Ubuntu
fglrx-installer package

Switching between open source and proprietary graphic drivers

Asked by Geoff Smith

Is there a way of switching between the Open source driver for Gnome 3 and the Proprietary driver for Unity? At present I am forced to use the default driver for both Gnome 3 and Unity as the ATI Proprietary driver causes distorted graphics in Gnome 3 - See my original question for a background on my problem -

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+question/176878

Can this be achieved without rebooting?
Thank you,
Geoff Smith

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Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#1

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/FglrxInteferesWithRadeonDriver

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Geoff Smith (taurusone) said : 		#2

Hi Sam,
Thanks for your quick response - please excuse my ignorance but isn't the fallback default driver the ATI driver?
I could see there were some pieces of fglrx left in my system which I will get rid of. At present I operate both Unity and Gnome 3 (my preference) without issues after I did a fresh install. I was under the impression that the fglrx driver would eventually have it's problems rectified - Is this not so? I am confused regarding whether the default driver is the ATI driver. Does the ATI driver need to be installed? Sorry to drag out the issue.
Regards
Geoff Smith

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Geoff Smith (taurusone) said : 		#3

The only reference to fglrx that I found were in the following -
/user/share/app-install/desktop/fglrx-driver.desktop
/user/share/apport/package-hooks/source_fglrx-installer.py
/user/share/jockey/handlers/fglrx.py
Am I right in assuming that these entries are normal and don't need to be purged as per the Wiki? Or do I need to follow the purging commands?
As I previously indicated, both Gnome 3 and Unity are working without apparent issues - I now think I understand that the default driver is in fact the ATI or Radeon Driver.
I apologize for dragging out this question -

Revision history for this message
Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#4

The switch can be done via 'additional drivers' in gnome-control-center aka system settings and needs a reboot.
According to Wiki interference is a known issue, if all runs well mentioned entries in #3 don't need to be purged.
And yes, ati or radeon are default.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI

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