HOWTO: Install the ATI driver on ANY stable version of Ubuntu

[tseliot]

If you want to install ATI's proprietary driver you can follow this guide:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI


Please, remember that only the installation of the driver from Ubuntu's repositories is officially supported by Ubuntu.

Should you want an easier but not supported method to install the ATI driver you can try Envy (at your very own risk)

[gmanr26]

I just followed these simple instructions and yet my card is not working. When you drag windows around in Ubuntu the movement is shaky which tells me that the graphics card is not being used. My card is the ATI Radeon 9550 (x8 AGP) ... any help.

[tseliot]

Originally Posted by gmanr26 I just followed these simple instructions and yet my card is not working. When you drag windows around in Ubuntu the movement is shaky which tells me that the graphics card is not being used. My card is the ATI Radeon 9550 (x8 AGP) ... any help.

which method did you try?

[gmanr26]

Originally Posted by tseliot which method did you try?

I fixed it. Apparently it was installed and working it's just the ATI sucks in Linux because they are proprietary. Now running Compiz (sp)

[ag65151]

I tried the instructions for Feisty, but whenever I start X I got "No Screen found." I must admit to being a noob when it comes to X. There is a Screen defined in xorg.info using the proper driver. I don't know how to continue.

[maxrisc]

No screens found could mean that the resolution or vertical refresh rate you have selected are out of range.

On my lappy if I select 1440x900@75 I get the error. When I set it to 1440x900@60 X starts.

[aouie]

There are some known issues and no ideas about the HD 2000 series. Also, this hasn't been tested. But, hopefully someone will test the method described in my other post and put it in a neater format and make it a sticky.

It should be as simple as

Starting with a *** CLEAN SYSTEM WITH DEFAULT VESA DRIVERS FOR THE ATI CARD *** (and the libstdC++ 5 and updated "mesa" packages)
Download ATI's drivers for Linux.

sudo sh ./ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run

Follow the prompts for the automatic install.

sudo aticonfig --initial=dual-head --screen-layout=left --vrefresh=1,85

Restart X.
You should now have a *** WORKING DUAL HEAD SYSTEM WITH PROPRIETARY ATI DRIVERS ***,

Sincerely,
Aouie

[digital_exhaust]

Gave it a try and I get...

digital@digital-desktop:~$ sudo sh ./ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run
sh: Can't open ./ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run
digital@digital-desktop:~$

Downloaded the drivers three separate times and got the same results each time... on a clean updated install...

Any ideas?

[tseliot]

Originally Posted by digital_exhaust Gave it a try and I get... digital@digital-desktop:~$ sudo sh ./ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run sh: Can't open ./ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run digital@digital-desktop:~$ Downloaded the drivers three separate times and got the same results each time... on a clean updated install... Any ideas?

the guide says:

      Perform the following commands (where <version> is the version number of the installer):

sudo ln -sf bash /bin/sh
bash ./ati-driver-installer-<version>.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/edgy
sudo ln -sf dash /bin/sh
You may need to wait a few mintues for this to complete.

therefore you will have to type:

sudo ln -sf bash /bin/sh
bash ./ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/feisty
sudo ln -sf dash /bin/sh

[kipman725]

Hello I installed the latest ATI drivers and they are working well but some of the information in the howto is not correct for all users:
control center works fine on my Pc
I didn't have to do any editing of linux-restricted-moduals-common file to have the latest driver

still don't have AGP DMA in any form working so performance is still kind of neutered (this is a motherboard issue) but alot better than what I was getting with the apt-get drivers (I don't think they installed properly). Thanks