Ubuntu Feisty Installation Guide

The latest fglrx driver supports Radeon 9500 and the X-series cards up to HD2900. Workstation cards are not supported.

Enable "restricted" Repository
Make sure the restricted repository is enabled in /etc/apt/sources.list or this guide will not work!

System > Administration > Software Sources. Check "Proprietary Drivers for Devices (Restricted)" box.

Disable Composite Extension
In Ubuntu Feisty the Composite extension is enabled by default, however, fglrx does not yet support Composite with DRI. In order to disable Composite you have to edit the xorg.conf file: gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add these lines at the end of the file:

gksu mousepad /etc/X11/xorg.conf kdesu kate /etc/X11/xorg.conf Another option is to use nano directly from the terminal. sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
 * Note: Xubuntu does not have gedit. The default text editor in Xubuntu is called mousepad.
 * Note: Kubuntu does not have gedit. The default text editor in Kubuntu is called Kate.

Method 1: Install the Driver the Ubuntu Way
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-generic restricted-manager sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx sudo depmod -a

Note: The second line of the above may not be necessary. If apt says it cannot find the "linux-restricted-modules" package, try line 3. If that fails, check your sources.list (see top of page)

If the system complains about dependencies, use your preferred package manager to download python2.4 and, if necessary, its dependencies.

Method 2: Install the 8.42.3 Driver Manually

 * Note: This is just an alternative installation method for the section above. It might help if you still get 'DRI missing' errors.

Download the ATI driver installer: ati-driver-installer-8.42.3-x86.x86_64.run (this installer is for 32bit and 64bit systems)

Change to the download directory. Make sure that you have the universe and multiverse repositories enabled in /etc/apt/sources.list before doing these steps.

There is a detailed manual with screenshots at Ubuntu Wiki.

By default, Ubuntu does not enable the Universe and Multiverse repositories. But they include some important programs and codecs, so it is highly recommended to activate them.

Install necessary tools: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install module-assistant build-essential fakeroot dh-make debhelper \ debconf libstdc++5 linux-headers-generic

Create .deb packages: sudo bash ati-driver-installer-8.42.3-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/feisty

Blacklist old fglrx module from linux-restricted-modules:


 * Note: You only need to do this if you've installed the driver from Method 2 above.

As ubuntu's linux-restricted-modules package includes the fglrx module from an old driver version (8.28.8), we have to blacklist this module to make sure the new kernel module which is needed by the new driver will be used instead.

Ubuntu/Gnome users type in: gksu gedit /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

Kubuntu/KDE users type in: kdesu kate /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

Add "fglrx" to the line "DISABLED_MODULES"

Install .deb packages:

sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx_8.42.3-1*.deb \ fglrx-kernel-source_8.42.3-1*.deb \ fglrx-amdcccle_8.42.3-1*.deb


 * Note: If you have a 64 bit install, the above dpkg command will likely complain that "Errors were encountered while processing: fglrx-amdcccle". This is because of a dependency of the amdccle package on 32 bit libraries.  If you recieve this error, issue the following command after the above dpkg command, which will force the installation of all of the 32 bit dependencies, and then the amdccle package:

sudo apt-get install -f

Remove any old fglrx debs from /usr/src/: sudo rm /usr/src/fglrx-kernel*.deb

Fix broken dependencies sudo apt-get -f install
 * Note: You only need to do this if you have installed previous versions of these drivers using this method before.

Compile the kernel module: sudo module-assistant prepare sudo module-assistant update sudo module-assistant build fglrx sudo module-assistant install fglrx sudo depmod -a
 * Note: Since Catalyst 7.12, this step is not needed anymore, because the fglrx-kernel-source package compiles and installs the module.

It's necessary, because sometimes this file is written by other packages, and so there's no 3D acceleration.

Create the following folder

sudo mkdir /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/volatile

Create a symbolic link

sudo ln -s /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/misc/fglrx.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/volatile/fglrx.ko

IMPORTANT: You have to recompile the kernel module after each kernel update!

Configure the Driver
sudo aticonfig --initial Then: sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv
 * Note Method 2 Users: Before you carry out this step you must reboot your machine. Or else the fglrx driver will not be in use on xorg.conf and using the aticonfig options will cause a memory dump and not intialise the Driver properly.
 * Note: An alternative to the aticonfig --initial command is to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and replace the string "ati" with "fglrx" in the "Device" section. This way you won't lose your old "Screen" and "Monitor" settings. Afterwards you can use aticonfig for setting overlay etc. Another alternative is aticonfig --initial --force if you encounter issues with the first command.
 * Note: Is there an alternative to the previous step?

Finish the Installation
Now save any open document and reboot your system: sudo shutdown -r now
 * Note: An alternative to rebooting is to restart the X Server by pressing your CTRL ALT BACKSPACE keys. You must remove any old kernel modules such as "drm" "radeon" or "fglrx" using the "rmmod" command. Example:

Verifying
Run the following command to check its output to ensure the fglrx driver is installed properly: $ fglrxinfo display: :0.0 screen: 0 OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc. OpenGL renderer string: ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 Series OpenGL version string: 2.0.6650 (8.40.4) The  should read ATI and not Mesa.

If you see a message like 'Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":1.0"' then you may have to add the following to /etc/X11/xorg.conf (see ):

Additional configure with aticonfig tool
You can even more configure the driver with the aticonfig tool, more information can be found at Configuring.

For example:
 * use powerplay option to switch power state for battery friendly or performance mode
 * use dual head or one big desktop mode
 * turn second monitor on/off on the fly

Revert to Xorg driver
If (for any reason) the fglrx install fails, you can revert to the Xorg driver by executing sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and selecting the "ati" driver, or simply restoring the previous /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, if you made a backup.

You also need to remove the xorg-driver-fglrx or your manually installed drivers to get the 3D acceleration back, since it is provided by file /usr/lib/libGL.so.1.2 which belongs to libgl1-mesa package and which is moved to backup and replaced at the installation of xorg-driver-fglrx (or the manually built) package. In case the removal of the fglrx drivers fails to restore the file from libgl1-mesa, you have to reinstall the package by running:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall libgl1-mesa

If suspend is not working
If suspend stops working after fglrx installation, meaning display will not initialize after attempting to resume, then changing a few options has been reported to work for some hardware.

For ATI X700 and ATI X1100 on Acer Aspire 5051:

For ATI X1300 and the ATI X1400 on a Dell Inspiron 9400 or Lenovo Thinkpad T60, also for ATI X1600 on Asus Z96J (using install method 2):