How to install Ati Catalyst driver on Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon”

[bogdanbiv]

*** Note: This is a short guide for people in a hurry. For a more authoritative guide, or if you run into errors, please read the guide at http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubu...allation_Guide ***

How to install Ati Catalyst driver on Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon”
Prerequisites:

• you should know how to use a console
• you should know how to install packages from the command line

Step 1) Install packages need to install the driver using your favourite package management tool (Synaptic, Adept, or apt-get from the command line):

sudo apt-get install dkms libstdc++5 dpkg-dev fakeroot debhelper dh-make

dkms makes the kernel modules easier to install
dpkg-dev provides tools necessary to build packages
not sure what the other packages do exactly

You will need these packages only later, so while these packages download and install, you can safely go to the next step!


Step 2) If you want to use the latest fglrx driver, you'll have to first stop Ubuntu from managing it itself via its restricted drivers manager. First you backup the current configuration file:
sudo cp /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common.original

Now you open the restricted software manager configuration file by using
sudo kate /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common.
Do this by adding fglrx to the DISABLED_MODULES list at the bottom of the file
Following the example given in that file, add fglrx between the quotes “”. If you have other module names in the string between the quotes, just add the word fglrx somewhere and make sure you keep a space between words.
Example:
# ...
# DISABLED_MODULES="ath_hal fc fglrx ltm nv"
# ...
DISABLED_MODULES=”fglrx”

download the file from the AMD website http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/l...ux-radeon.html


Time to check if those packages at step 1 had installed. If done, close the package management program and proceed to the next step.
The next steps are to be made in a console window (Konsole, Gterm, basically anything has a prompt and executes shell commands):

Step 3) Go to the directory where you saved the downloaded drivers:

cd /path_to_where_you_saved_the_file

Generate ubuntu packages for fglrx:
sh ati-(press tab to get file name) --buildpkg Ubuntu/7.10

You should get this before pressing Enter:

sh ati-driver-installer-8.443.1-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/7.10

(Ubuntu and Kubuntu are the same from a driver standpoint). You should obtain these files:
fglrx-amdcccle_8.443.1-1_i386.deb – contains tools to change graphic settings
fglrx-installer_8.443.1-1_i386.changes – this is a textfile describing the changes to the packages, not really needed
fglrx-kernel-source_8.443.1-1_i386.deb – part of the kernel that talks to the driver
xorg-driver-fglrx_8.443.1-1_i386.deb – the driver itself
xorg-driver-fglrx-dev_8.443.1-1_i386.deb – not really needed

Step 4) Next, install all of the packages you've just generated: sudo dpkg -i package_name.deb (do this for all the .deb files generated by the ati installer) You have to do the xorg driver first, followed then by amdcccle and the kernel source (which compiles automatically if you have dkms set up)

sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx_8.443.1-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i fglrx-amdcccle_8.443.1-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i fglrx-kernel-source_8.443.1-1_i386.deb

Step 5) Finally, try

# this seems to only be needed some of the time
sudo modprobe fglrx
# this configures X server to use fglrx module 
# on the second run of this command it says X.org server is already configured 
aticonfig --initial

followed by a reboot.

Step 6) To test if everything is fine open the ATI Catalyst Control Center (if you do not see the shortcut you can call amdcccle from the command line). Here you should be able to change settings like Anisotropic Filtering, AntiAliasing.

That's it!


P.S.:-)
Step 7) Please let me know what you think of this guide and how can I improve it!

One more thing:
I apologize to AMD for calling their site "broken" in the thread name and the first post.
--taking the suggestion from d2kx and after reading cchtml.com I removed from the guide the line containing
"sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx-dev_8.443.1-1_i386.deb"

[d2kx]

Nice sticky. This should help many people. But one thing:

"sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx-dev_8.443.1-1_i386.deb"

isn't needed.

[Spydr4590]

This is old info from http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubu...river_Manually

[bogdanbiv]

Originally Posted by Spydr4590

This is old info from http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubu...river_Manually

I read the link you provided and I agree folks at cchtml.com got a better guide. It is more extensive, provides links to the Ubuntu Wiki explaining how to enable universe and multiverse repositories.

I also agree this is a duplication of work and we should have a single point of documentation, not to confuse the potential user.
Yet I am proud someone found my post good enough to make it sticky! Yay!

Please let me know if there are requests for a screenshot guide out of this.

[d2kx]

There are tons of good howtos, but do all Phoronix users (and readers, because many readers don't register an account on the forums) know about them? So this sticky will help people that only know Phoronix.

[DoDoENT]

Hello! Following this guide, I've made a script which automates the process.

http://www.box.net/shared/olkfdvyscg

Since I'm very new to BASH, I don't know how to edit text files with it, so this script doesn't edit some config files which are needed to be editet in guide. Therefore I encourage BASH experts to modify this script so it would be able to modify the required config files .

[Kano]

What a great script. You will win a price for it, I am sure. Little hint: usually no reboot is required when you do it correctly...

[DoDoENT]

Originally Posted by Kano

What a great script. You will win a price for it, I am sure. Little hint: usually no reboot is required when you do it correctly...

I know, but if you say newbies that it is only necessary to restart X server, that sounds very complicated to them (although it isn't), because they are used to having a lot of system restarts (assuming they have moved from windows to linux ).
And restarting ubuntu doesn't take long after all.

[Kano]

Well restarting the X server is not enough you need to unload some kernel modules.

[DoDoENT]

Originally Posted by Kano

Well restarting the X server is not enough you need to unload some kernel modules.

Yes, indeed. Therefore I find the machine restart the simplest