ATI Radeon 9000 and Ubuntu 9.10

[Jimmyguns]

Hey guys, definately a new linux user here. I have just finished installing 9.10 on a Latitude D600 with Mobile Radeon 9000 video card. I log in ok using gnome but when ever i try to open any app or anything that brings up the admin pw prompt the machine locks up and i have to do a hard shutdown. I am currently running the machine fine under the failsafe gnome option.

I really don't even know where to being troubleshooting this as up until now i have been a windows user. After doing quite a bit of poking around I realize that getting this particular ATI card to function properly can be quite a task.

Most of the solutions being recommended that I have come across involve editing the xorg.conf file. I don't really understand where this information is stored in 9.10 because it appears things have changed quite a bit.

Basically I'm looking for a good walkthrough on troubleshooting video issues in ubuntu, commands to view current settings, change drivers, etc. Also appreciated would be a some info regarding required packages and what exactly the packages do.

Anyone else having difficulty with this particular laptop model or video card out there that can shed some light on things?

Thanks for your time!

[Giblet5]

I don't have a Radeon but the consensus seems to be that is a driver issue, and if you change the Device section of xorg.conf, that will "fix" it.

Open a terminal window (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and enter the following commands:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Look for the Device section and change the entire section to this

Section "Device"
 Identifier "ATI Radeon"
 Driver "ati"
 Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
 Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
 Option "AccelDFS" "true"
 Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"
 Option "EnableDepthMoves" "true"
EndSection

Then scroll down to the "Screen" section and change the Device value to "ATI Radeon".

Save it and exit gedit.

Now enter (in the terminal)

/etc/init.d/gdm restart

That will log you off and restart the Xorg server, picking up the new settings.

Does that fix it?

[Jimmyguns]

Thanks for the reply. As I mentioned before (I know it was a long post and some points may have gotten lost) the xorg.conf file doesn't exist in the fresh install of 9.10 from the live CD. I think they have changed how the config is stored or it is created on the fly or something. I did, however, create one and inserted the code you mentioned. Upon logging in there was alot of strange artifacting and it eventually locked up and I was forced to pull the plug.

[Giblet5]

It's used if it's there... :/

Here's a complete xorg.conf that should work

Section "Device"
        Identifier "ATI Radeon"
        Driver "ati"
        Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
        Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
        Option "AccelDFS" "true"
        Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"
        Option "EnableDepthMoves" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
        Device          "ATI Radeon"
	DefaultDepth	24
EndSection

Use the code from before to gedit xorg.conf, copy/paste that in, overwriting everything. Save it, then restart X as before.

If it still doesn't work, just remove the new xorg.conf cuz it ain't helpin'.

[kevanj]

Thanks Giblet5...

your solution worked for me using the same system as the OP. My installation was an upgrade from Jaunty which had what I guess was a 'default' xorg.conf. Replacing it with your version worked a treat.

[toulousain]

Well, this solution did not work for me. But finally I found a workaround that works well. I cannot activate compiz, but it's useless for me at the moment.

I installed Ubuntu 9.10 from scratch, from a CD, on my D600 and I got some freezes just after login (and some time even before the login!). It was completely random. I had a look at this post and tried this solution. There was no /etc/X11/xorg.conf after the install. I created one with the config mentioned above, I restarted the X server and the PC several times but it did not fix the issue. It was still freezing... And I had new issues with the display that was not well refreshed.

Finally I decided to install the Catalyst proprietary driver and it fixed the problem.

I downloaded the driver from here: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206...x86.x86_64.run

Then in a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) I executed the following command from where I downloaded the driver:

sudo ./ati-driver-installer-9-10-x86.x86_64.run --buildandinstallpkg

I accepted the installation of the new packages. Everything ran well during the installation.

Important: when the installation complete I deleted the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf I created above.

sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Finally I restarted my PC and it fixed all my problems.

[nomnex]

@toulousain,

I am looking for the proprietary driver for my ATI Radeon 9000 on a Fujitsu notebook (I use Jaunty), where did you find yours - the full web site address please.

Your driver seems different than those available there: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...n-prer200.aspx

To anyone: on the official ATI page (link above), there are 3 download options (2 seems identicals - the XFree 86)
Option a (one choice):
- XFree 86 4.3 Drivers
Option b (two choices):
- XFree68 4.3 Drivers
- X.Org 6.8 Drivers

What's the one for Ubuntu 9.04/9.10? Thanks

[nomnex]

Update: I found the link http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pa...ords=&items=20

But I am still unsure of the proper driver to choose, the on in the link above (see: toulousain post) or the ones in my previous post.

[jocko]

Update: I found the link http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pa...ords=&items=20

But I am still unsure of the proper driver to choose, the on in the link above (see: toulousain post) or the ones in my previous post.

You already have the proper driver (the open source driver named radeon) installed and used by default. The proprietary driver (fglrx/catalyst) does not support your card.

[nomnex]

thanks jocko

not sure if I am hijacking this thread? ATI radeon 9000 on notebook Fujitsu and Jaunty 9.04: the rendering is not good (it is a bit dark and it lacks shinning) and the frame rate is too low (windows break when I move them on the screen).

Display is 1400 x 1050 (4:3) SXGA http://www.fmworld.net/product/hard/.../nh/index.html

1) How do I fix it - by editing the xorg file as above with the same value?

2) The second notebook as an ATI radeon 9200, can I use the fglrx/catalyst driver? Advice.