Ubuntu
xorg package

How to install ATI RV100 drivers

Asked by chkneater

I have Compaq presario with 640 RAM and 900mhz proc. and ATI Radeon R100(7000) 128MB grphc. card. I have fresh install of 8.04 after reformat. EnvyNG was unable to find correct driver version to install. I then used add/remove to add the ATI driver and ATI Catalyst CC. Still no driver is enabled under Hardwar Drivers and performance is crappy at best. I then found the Xserver files in synaptic and DLd them to no avail. I then tried restriced drivers under synaptic and that didn't help. I then tried the fglx files synaptic says are unnecessary due to the restricted drivers. After each of these steps I was careful to restart each time, even if the system didn't say it was necessary. Also xconfig states "Configured Video Device" instead of the ATI info. I had problems with an Nvidia card that only had 8mb of ram, but oddly it ran better than this 128 is right now. There is no acceleration at all.

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Vojtěch Trefný (vojtech.trefny) said : 		#1

You can install the driver manually -- https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI#Install%20from%20ati.com%20(latest%20version%20of%20drivers)

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chkneater (chkneater) said : 		#2

Ok thanks, but very first thing under prerequisites it says :"Note that if you own an ATI card from the R400 series or below, you already have working 2D and may have accelerated 3D with the default drivers. These cards include:

    * R400 series Xnnn (X800, X700, etc) (3D works)
    * R300 series (9300+) (3D works)
    * R200 and R100 series (9200 and below) "

I have the R100 series which it says fglrx does not support. Also, I've already tried so much junk, I think I may need to start anew somehow. Freshly installed on a newly formatted drive, there was never a driver in use listed no matter what I tried.

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Wyatt Smith (wyatt-smith) said : 		#3

I have never had any luck with the restricted drivers or Envy for ATI cards. I alway manually install the drivers and they provide the best performance.

Please read http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Hardy_Installation_Guide#Method_2:_Manual_Method

This guide is for Hardy 8.04 and the latest ATI Catalyst drivers.

Hope this helps

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jacobS (jacsalomon) said : 		#4

Yes, the fglrx driver does not work in this device, Envy is not proper, ATI do not have support or
driver restricted at Linux for your system ATI Radeon 7000 (RV100).

You need only use the free driver for X server: x-driver-ati

To check the installation open Terminal and command:

glxinfo | grep render

Note: If you install a fglrx driver you need a forced uninstall. Please do not install a fglrx driver.

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chkneater (chkneater) said : 		#5

Well I've looked everywhere and cannot find x-driver-ati, all I can find is the ATI binary X.org driver which seemed to install fglrx drivers. Where can I find x-driver-ati, is it in a specific package?

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chkneater (chkneater) said : 		#6

Ok, thanx for all the help, unfortunately, WWSmith36 link totally effed my graphics so I couldn't even boot up, so don't follow this link if you have the R100 card. FGLRX is definitely THE WORST thing you can use for these cards. The "ATI Binary X.org driver" listed in add/remvoe programs under Access. installs the fglrx drivers, so don't use that. I did find the proper way to install this card and now have direct rendering. I'm tryiing to find the page so I can add a link. I would not have been able to find this link if it wasn't for all ya'lls help, even if it crippled me for a day or two!! I'll post the link when I find it.

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chkneater (chkneater) said : 		#7

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver

Here is that link for ATI radeon drivers. It has a copatability list to see if your driver is listed. I was doubtful, but it worked like a charm, just follow it carefully.