Howto: Setup Compiz Fusion with open source ati radeon drivers

Older ATI cards have been blacklisted for Compiz Fusion because of a bug in the driver, but there is an easy workaround for many cards that use the open source ati drivers. Radeon 9500 are the oldest cards to support the restricted "fglrx" drivers, so everything older requires the open source drivers to function properly.

First edit the launcher for Compiz Fusion:
gksudo gedit /usr/bin/compiz
Near the top, add the line
SKIP_CHECKS="yes"
I added it under VERBOSE="yes"

You may also need to install the Compiz settings manager program that you can access from System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effect Settings | 1-click install or:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
You can now load Compiz Fusion with
compiz --replace
and revert to Metacity (the basic window manager) with
metacity --replace
I suggest making launchers in a panel for this.

Remember that this is a workaround and may not work for everybody. If you have further problems, you should consider running a forum search and then posting on one of the main support forums if you still need help.
For the record, my card is an ATI Mobility Radeon 9000.

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