Mobility Radeon HD 3870 / M88 drivers... :(

[Poop Loops]

It's an M88 chip. It's just called a Mobility RadeonHD 3870, but I am pretty sure the chipsets aren't the same, because loading the proprietary drivers from a fresh install of Jaunty gave me a black screen on reboot.

This is why I am looking into the radeonhd drivers, because it explicitly lists the M88 chip as being supported, and even lists my video card model.

[Melcar]

According to fglrx's release notes, it does support the mobility hd3870.

[nanonyme]

I definitely mentioned that long before 2.6.30 final release. It is up to a ATI developer to submit that patch (because the binary part is compiled against it).

False. Linux kernel developers deliberately put in that change, patches submitted by ATi developers for that would probably just be rejected... The only way is to change the closed driver so that it works with the API changes. It's not like kernel developers wanted you using the closed driver in the first place. As they say in Finnish military "shit flows downwards" regarding the hierarchy. It just happens to flow from kernel developers to ATi developers in this case and there's not much you can do.

[bridgman]

There are two different things that can be patched here. One is the actual kernel source code, which implements specific APIs.

The other is the "Kernel Compatibility Layer" source code we include with each driver release, which translates from a generic API (which the binary driver uses) into calls on a specific kernel.

As part of the installation process, the KCL source code is built against the kernel headers of whatever kernel is installed on the user system. It is possible to intercept the installation process and patch the KCL code before building it and linking it with the rest of the binary objects.

[bridgman]

Poop Loops, would it be possible to go back to a fresh install of Jaunty ?

If so, first step would be to try out the open source drivers that are automatically configured during Ubuntu install. If there are problems between those drivers and your hardware, both we and Ubuntu would like to know.

Separately, you could then try installing the Cat 9.6 driver, preferably by building packages and installing those packages with the distro's package manager.

[nanonyme]

The other is the "Kernel Compatibility Layer" source code we include with each driver release, which translates from a generic API (which the binary driver uses) into calls on a specific kernel.

Hmm, my mistake then. Misread the path as belonging to the actual kernel sources.

[Poop Loops]

Poop Loops, would it be possible to go back to a fresh install of Jaunty ?

Not at this point, no. This is the 3rd time I've set up Ubuntu just the way I like it and transfered all my files from my desktop, so I really don't want to go through all of that again.

If so, first step would be to try out the open source drivers that are automatically configured during Ubuntu install. If there are problems between those drivers and your hardware, both we and Ubuntu would like to know.

No problems when I installed Jaunty this last time (and the first time). Whatever was installed by default worked, in that it let me see my desktop. Acceleration-wise, it was doing squat, but I know that that part is coming along and will take a while.

Separately, you could then try installing the Cat 9.6 driver, preferably by building packages and installing those packages with the distro's package manager.

I'll try the Cat 9.6 drivers, then. But two questions, do I need to boot to the stock kernel, or can I use the 2.6.30 kernel? And secondly, what do I do if the shit hits the fan? Last time I frantically installed and uninstalled drivers and that of course was a confusing mess by the end. Or, can I simply go back to using my old xorg.conf file and simply put "radeon" as the Driver?

[Poop Loops]

According to fglrx's release notes, it does support the mobility hd3870.

I'm at the driver download page on the ATI website, and when I want drivers for 64-bit Linux => Mobility Radeon, I don't see my card on the list...

[Melcar]

Check the release notes for the 9.6 release. Your card is listed there.

...

I'll try the Cat 9.6 drivers, then. But two questions, do I need to boot to the stock kernel, or can I use the 2.6.30 kernel? And secondly, what do I do if the shit hits the fan? Last time I frantically installed and uninstalled drivers and that of course was a confusing mess by the end. Or, can I simply go back to using my old xorg.conf file and simply put "radeon" as the Driver?

Boot with the original Jaunty kernel. If the driver installation goes bad and you can't log into a normal session anymore, simply drop into command prompt mode, generate a new xorg.conf:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

... and edit it to load up the radeon driver

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

[Poop Loops]

I installed the 9.6 drivers manually, and rebooted to a black screen. I installed them to the 2.6.30 kernel, though. I'll try to reconfigure the xserver. I only edited my xorg.conf just now and that didn't work.