Installed Incorrect Video Drivers

[jon64]

Last night i put in a new ATI Radeon HD 2600XT into my ubuntu box and it ran fine. But i wanted to install the ATI drivers so all the graphics will run smoothly. So i installed the ATI drivers via the "Add/remove" the ubuntu start button and i guess that was the wrong set of drivers cause when i get the the login screen my monitor turns all black. I can see the POST and the ubuntu loading bar and thats about it.

I need help uninstalling the video drivers and replacing it with the correct drivers. Please help thanks!

[soapBAR2]

Boot up your computer until your monitor turns black. Then, press CTRL+ALT+F1 to drop to Virtual Terminal 1 (JSKY, there's also CTRL+ALT+F2 for VT2, CTRL+ALT+F3 for VT3, etc). Then, type this:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

This will reset your X-server to it's original install settings. The driver will still be there, but it will not be being used. Uninstall it at your leisure.

If you still want to install accelerated graphics, I recommend trying envy (it's a tool for installing graphics drivers, I know, seems a bit redundant to install a program to install a program, but there you go).

GNOME/XFCE (Ubuntu, Xubuntu) USERS:

sudo apt-get install envyng-core envynt-gtk

KDE (Kubuntu) USERS:

sudo apt-get install envyng-core envyng-qt

[aethex]

Never tried this, but it might work in Safe mode.

If you're dual-booting, a Safe Mode (or Recovery Mode) entry will appear in the list of operating systems, courtesy of GRUB. My guess is that this will use the built-in drivers and disable most features so that you can uninstall the driver packages.

[jon64]

I tried to get into Virtual Terminal as you said and i wasn't able to. It seems as if my ubuntu system isnt responding after the ubuntu loading screen. Is there anything i can do in ubuntu's recovery mode to fix this?

[gradinaruvasile]

I tried to get into Virtual Terminal as you said and i wasn't able to. It seems as if my ubuntu system isnt responding after the ubuntu loading screen. Is there anything i can do in ubuntu's recovery mode to fix this?

Select recovery mode, then root prompt from the list
There type:

dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

reboot

*Enter after each command

[jon64]

I just tried that but still the same results. My system just halts and goes to a black screen.

[gradinaruvasile]

I just tried that but still the same results. My system just halts and goes to a black screen.

Then boot in recovery mode/root prompt and type:

nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

find the Section "Device"
insert the following line below the Identifier line

Driver "vesa"

press ctrl-o and then ctrl-x

reboot

[jon64]

Computer still Halts. I have no idea what the hell is going on. The last thing i did was install the ATI drivers via add/remove. I dont understand why it would halt my system.

[gradinaruvasile]

Hmm. then maybe u should remove them. Log in the recovery console.

I think

apt-get remove --purge fglrx*

should do it.

Then again

dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

and

reboot

[solitaire]

If your machine is halting during the boot process you will need to use a LiveCD to boot the machine.

Then you can use gradinaruvasile's post #7 to edit the xorg.conf then reboot as normal.

Once it starts to can try the other suggestions to remove the offending drivers....