Problem with installing drivers for ati hd6850

[aviusz]

Hello, newbie here.

First of all, i've never had luck with linux (tried to get it running (in "everything is pefect" mode) several times in my life, yet im still stuck with windows...), so dont get suprised if it will be 'tragical case'.

Recently i decided to try once more. I went for xubuntu 12.04 (not like i have ancient PC, I just like lightweightness of that OS). Everything was pretty good until i realised that im running in 1024x768 mode, tried to switch that in options but its capped at 1024x768.

"it begins" part.

So I've decided to set out on my journey for looking for some drivers for my AtiCard
I'll lay down everything in numbered list as representation of steps i have made. Hope it will be easier to read.

1. Tried to install it trough "Hardware Drivers" (not sure if i recall corectly name of that app + im on widows currently so i cant rly look it up, hope you know what i mean). So it downloaded some things, then installed it giving no errors whatsoever, told be to reboot, so i rebooted, after grub, it started to load os in normal way (you know... shiny bar + big "xubuntu" sign), and after 10-14 sec of loading... BOOM black screen. At this point i didnt knew anything about tty1 so i just reinstalled OS.
2. then i tried install drivers trough terminal (listed as "Using the Ubuntu repositories (alternate command line method)" in this guide: help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI) with same effect. no errors, reboot, black screen, reinstall OS.
3. then i tried to just download drivers from AMD ATI page and execute it trough terminal (not sure if that was said correctly ;s) using

    sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-8.982-x86.x86_64.run

   . Same effect. no errors, reboot, black screen. At this point i read about tty1 (smart man). i managed to uninstall fglrx and reboot into OS correctly but still without drivers.
4. then i tried to install drivers trough --buildpkg method from same guide. (yup, u guessed it) Same effect.
5. I though i might be a problem with this specific distro so I tried same thing on fedora (sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-8.982-x86.x86_64.run method), with (ofc) same effect

Just a note: I dont rly care about 3d acceleration... I'll prolly still keep windows for games and some CAD programs. Ofc it would be great if i could play my (currently) full time game (league of legends, can be easily luchned trough wine, so they say), but in fact, all i need is higher resolution, so maybe installing drivers isnt only way to go (maybe i can force it somehow to set higher resolution?).

I googled that problem and searched trough forums, none of it helped (or maybe i cant search). You guys are pretty much my last hope on my jurney with linux.
PS sorry about my poor english, im not native ("no sh.t sherlock") and im still learning it.

[rokytnji]

Just for grins (I am dist-upgrading semplice linux right now) does

~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 2048 x 2048
VGA-1 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 306mm x 230mm
   1024x768       85.0*+   75.1     60.0  
   1280x1024      60.0  
   800x600        75.0     60.3  
   640x480        85.0     75.0     60.0  
   720x400        70.1

show in Xubuntu. If xrandr does not spit out anything. Try grandr. In my Window managers (I don't run Desktop Enviorments much anymore like XFCE).

lubuntu - Set a specific screen resolution with xrandr - Ask Ubuntu

[aviusz]

here is what xrandr threw out

~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 16384 x 16384
DisplayPort-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-0 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1024x768       60.0* 
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   848x480        60.0  
   640x480        59.9  
DVI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

about that url... im not rly sure what am i supposed to do (like i said, im newbie)...

:~$ gtf 1280 1024 60

  # 1280x1024 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 63.60 kHz; pclk: 108.88 MHz
  Modeline "1280x1024_60.00"  108.88  1280 1360 1496 1712  1024 1025 1028 1060  -HSync +Vsync

:~$ xrandr --newmode "1280x1024_60.00"  108.88  1280 1360 1496 1712  1024 1025 1028 1060
:~$ xrandr --addmode DVI-0 1028x1024_60.00
xrandr: cannot find mode "1028x1024_60.00"

what am I doing wrong?
also...
I dont have this directory

/etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

ofc i understand that i dont run LXDE, however i rly dont understand what am I supposed to do... there is no file named "autostart" in entire /etc/xdg/ or its subfolders. Only objects that contains "autorstart" in themselfs are folders:

/etc/xdg/xdg-xubuntu/autostart$ dir
xfce4-tips-autostart.desktop

and

/etc/xdg/autostart$ dir
at-spi-dbus-bus.desktop		polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1.desktop
blueman.desktop			print-applet.desktop
gnome-keyring-gpg.desktop	pulseaudio.desktop
gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop	pulseaudio-kde.desktop
gnome-keyring-secrets.desktop	update-notifier.desktop
gnome-keyring-ssh.desktop	user-dirs-update-gtk.desktop
gsettings-data-convert.desktop	xfce4-notes-autostart.desktop
jockey-gtk.desktop		xfce4-power-manager.desktop
nm-applet.desktop		xfce4-settings-helper-autostart.desktop
onboard-autostart.desktop	xfce4-volumed.desktop

could you walk me trough just a little bit?

and also, thanks for reply : )

[rokytnji]

could you walk me trough just a little bit?

and also, thanks for reply : )

I guess I have more options than you in xrander

~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 2048 x 2048
VGA-1 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 306mm x 230mm
1024x768 85.0*+ 75.1 60.0
1280x1024 60.0

with the 1280x1024 than you do because I have

$ inxi -G
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA NV6 [Vanta/Vanta LT] 
           X.Org: 1.12.3.902 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1024x768@85.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI nv05 x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 1.2 Mesa 8.0.4

Because I have mesa-utils and nouveau (which is the opoen source nviidia driver for my nvidia graphics chip. mesa-utils below

harry@biker:~$ apt-cache policy mesa-utils
mesa-utils:
  Installed: 8.0.1-2+b3
  Candidate: 8.0.1-2+b3
  Version table:
 *** 8.0.1-2+b3 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
harry@biker:~$ apt-cache show mesa-utils
Package: mesa-utils
Source: mesa-demos (8.0.1-2)
Version: 8.0.1-2+b3
Installed-Size: 105
Maintainer: Debian X Strike Force <debian-x@lists.debian.org>
Architecture: i386
Replaces: xbase-clients (<< 6.8.2-38)
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.1), libgl1-mesa-glx | libgl1, libglew1.7 (>= 1.7.0), libglu1-mesa | libglu1, libx11-6, libxext6
Description-en: Miscellaneous Mesa GL utilities
 This package provides several basic GL utilities built by Mesa, including
 glxinfo and glxgears.
Homepage: http://mesa3d.org/
Description-md5: 7ba8c06516518df0cd025192c4a64cd4
Tag: admin::benchmarking, admin::hardware, hardware::video,
 interface::commandline, role::program, use::viewing, x11::application
Section: x11
Priority: optional
Filename: pool/main/m/mesa-demos/mesa-utils_8.0.1-2+b3_i386.deb
Size: 29168
MD5sum: 6edb1f6d74e7a79be8e4d7d7a2c0a3db
SHA1: a7735b4d3a3280dff65ed9a52a5997eaf4738a7e
SHA256: 2f002cd7b932731527830aad0e231a53b37226f806be05631242ead1930797f8

You probably will have to install the

drivers for ati hd6850

along with mesa-utils to get my kind of readout I guess. On another box which I run Antix on. It has

Graphics:  Card: ATI RC410 [Radeon Xpress 200] X.Org 1.10.2 driver radeon Resolution 1280x1024@85.0hz
           GLX Renderer Gallium 0.4 on ATI RC410 GLX Version 2.1 Mesa 7.10.2

which is ati chip also (older than yours though and not as powerful probably also). I used sgfxi script from H2 and Trash to install the

~$ apt-cache policy xserver-xorg-video-ati
xserver-xorg-video-ati:
  Installed: 1:6.14.4-5
  Candidate: 1:6.14.4-5
  Version table:
 *** 1:6.14.4-5 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
harry@biker:~$

try the command above to see if available in xubuntu and if it is installed. I guess, I don't run Xubuntu so kinda lost myself on this.

about that url... im not rly sure what am i supposed to do (like i said, im newbie)...

I understand. I am just a tattooed Linux biker myself. I learn through hours of trial and error, reinstalls, you name it.

[rokytnji]

apt-cache policy xserver-xorg-video-ati

See if that is installed first I guess.

[aviusz]

yup, its there.

:~$ apt-cache policy xserver-xorg-video-ati
xserver-xorg-video-ati:
  Installed: 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2 0
        500 h ttp://pl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

btw, the other day i tried to force higher resolution trough editing

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

however i didnt work (or i just did it poorly).
btw#2,

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

magicly disappeared :s ...

[rokytnji]

btw, the other day i tried to force higher resolution trough editing

Usually when editing root text files. I find it is benificial to copy over the original to a folder in /home/backups (I made the backups folder) and rename them xorg.confbk, ftsabbk, so I can restore the origininal in case I screw up. I use a live cd to restore any backups to original locations,

I don't know if smxi/sgfxi script will help in installing your ati video driver. It worked for my ati chip.

sgfxi manual page :: Debian/Ubuntu/Arch install script for nvidia, fglrx, and xorg drivers

Might be worth a shot. sgfxi installs the driver and builds a new /etc/X11/xorg.conf for that driver also.

harry@biker:~$ sudo sgfxi --N
/usr/local/bin/sgfxi: illegal option -- -
Sorry, one of your arguments is not a supported option.
Please check the following options and try again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
While you can run this script in X, we recommend you run it in terminal.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Script Requirements: Debian/Ubuntu/Arch/Fedora based systems.
Xorg version required: 7.1/1.1 or greater - Your X version: 1.12
Linux Kernel required: 2.6.18 or greater - Your kernel: 3.2.0-3-486
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
'default(s):' - The driver installed automatically by sgfxi unless it is not supported by
your card. Some older cards will force an override of this basic default. Script will
print out what driver it will install when you start it up, with option to exit.

'supported-drivers:' choices require -o <see -o for correct syntax> to install>.
Fglrx:  default: 12-8
Other supported-drivers: 12.8 12-6 12-4 12-6 12-4 12-3 12-2 12-1 11-12 11-11 11-10 11-9 
11-8 11-7 11-6 11-5 11-4 11-3 11-2 11-1 
Nvidia: defaults (current + legacy - 3 2 1): 304.43 173.14.35 96.43.20 71.86.15
Other supported-drivers: 304.37 295.71 290.10 285.05.09 280.13 275.43 270.41.19 
260.19.44 256.53 195.36.31 190.53 185.18.36 180.60 177.82 173.14.31 173.14.25 169.12 
100.14.19 96.43.18 96.43.19 96.43.17 96.43.16 71.86.14 71.86.13 71.86.11 
The following drivers are available for testing purposes:
nvidia: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Script Options:
-A Run the install non-interactively. Will not restart x at end.
-b Enable tripleBuffer (nvidia only). triplebuffer can reduce 3d performance on cards
   with low graphics memory (64 mB or less). Default is disabled/off.
-B Use latest Beta Driver for your card type. Autodetects card type/beta driver (nVidia cards only).
   If no beta driver is available, the current stable driver for your card type is used.
   (Also checks nvidia for live latest beta information, and replaces script defaults with newer if present)
-c Force use of Xorg composite mode. Beryl/Compiz requires this for 3d. Old nvidia/ATI/Intel 
   cards not supported. Composite is default ON for newer nVidia/ATI cards (-c not required).
-C Skip Xorg configuration. Only use this if your Xorg is already working with your driver.
   Main use is if you have dual card output and don't want xorg.conf changed.
-d Installs distro packaged nVidia/fglrx drivers. ATI/nVidia cards only (formerly -s).
-D Build Distro (Debian/Ubuntu only) packages for fglrx with FGLRX binary run package,
   then install them (formerly -F). Not recommended. Because of constant package
   builder failures, the direct install method is now default.
-f Force option. Forces (re)install of your driver, bypasses module check/build (nVidia only).
-h View this help menu.
-j Alternate text/output script colors. Requires this syntax: -j 0 (sets to monochrome )
   -j 1 (default); -j 2 (pale); -j 3 (earthy); -j 4 (dark - for light console background)
-k Build kernel module either for current kernel or another kernel (with -K <kernel version
   Can be run in X. Simply builds the kernel module for that kernel, and does not remove
   any other modules or drivers, or update /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Requires previous install
   with sgfxi of the same driver to work. This feature only supports nVidia drivers.
   Hint: sgfxi -! 40 will install modules to all your non-running kernels automatically!
-K Installs nVidia/fglrx driver for another kernel. Syntax: sgfxi -K 2.6.25-2
   sgfxi will double check that the kernel exists (Debian/Ubuntu only).
-L List current live driver or status data then exit. Requires extra argument: d to show current drivers;
   n to show current nvidia support status; f to show current fglrx support status;
   v to show current latest local + remote sgfxi svn/server version information.
-n Automatically installs correct native xorg nvidia, intel, or ati/amd driver for your system.
   Cleans up old binary driver stuff, updates xorg.conf with new driver information,
   and cleans nvidia and fgrlx stuff out of xorg.conf. For radeon/noveau, also preps.
-N Force install of specific xorg driver. Syntax: sgfxi -N <driver> Ex: sgfxi -N radeon
   Supported Xorg drivers:  apm ark ati chips cirrus fbdev geode glide glint i128 i740 intel
   imstt mach64 mga neomagic nsc openchrome nouveau r128 radeon rendition s3 s3virge savage
   siliconmotion sis sisusb tdfx tga trident tseng vesa vga via voodoo vmware v4l
   Also configures xorg.conf as required. Full radeon xorg 3d configuration automatically.
-o Override default: install a specific driver, this is an absolute override - syntax:
   -o 177.68 (for nVidia) or: -o 8-6 (for fglrx)
-q Turns off composite mode. Default is ON for newer nVidia/ATI cards.
-Q Skip start X Question, automatically start X post driver install.
-r Remove mode lines from xorg.conf
-R Skips self updating feature. No restart.
-U Forces sgfxi to update itself, must be root, but can be in x. Exits after.
-v Prints sgfxi current version information. Exits after.
-W Skip all wget downloads. Only use this to reinstall a driver that has already been
   downloaded using sgfxi at least once previously.
-x Reverts to default libXvMC.so.1 for system instead of nVidia package (nVidia only)
-X Use to skip auto X start/stop. Do not use this unless you have a good reason to not 
   want X start/stop tests to run. Gives start X option on completion if not in X.
-Y Clean script download and backup files. Shows a list of cleanup actions to carry out, including script uninstaller.
   Can be run in X, as root.
-z Backup and recreate xorg.conf using the command: X -configure (requires X/Xorg command)
   Only use if you know what you are doing! This creates a simple, basic xorg.conf file.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Advanced Options :: Only for Specialized Cases
-! 32 Remove/Purge all drivers; remove all grub modeline blacklists; restore system to default
      without redoing xorg.conf; moves xorg.conf to backup. Only use this on new Xorgs that do not
      require xorg.conf file to operate. Using this command restores system to default.
-! 33 - Skip Grub file tests. Important: Only use with nVidia/ATI if radeon/nouveau have been blacklisted.
-! 40 Create modules for all your kernels (nVidia only). Will loop through and test
      each if can be made, then create the modules, excluding your running kernel.
      You must have already installed an nVidia driver with sgfxi to use -! 40
      Note: if your installed driver is NOT the default sgfxi offers, you have to
      use either the -o <driver number> OR the -B option (if you are using current beta driver)
      as well as the -! 40 option. EG: to install beta to all kernels: sgfxi -B -! 40

[aviusz]

Thanks for all responses and support and sorry for delay (was in country for few days)

Unfortunately:

------------------------------------------------------------------
Error No: (3) The Ubuntu derived distro is not supported by smxi, sorry.
smxi cannot continue. Exiting now.
------------------------------------------------------------------

...

Maybe I'll try luck with Ubuntu this weekend.