Problem Installing Video Card in Ubuntu - Tech Support Forums

fpantovich · January 13th, 2008, 09:53 PM

Well, I posted this on the Ubuntu Forums, but I haven't gotten a response yet, so I figured I'd give the tried and true forums that I'm so used to a go and see how many Linux gurus we have here that may be able to help me out

Here's the post, if you need anything else, let me know. Thanks.

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Well, I've been googling, searching the Ubuntu forums, trying everything I could find to get this to work. Now, after all these tries, I think I may have jacked things up, but not certain. I'm not a COMPLETE n00b to Linux, but I'm more familiar with Windows and Unix than I am with Linux, so things are a little bit testing for me.

First, let me give you my system setup, then I'll get into the details of what I'm trying to accomplish and such. Thanks.

Intel C2D E6600
HIS ATI X1950 Pro Extreme 512MB PCI-E
2GB OCZ DDR2 800 RAM (will be 6GB once I resolve the driver issue, as I don't want to cross more than 1 hurdle at a time )
MSI 975X Platinum Power-up Edition Motherboard
Hanns-G JW199DPB 19" Widescreen Monitor
Ubuntu 7.10 64-Bit OS

Ok, here's what I'm trying to do. I was initially able to get 3D rendering working with installing the latest ATI drivers. The problem was that I had zero widescreen support, which I need/prefer for some of my applications. So, I started researching things a bit more and found that the latest ATI drivers have problems with widescreen, but the prior version doesn't (7.11). No biggie, I just uninstalled those then installed the 7.11 drivers from the ATI website. Well, that gave me widescreen, but no 3D support. Now I can even run any of my applications that require 3D rendering as I have no 3D rendering capabilities.

I've tried completely removing all FGLRX packages installed and then trying to reinstall the generic Ubuntu ones, but that isn't even working right anymore. I think something is lingering around and I don't know exactly how to clear everything away that has been previously installed so that I can start from scratch, again (without reinstalling Ubuntu, ofcourse).

Now, I'd like to avoid an OS reinstall as I like troubleshooting rather than just reformatting, so anything you need, just let me know. I've gone into Synaptic and tried removing the packages that way as well, and I don't think that removes everything either. Please let me know any suggestions ya'll have for getting my system back to scratch when it comes to the ATI drivers so that I can install the 7.11 drivers from scratch (with no traces of any other drivers) and get Widescreen AND 3D rendering capabilities at the same time.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you are able to provide me.

fpantovich · January 13th, 2008, 10:17 PM

Oh yeah...I also forgot that when I go to the terminal and try to run fglrxinfo it now just resets the XServer and brings me back to the log-in screen; whereas it used to give me the graphics info (was ati while I had the 7.12 drivers installed, but wouldn't change from Mesa when I installed the 7.11 drivers, and now won't even display at all). Doesn't even display anything in the terminal. This is why i'm at a stuck point and need some assistance. Let me know what ya'll think. Thanks.

fpantovich · January 14th, 2008, 02:01 PM

bump for possible suggestions, as I know the Linux Forums don't get looked at too often...I'm thinking that a reload is probably my best bet at resolving this issue, but we'll see. Let me know what ya'll think. Thanks.

GameManK · January 15th, 2008, 05:14 PM

You could try using envy: http://www.albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html to install the driver. I haven't tried it myself though.

fpantovich · January 15th, 2008, 08:29 PM

eh, I've tried that, that actually messed it up even more...After using Envy I didn't have 3D support AND I didn't have Widescreen. With all my other attempts, I atleast had 1 or the other. Envy works for some people, but not all. It's a nifty program, but not a guarantee, yet.

fpantovich · January 15th, 2008, 11:52 PM

mainly for future reference in-case anybody else wants to install Ubuntu Linux on their system and is worried about their graphics card drivers. Here's what I posted on the Ubuntu forums. Goes to show how simple life can be when you use your noggen a bit

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well, well, well...from what I can tell so far, the ones that Ubuntu installs by itself are working for 3D rendering AND widescreen support. I did things a tad bit different during this install, however.

After reformatting/repartitioning and installing, I did NOTHING but the Restricted Drivers Manager on the first boot-up. Enable the ATI Restricted driver and then let it do it's thing and rebooted. After this I did ALL of the updates listed and did a reboot. Then I did the next set of updates that came up (didn't require a reboot this time) and installed Wine. Installed all the other applications I wanted installed and got the move on.

I basically did things in a specific order, video first, then OS, then personal preference, instead of how I did it before--video last. Goes to show ya how doing things in a smart order can actually benefit ya. Looks like Ubuntu wins again with great default drivers Good job. Thanks all for your assistance. Much appreciated.