Display configuration problems

[aphatak]

I have a wierd problem. First, my set-up -

Intel i5 quad-core CPU
16GB RAM
Two Radeon HD5450 video cards, each with two monitors.
Multi-boot - Windows7, Ubuntu 10.04.2 and Ububtu 10.04.2 (not a typo, the second instance is for experiments)
Both the 10.04's have the proprietary ATI video drivers.

On the first set-up, everything works beautifully. All four monitors are alive, and configured with Xinerama as a single large desktop. In the second Ubuntu 10.04 set-up, I have two problems -

The second video card is not recognized - it shows up as an unrecognized card. Of the two monitors connected to it, only one is detected, with a resolution of 640x480, not the 1920x1080 the first set-up sees.
When I try and switch to the virtual terminal - ctl-alt-F1, I get a blank screen. The terminal is alive and well - I can log in, and enter commands which are executed. For example, when I enter 'ls -l > dir.txt', I see a 'dir.txt' file in my home folder; nothing shows on the screen. And, for my life, I cannot figure out how I got the first set up to work!

I have tried copying the xorg.conf from the first (working) set-up to the second, but still no joy. The Grub GFXMODE and GFXPAYLOAD are common to both the set-ups, so that can't be the difference.

Any suggestions?

[Krytarik]

Are both systems running the same version of the proprietary driver?:

dpkg -l |grep fglrxIs the problem system running it at all?:

lshw -c videoIf yes to at least the latter, you may try


reinstalling the driver:



sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --reinstall fglrx

upgrading the driver through Ubuntu-X-Swat PPA, it offers more recent drivers than the offical repos:

https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates (https://launchpad.net/%7Eubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgradeIf you need/want to remove those PPA and downgrade the concerning packages again:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updatesGreetings.

[aphatak]

@Krytarik: Thanks for the pointers. Will try these out when I get home tonight and post the results.

And this is my strongest reason for switching over from Windows to Linux - your help comes from knowledgeable people who are actually interested in solving your problem, not from a call-center where greenhorns read to you from their ready-made scripts!

[Krytarik]

And this is my strongest reason for switching over from Windows to Linux - your help comes from knowledgeable people who are actually interested in solving your problem, not from a call-center where greenhorns read to you from their ready-made scripts!
LOL:P Thanks! You are right, Linux in general has a very strong community, and the share of geeks is still relatively high.

[aphatak]

Didn't get the chance to try all the suggestions out yesterday evening. Planning to do it in the next couple of days - will post the results.

[Krytarik]

Didn't get the chance to try all the suggestions out yesterday evening. Planning to do it in the next couple of days - will post the results.
Yeah, no problem! Take your time.