Ubuntu

9.04 successfully installed - but blank screen after reboot

Asked by GeorgeE

 9.04 installed - but only smudges on screen upon reboot
Hi

Fresh clean install of 9.04 (done 3x now) - completely wiping out everything on drive.

Dell E1705, native resolution at 1900x1200, 2gig DDR2 Ram, Core 2Duo 1.6mhz, 160gig HDD, Radeon X1400

Installed the software and its fine when I restart. If, however, I install something like the Compiz advanced screen features, the computer boots up normally until the Ubuntu logo is gone, and then all I get is 3 coded "smudges" on the screen, and it just sits there - never changing.

I tried to "automatically fix graphics problems", as well as all the other fix options but I got nowhere.

I also noticed that just installing something like a flash driver would result in the same blank screen - AND - if I tried to install the ATI drivers - it would do the same. I have read many many threads on this now - but still no fixed answer - can I run 9.04 using my ATI Radeon X1400 graphics card? If not, which version would work?

I am on my 5th reinstall. I am getting tired of this - I would SO love this to work, so that I can run Ubuntu on my machine.

What should I do? I am a code noob noob.

Thanks very much, George

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Tom
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Tom (tom6) said : 		#1

Hi :)

Please can you try booting up from the Ubuntu Cd? It should get you to a menu with "Try Ubuntu without changes to this machine", if you don't get that menu then this guide might help
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromCD
Choosing the "Try Ubuntu ... " option should get you to a working desktop which we call a "LiveCd session", if it works ;) Most versions of linux have this feature although they don't all have such a fancy menu. Ubuntu's LiveCd has firefox on the top taskbar and should have worked out your internet connection so having got a LiveCd session working you should be able to surf around and check that Ubuntu is going to work easily on the machine.

Please let us know how this goes!
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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GeorgeE (geggberry) said : 		#2

Hi Tom!

thanks for the help mate.

I dont think Ubuntu is going to work easily on this machine. I am more than prepared to go through bootup procedures et al, but I cant risk putting any data on it, because if I want to view videos or anything like that, I would have to put in a flash player, and wham - I get the dreaded dead screen (with fuzzy "smudges" of code on the screen after a reboot.

Ubuntu works just fine if I leave as is - and dont want any flash/ or fancy effects. I have rebooted it on a bare bones basis several times and its fine. I can see the "Try Ubuntu without changes to this machine" - so that wouldnt be a problem.

I see that the Radeon X1400 Mobility card is an issue with Ubuntu.

What do you suggest I do? Thanks!!!

Cheers, George

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Best Tom (tom6) said : 		#3

HI :)

I have an ati 1650 card that just about works as long as i don't install any drivers for it! Our series of cards stopped being supported by ati a few months ago to try to force us to buy new cards. The 2000 series and 3000 series were much worse than the 1000 series so that just leaves their ultra newest range. Admittedly the 4000 series are fantastic value for money but it's still outside my price-range. Also given the minimal support that ati give their cards in linux i think i might well be buying an nVidea card for about the first time ever. There's nothing wrong with the 1000 series, it's a very decent well crafted range but the lack of decent drivers make it appalling.

After trying a couple of drivers that supposedly work for the 1000 series i had to re-install Ubuntu although i was able to use the trick of going through "Manual Partitioning" (the 3rd option which is difficult to notice tucked away at the bottom of the "Partitioning Section" and then edited so that the "Mount Point" of my data&settings partition was set to "/home" and the "Mount Point" of the little partition for the OS&progs was set to "/" - then after making sure the "Format?" column had NO ticks i was able to keep most of my programs and data intact. It's not easy so you'll really have to explore your way through doing this yourself.

Anyway, as long as i dont have any desktop effects YouTube seems to work but it was a bit of a struggle thanks to the lack of support from ati.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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Anatoly (camelclub) said : 		#4

If you use KDE or Gnome, you can press some "magic" keys (alt+shift+f12) and disable compiz.

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GeorgeE (geggberry) said : 		#5

Thanks Tom! I will be trying that.

I had to install Windows Vista again because I have a Rogers 3G internet stick which wasnt recognised by Linux in any way shape or form. Plan is to have a dual boot.

After reinstalling Vista, it became all too apparent to me just how fat, overweight and gross Windows really is. Took absolutely forever compared to Ubuntu, and my processor just kept working to get it all done. Its a tragedy that Ubuntu is not easy for me to work with (unfortunately, windows is), because I MUCH prefer the Ubuntu OS.

I will be keeping your notes, and try to familiarise myself with the procedures. Thank you kindly for your insight here, I will be using it.

Peace, George

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said : 		#6

Hi

Sorry to hear that but it does sometimes take a few tries before getting it installed permanently, even after that it can take a while to become as familiar with it as your currently are with Windows. Surprisingly short amount of time but it still takes time. i found installing as a dual-boot helped me loads
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

Funny you should say that about wireless usb
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/79907

Lol, good luck and regards from
Tom :)