Updated 10/21/2006.
Note: Not quite applicable to Edgy yet; ie I haven't gotten fglrx working in edgy yet. If you have, please post your card and what you did! In the interim, a better guide is here.
The HOWTO Itself
First, update your package database.
Code:
sudo apt-get update
Now, as mentioned in the original thread, remove the fglrx driver and restricted modules if you have them installed. If you're not sure, you can do these commands anyway; it will just tell you it's not installed.
Code:
sudo apt-get remove xorg-driver-fglrx
sudo apt-get remove linux-restricted-modules-$(uname -r)
Your xorg file must also be set to be ati, not fglrx now, or else X won't start. To do this, open up /etc/X11/xorg.conf in your favorite text editor with root priveledges, in my case $>sudo emacs -nw /etc/X11/xorg.conf and under the section marked "Device", make sure you have Driver listed as "ati" and not "fglrx".
Reboot.
Now, first install the restricted modules, then install the fglrx driver. It may also help to install other things related to fglrx; I also have xserver-xorg-driver-ati installed. fglrx-control is useful but not necessary (meaning I have fglrx working properly without fglrx-control installed).
Code:
sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-$(uname -r)
sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx
Go back into your text editor with /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and rechange Driver under "Device" from "ati" to "fglrx".
Reboot.
Use fglrxinfo (or, if you're running Xgl with the gdm hack (ie running everything on screen 1 in stead of screen 0), do fglrxinfo -display :1.0) should now give something like
Code:
display: :0.0 screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: MOBILITY RADEON X300 Generic
OpenGL version string: 2.0.5695 (8.23.7)
Note: Don't worry about the "Generic" part. If this didn't work, before you go to troubleshooting, double check you have fglrx in Xorg and try
Code:
sudo aticonfig --initial
sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv
.
Troubleshooting/WTF section
In general,
Code:
strace fglrxinfo 2>&1 | less
sudo dmesg | grep fgrlx
might help you figure out what's up. Note that these solutions were contributed by people with a mix of Breezy and Dapper, they might not work on both or either. These solutions are listed in relative order of difficulty, from easiest to hardest.
0. Problem: It doesn't work, but I was paying attention during the install and noticed that certain commands gave error messages as they executed.
Solution: Post the error message from the install here. Meaning, not the output of fglrxinfo, which is obviously broken, but the errors that occurred when installing packages, etc. We can hopefully try to help you with those errors. Sometimes they might be "failed to remove directory: not empty" types of errors; if you have balls, and don't care too much for your system, try simply removing manually what the install says it cannot remove. As you can see below, a lot of linking goes on, so automatic removals and cleanups don't always work. Obviously though, the rm command can be as fatal as it is useful, so be careful. Do post here if you don't know what to do.
1. Problem: fglrx randomly stopped working
Solution: You probably just updated (to a new kernel). You need the restricted modules (and probably the headers as well) for your new kernel. Repeat the process above, with appropriate kernel version, etc. You can avoid this by installing linux-kernel-[3,6]86 and restricted modules with -[3,6]86 as well (instead of linux-kernel-$(uname -r))
2. Problem: fglrx isn't finding files it needs, ie things are not linked properly
Solution: First check if this is an issue for you.Use
Code:
cd /usr/lib/
ls -la | grep libGL
to check links. Make sure the link from /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 goes to /usr/lib/libGL.so.1.2 (fglrx) instead of something else (Mesa). Also make sure the link from /usr/lib/libGLU.so.1 points to /usr/lib/libGLU.so.1.3.x. If they don't, you can probably make the links manually. Try for info on making sym links. Also check
Code:
cd /usr/lib/
ls -la | grep dri
has /usr/lib/dri linking to to /usr/lib/xorg/modules/dri. If it doesn't, try
Code:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/dri /usr/lib/xorg/modules/dri
Disclaimer: from experience I know that messing around with links can REALLY mess things up if you sudo ln -s over a file that already exists. Be SURE you understand the syntax of ln and that you are not linking over a file that already exists; if you think you have to back, that file up first. You can (almost) always recover from accidents involving linking components of X badly by going into recovery mode and undoing what you've done.
3. Problem: It's not the links, I think its the fglrx driver
Fix: Start doing the steps from the main way again but install this instead of xorg-driver-fglrx. Or, failing that, try them both. One or the other seems more logical though. Get them here:
Code:
http://enemy-territory.co.il/Linux/fglrx-6-8-0_8.23.7-2_i386.deb
From the directory the file downloaded from, do
Code:
sudo dpkg -i fglrx_6_8_0-8.23.7-2.i386.deb
To install the drivers. Now make sure your /etc/X11/xorg.conf has "fglrx" instead of "ati" under the Driver section of "Device", and reboot. These drivers are probably outdated by now though, you might want to try googling or posting to find out what are the latest ones. They change often.
4. Problem: DRI is messed up
Solution: To first figure out if DRI is the problem, look for common culprits: errors in your xorg log (usually its /var/log/Xorg.9[3,4].log or something similar in that directoyr) regarding DRI, DRI is not enabled in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file (it should be a section at the bottom of the file), there is not DRI in your /usr/X11R6/lib/modules directory, "$>strace fglrxinfo 2>&1 | less | grep DRI" gives you errors regarding DRI, etc.
Solution: Add or enable DRI in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf; ask in this thread or post if you don't know how. Using similar techniques to alt solution #1, try linking DRI to where it needs to be if it does not exist in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules. Do this with
Code:
cd /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/
sudo ln -s ../../../lib/dri
Alternately you could try
Code:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/xorg/modules/dri /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri
Check to see what's missing where before you start blindly linking.
5. Problem: Not sure still/basic driver issues with fglrx
Solution: Go here, choose your distro, and go to Method 2.
6. Problem: Nothing fixed my problem
Solution: Post about it here. Try to include as much info as possible. Please don't post your Xorg log over four separate posts, attach it as a file.
I will try to do as much as I can with helping others troubleshoot this issue, but I'm not exactly an expert. Also, so many people have helped contribute to this that I can't begin to list everyone. Thank you guys.
Adv Reply
Originally Posted by whatever
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