FGLRX Drama (or, Mesa3d Must Die)

[Trevor Bramble]

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(Also posted to comp.os.linux.x, soon to be posted to forums all over
the planet.)

So, I've gone around and around and around with this problem and still
no solution is in sight.  I now humbly beg you for help.

Gear:
Tyan Tiger 230 (S2507 D) w/ Apollo Pro 133A
ATI Radeon 9000 64MB DDR (AGP 2x/4x)

Environment:
Ubuntu Hoary 5.04
Linux 2.6.10-5-686-smp
X.org 6.8.2

Driver:
ATI Proprietary Linux x86 Drivers for XFree86/X.Org Version 8.10.19

Logs, configs, lists:
http://trevorbramble.com/linux/fglrx/

Goal:
Hardware accelerated 3-D rendering.  I'm a gamer among other things, and
attempting to convert wholly to a Linux desktop.

Scenario:
After fighting through a variety of errors and problematic
configurations I have succeeded in creating a configuration that does
not result in any errors.  AGP, DRI, all seems to be initialized correctly.

However all is not right.  GDM will start, prompting me for my username,
and then for my password.  After entering them, I hear the startup
music, the hard disk grinds a bit, and nothing at all changes onscreen.
~ I see the password window as if it were now the wallpaper for a desktop
without toolbars - completely flat with no way to interact.

Keyboard input of any kind is totally ignored.  Though I can change to
tty screens and back using alt+f?/f7 before submitting the password,
after submitting it the keyboard is just a lump of plastic.  My mouse
pointer will glide around on screen as long as my frustrated claw
continues to direct it.  I'm forced to bounce the machine.

I'm far from new to computers and Linux, but that does not include X,
Gnome, or related graphical items in Linux.  So I wouldn't be surprised
if I made some ignorant error that is causing this.  However at this
point I estimate I've read between 400 and 50,000 pages of material
regarding the ingredients of my recipe of discontent, and I feel I'm
unlikely to turn up anything new using that method.

I've experienced a variety of problems on this journey, both with Ubuntu
Warty, using XFree86, and Slackware 10 (my first choice) with X.org
prior to the Ubuntu Hoary and X.org setup.  I've attempted using the
free driver (radeon) in all cases first, with even less success than I'm
seeing now.

So... help?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Trevor
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