make everything work.

I prefer to fix my system to support 32-Bit DRI on 64-Bit OS. It's not that there is a "Heisenbug" somewhere in the drivers, but a simple install / config glitch, that is equally simple to fix. A bug report to the OS / package maintainers should be more helpful than a SL-specific workaround.

IMHO that class of problems is best handled by something like a big fat "YOU ARE RUNNING ON SOFTWARE-3D. SEE http://... FOR TROUBLESHOOTING HELP" warning. Especially as those problems tend to be short lived or moving targets, and specific to some driver / package / OS versions. BTW is there an "Linux)-ATI-FAQ" somewhere already, with the compiled wisdom from the forum?