Arch linux doesn't boot after installing AMD ATI Catalyst

Question

I have a laptop which has a integrated graphic card intel 4th generation (4600) and an AMD ATI R9 m265x (hybrid Intel/AMD graphics card) so I have just installed AMD ATI Catalyst proprietary ones by following
AMD Catalyst ArchWiki.
I have used "Installing from the unofficial repository" method so in my pacman.conf I have added below entry for [catalyst-stable]:
[catalyst-stable]
Server = http://catalyst.wirephire.com/repo/catalyst/$arch
## Mirrors, if the primary server does not work or is too slow:
#Server = http://70.239.162.206/catalyst-mirror/repo/catalyst/$arch
#Server = http://mirror.rts-informatique.fr/archlinux-catalyst/repo/catalyst/$arch
#Server = http://mirror.hactar.bz/Vi0L0/catalyst/$arch
Then I have update pacman's database and install below packages:
catalyst-hook
catalyst-utils-pxp
lib32-catalyst-utils-pxp
(No need to install catalyst-total-pxp as I have installed catalyst-utils-pxp)
After installing it, I have configured the driver, configuring X using below command:
# aticonfig --initial
In order to use PowerXpress support I have installed catalyst-utils-pxp package plus additional lib32-catalyst-utils-pxp.
To perform a switch into Intel's IGP I have also installed the mesa-libgl  package and Intel's drivers: xf86-video-intel  and intel-dri .
I have enable the automatic update by enabling the catalyst-hook.service with below commands since it automatically rebuilds the fglrx modules while the system shuts down or reboots (so I haven't to do it manually each time kernel is updated using Catalyst-generator):
# systemctl enable catalyst-hook
# systemctl start catalyst-hook
And finally I have blacklisted radeon module by creating "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklisted.conf" file which content is:
blacklist radeon
and also I have ensured that fglrx line is added in "/etc/modules-load.d/Catalyst.conf" file.
To avoid problems, I have rebuilt the fglrx module by doing (I know it is not necessary as it is done by catalyst-hook):
catalyst_build_module all
Once I reboot, arch linux does not boot. Last lines printed out are below and then it freezes:
Starting temp files linker to catalyst...
Starting Catalyst event Daemon...
[ OK ] Started Catalyst event Daemon
Starting Catalyst's fglrx kernel' module builder...
[ OK ] Started temp files linker for catalyst.
[ OK ] Started Catalyst's fglrx kernel' modue builder.
[ OK ] Started gnome Display manager.
[ OK ] Started Network manager.
[ OK ] Reached target Multi-User system.
[ OK ] Reached target Graphical Interface.
[ OK ] Reached target Network.
I have tried to put nomodeset as a kernel parameter but it does not work. Also, after reading ArchWiki, I have noticed that it is recommended to don't do this as I am using catalyst-utils-pxp because intel driver needs it so I have removed nomodeset parameter from kernel but It continues not working.
Any ideas?
Package versions:
Kernel version 3.17.6-1-ARCH
catalyst-hook 14.12-1
catalyst-utils-pxp 14.12-1
lib32-catalyst-utils-pxp 14.12-1
xorg-server 1.16.2.901-1
xf86-video-intel 2.99.916-3
Last edited by toni (2014-12-13 19:38:38)

Answer 1

FInally I managed to boot arch linux.
I had to downgrade xorg-server from 1.16.2.901-1 to 1.15.2-1.
It seems there is a problem with Catalyst 14.12-1 and xorg-server 1.16.2.901-1.
Also I had to replace desktop manager from gdm to lightdm as gdm raises segmentation faults using xorg-server versions 1.16.2.901-1 and 1.15.2-1.
Finally I had to add an entry in pacman.conf:
[xorg115]
Server = http://catalyst.wirephire.com/repo/xorg115/$arch
## Mirrors, if the primary server does not work or is too slow:
#Server = http://mirror.rts-informatique.fr/archlinux-catalyst/repo/xorg115/$arch
#Server = http://mirror.hactar.bz/Vi0L0/xorg115/$arch
Then performs following actions:
1)  # pacman -Syuu catalyst-hook catalyst-utils-pxp
2) Uninstall all the packages xf86* such as xf86-video-intel, xf86-input-evdev,  xf86-input-synaptics, etc.
3) Install the packages uninstalled in step 2 and install them again using xorg115 repo, for example, # pacman -S xorg115/xf86-video-intel xorg115/xf86-input-evdev xorg115/xf86-input-synaptics
I have put a comment here.
Last edited by toni (2014-12-14 12:31:29)