Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-ati package

Ubuntu 12.04 ATI RV350 Radeon 9550 only 2D Mode

Asked by Chris McCarron

Why does my ATI RV350 Radeon 9550 only work in 2D mode. How do I get Ubuntu to access the 3D features of the card? I know it is old, but why does it have to be crippled? Unity is also slow and laggy and most of the features are disabled.

I am also effected by Bug #906021

Ubuntu 12.04 Server

uname -a
Linux mccserverlx01 3.2.0-24-generic-pae #37-Ubuntu SMP Wed Apr 25 10:47:59 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

fglrx Drivers
rc fglrx 2:8.960-0ubuntu1 Video driver for the AMD graphics accelerators
ii fglrx-amdcccle-updates 2:8.960-0ubuntu1 Catalyst Control Center for the AMD graphics accelerators
ii fglrx-updates 2:8.960-0ubuntu1 Video driver for the AMD graphics accelerators
ii fglrx-updates-dev 2:8.960-0ubuntu1 Video driver for the AMD graphics accelerators (devel files)

lspci
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV350 AS [Radeon 9550]
01:00.1 Display controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV350 AS [Radeon 9550] (Secondary)

I can provide more information if needed.

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Chris McCarron
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Is the 9550 supported by the proprietary driver?

Revision history for this message
Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#2

Radeon (Catalyst Legacy & Open Source)
ATI/AMD dropped Catalyst support for these cards in Catalyst 9-4. These cards are supported with the legacy ATI 9-3 Catalyst release, but you MUST use a kernel 2.6.28 (or earlier) and Xserver 1.5 (or earlier). For example, you can use Catalyst 9-3 if you're running Ubuntu 8.04 or Debian Lenny/5.0. Open source support is good and 3D is still improving.

* RV350 Radeon 9600PRO/9600SE/9600/9550, M10/M11, FireGL T2

http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Hardware
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DemystifyingUnityGraphicsHardwareRequirements

Revision history for this message
Chris McCarron (bigdaddymccarron) said : 		#3

So how do you install the OpenSource driver or is fglrx the open source driver? I would be happy if I could just re-size and rearrange the launcher icons.

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

> is fglrx the open source driver?

No.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI

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

Afaik Unity-2d has no option to adjust launcher icons.
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-2d/+question/188932

Revision history for this message
Chris McCarron (bigdaddymccarron) said : 		#5

Thanks...when I get from my trip I will check into the open source drivers.

Revision history for this message
Chris McCarron (bigdaddymccarron) said : 		#6

I was able to solve this by removing the fglrx drivers. That enabled Unity 3D to boot.

Get a list of installed fglrx modules:
dpkg -l |grep fglrx

Then remove each one:
apt-get remove fglrx-updates
apt-get remove fglrx-amdcccle-updates
apt-get remove fglrx-dev
apt-get purge fglrx-updates fglrx-amdcccle-updates fglrx-dev

Reboot

I then had to remove compiz and reinstall it by doing the following. I had to do this because on my system compiz was messed up.

Remove Compiz

sudo apt-get remove compizconfig-settings-manager
sudo apt-get remove compiz-fusion-plugins-extra
sudo apt-get remove compiz-plugins-extra
sudo apt-get purge compiz*

Reinstall Compiz (note on some of the items below I had to use the --reinstall option)

sudo apt-get install unity-2d
sudp apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
sudo apt-get install compiz-fusion-plugins-extra
sudo apt-get install compiz-plugins-extra
sudo apt-get build-dep ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get build-dep unity
sudp apt-get install unity
sudo apt-get -f install

Revision history for this message
Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#7

compiz-fusion-plugins-extra is a transitional dummy package - no need to install.
http://packages.ubuntu.com/precise/compiz-fusion-plugins-extra