Cannot reach desktop ("Failed to load module "fglrx") after upgrading

[fredrikj]

Hi all,

I just ran the Ubuntu upgrade manager and went along with the suggestion to do a distribution upgrade (to 10.10). Following this, when I start up my laptop, I only reach the command line (no Gnome session).

If I run "startx", I get:

...
Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
dlopen: /usr/lib/xorg/extra-modules/modules/drivers/fglrx_drv.so: undefined symbol: savedScreenInfo
(EE) Failed to load /usr/lib/xorg/extra-modules/modules/drivers/fglrx_drv.so
(EE) Failed to load module "fglrx" (loader failed, 7)
(EE) No drivers available.

Fatal server error:
no screens found
...

Any ideas what to do? The laptop in question is an ACER Aspire 5738ZG (graphics card Radeon HD4570).

Fredrik

[fredrikj]

I've tried replacing xorg.conf with xorg.conf.failsafe but this results either in a black screen, or a segfault message if I try to startx from recovery mode.

[sikander3786]

Ubuntu no longer uses the xorg.conf. Try to reconfigure your graphics settings by,

cd /etc/X11

sudo cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.old

sudo rm xorg.conf

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

[fredrikj]

Ubuntu no longer uses the xorg.conf. Try to reconfigure your graphics settings by,

cd /etc/X11

sudo cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.old

sudo rm xorg.conf

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Okay, I've done these. The result is that the screen flickers to purple as it usually does, but then I only get a black screen.

[sikander3786]

You mean it is not automatically booting you to the command line any more, only the screen goes black? If so, it is a good sign.

[fredrikj]

You mean it is not automatically booting you to the command line any more, only the screen goes black? If so, it is a good sign.

Yes. How is it a good sign? It's seems worse to me if I can't even get a command line to work with

So what's the next step?

[sikander3786]

If you don't see the Grub menu automatically, hold down and press the Shift key at your Bios screen. Now pointing to the first entry, press 'e' to edit it. Using arrow keys, navigate to "quiet & splash" delete them and type "nomodeset" in their place. Press Ctrl + X to continue booting.

Do you see the desktop now?

[fredrikj]

Nope. The screen flickers. It seems to turn on (purple light), then turns off with 1-second intervals.

[sikander3786]

From the same Grub menu, you can select recovery mode and choose Safe Graphics Mode or something like that. Does that work either?

[fredrikj]

Nope, recovery mode with "failsafeX" gives an error message, including something about a Segmentation fault. The text disappears, so I can't reproduce it here unless it ends up in a log somewhere.