Cannot get open source ATI driver working ACER AL1916w & Radeon 9000. Ubuntu 7.10

[samborona]

Hi All,

I posted on here a couple of weeks ago, and have been tearing my hair out for a solution, even trying different distros. I have read thread after thread and am absolutely clueless as to why I cannot get it working.

Basically, the problem is that when the ATI ubuntu open source driver is selected the monitor will display "no signal" or "input not supported" after the bootsplash (log-in screen). I have tried dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, edited the xorg.conf manually trying different things to no avail.

I can only get ubuntu working with the "vesa" driver, which wouldn't bother me but the only resolution I can get is 1280xsomething rather than the 1440x900 which my monitor needs. The monitor is an aceral1916w - I don't think that is the cause of the problem but it may contribute to it?

I really don't know what else to try - somebody suggested this may be the problem on another forum:

well, I hauled my 8500 back out of storage and hooked it up to the computer that is still up for sale... and um... yeah, something odd with the ATi driver, screen just goes black.

The problem seems to be that the X.org Core and kernel received and update, but the existing X.org ATi driver did not.

The difference in X.org also means that the 8.28 driver won't load... it throws a hissy fit.

So... anybody with the talent to package a more recent version of the X.org ATi driver?

Do you think this could be the case? But then surely more people would be experiencing this problem. I remember a while back trying ubuntu 5.(something) and I definitely had beryl working and 3d effects. All I want for now is my 1440x900 resolution!

Any help/suggestions appreciated - I just want to get it working so I can tweak everything how I would like it because I am literally tearing my hair out.

[samborona]

Also while I remember, would upgrading be a bad idea at the moment until I get this sorted as I have heard that the editing of the xorg file isn't possible/harder so I could end up not being able to boot into ubuntu at all.

I tried the beta and the above happened if I remember correctly.

[Kubunteando]

My first suggestion would be to upgrade to 8.04.
The main reason is because it has the new X.org 7.3 which is much more stable.
Also you have a "safe mode" for X.org.
You can try the 8.04 liveCD and see how it works.

If you want to still try 7.10 I would post the following info executing the commands from a console:

1- the output of "lspci"
2- the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log

The file 2 is needed when you have been using the driver radeon, not the vesa. So you can try to login, and when you get the "no signal", press Ctrl+Ald+Del to restart X.org and then copy the file.

[Kubunteando]

By the way, how do you connect the graphic card with the monitor, is it just a normal VGA port?

[samborona]

I think I will more than likely try and upgrade it - hopefully that will do the trick. I will still post the information below just out of interest in case it helps anybody else.

Output of lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE/PE DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE/PE Host-to-AGP Bridge (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 82)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV250 If [Radeon 9000] (rev 01)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (rev 82)
02:09.0 Modem: ALi Corporation SmartLink SmartPCI561 56K Modem

(Will need to edit xorg file and post back for #2)

I connect with a normal vga port, nothing too fancy

Thanks for the reply.

[samborona]

Actually forget that - cannot seem to get it to do anything when the monitor goes so will just upgrade and report back how I get on.

[samborona]

Well I've upgraded to 8.04 and it has hindered things rather than helped if anything...

I cannot find the "safe mode" for X :S and the "GUI" to edit xserver-xorg I am also struggling to find - searched google but only details about them.

I changed "vesa" to "ati" on the xorg.conf and rebooted, hoping it would work. It now loads up the log-in screen @ 1440x900, but there are white boxes all over it sometimes, or other times it just looks odd. It wont let me click on the log-in boxes or anything for that matter so I am unable to log-in. I think in 7.10 this occasionaly happened. Again, I'm not sure why it's doing this...

On a side-note, its a real shame that dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg doesn't work "in full" as in 7.10 as it would have saved me a lot of bother when my install was effectively useless seen as though I couldn't log in. At least before I could be back up and running in five minutes because I could select the vesa driver. I had to manually edit the xorg.conf in terminal which wasn't really great. It's a shame this is no longer available. I'm all for making ubuntu easier for people if it works out of the box - but when things go wrong and you are left with CLI it does complicate things!

[Kubunteando]

This case is funny indeed, the ATI Radeon 9000 has been supported for years. The laptop I use has the Mobility version of it.

The "safe mode" is selectable in the login screen, just where you select your session tyoe: Gnome, KDE,... I think the name is "failsafe".

How about now, are you able to get the Xorg.0.log file?

Do you see anything when you login, still a black screen?

[samborona]

Thanks for the reply - unfortunately when it gets to the login screen I cannot even select that since (if the cursor responds) if I click something it just doesn't respond, so I can't even log-in.

The log-in "screen" displays but is usually messed up or unresponsive as outlined above.

The problem I am having getting the Xorg.0.log is that when the log-in screen is displayed the system appears to "lock up" - I cannot drop to terminal or restart or anything, so have to turn off and on via the power button...

I cannot understand why either - everybody else at least seems to be able to get it working straight away and are worried about 3d effects! Could it be something to do with the monitor?

[Kubunteando]

I don't think it is related to the monitor.

Can you login and work normally if you use the vesa driver?

I would give a try to edit the boot entry in GRUB and append in the kernel line booting option "acpi=off", and check the result.
No need to edit any file, just in grub press "e" for editing the option you want to boot, and then add at the end of all other options: "acpi=off"

Just to know a bit more about your system:
- what is yor processor?
- are there any tweaks in the xorg.conf file?

Without the Xorg.0.log it is difficult to say anything. So the first step is to be able to login. If the system hangs (not even the light of the Caps Lock are working), a look to the file /var/log/kernel.log will help, for example if you can get it when booting with the vesa driver, or even in recovery mode with no graphical session.