Ubuntu Hardy Installation Guide

Pre-Installation Checks

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.

Installation

For most users it won't be necessary to go into installation and configuration details of the driver. Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) provides a notification saying that there are restricted drivers available. You just have to go there (Restricted Drivers Manager) and enable the "ATI accelerated graphics driver". Ubuntu will then install and configure the driver for you. If this does not provide the optimal solution you were looking for, please read ahead.

Method 1: Install the driver the Ubuntu Way

This will install the current driver in Ubuntu's repository. It may be older than the one AMD has released, but as of writing, Catalyst 8.3 is in the repositories. It would seem that Ubuntu gets new builds for the Catalyst drivers a few weeks after AMD releases them.

sudo apt-get update	
sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-generic restricted-manager
sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx
sudo depmod -a

The second line may not be necessary as you may already have restricted modules installed. Run it just in case. If the third line fails, you probably don't have the restricted repository enabled. See Pre-Installation.

After this, you'll may need to edit Xorg.conf:

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

In the device section, if it is not already there add:

File: /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Driver "fglrx"

Then to make sure Xorg is set up correctly, you'll have to let aticonfig "initialize" it:

sudo aticonfig --initial -f

After this you should be able to restart your computer and have the driver working. To test type

fglrxinfo

into a terminal. If the vendor string is not ATI, you've done something wrong.

Method 2: Manual Method

Download the installer: ati-driver-installer-8-3-x86.x86_64.run (this installer is for 32bit and 64bit systems)

Switch to the directory you downloaded this into and the run the following. (Make sure universe and multiverse are enabled in your repository sources).

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential fakeroot dh-make debhelper debconf libstdc++5 dkms

This installs the dependencies for the installer.

Using Synaptic, completely remove any packages containing "fglrx" in their name.

If using 64bit make sure to collect package "ia32-libs" and " libGL.so.1" before proceeding!

Now use the following command to create the .deb files you will be using for installation:

sudo sh ati-driver-installer-8-3-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/hardy

As an alternative, you can just use

sudo ./ati-driver-installer-8-3-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu --autopkg

Now we have to blacklist the driver in Ubuntu's repository. This is so it doesn't ever overwrite our installation.

sudo nano /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

Add "fglrx" to the line "DISABLED_MODULES"

File: /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

DISABLED_MODULES="fglrx"

Please note that after the modification above, the "Restricted Driver Manager" will signal "ATI accelerated graphics driver" not enabled (unticked). This is perfectly correct. At the end of the installation procedure it will signal in Status: "in use" (green light), but NOT enabled. It simply means that the fglrx module contained in the linux-restricted-modules package is not enabled, but another fglrx module (8.3) is in use.

You may also need to edit the file (if it exists):

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-restricted

Put a # in front of the line "blacklist fglrx", if it is present. Otherwise, the kernel module will not load automatically, and you will not get 3D acceleration.

Remove any old fglrx .debs:

sudo rm /usr/src/fglrx-kernel*.deb

Install .debs:

sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx_8.471-0*.deb fglrx-kernel-source_8.471-0*.deb fglrx-amdcccle_8.471-0*.deb

Additional 64-bit instructions

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 receive 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

Catalyst 8.3 on 64-bit systems requires the --force-overwrite command in the above dpkg command:

sudo dpkg -i --force-overwrite xorg-driver-fglrx_8.471-0*.deb fglrx-kernel-source_8.471-0*.deb fglrx-amdcccle_8.471-0*.deb

Now you'll have to edit your xorg.conf and add the line driver "fglrx" to the Device section. Then run "sudo aticonfig --initial -f" in a terminal. If it does not error you should be fine. Finally reboot the computer and type

fglrxinfo

into the terminal. If the vendor string contains ATI, you have installed the driver successfully.