Installing Ati graphics drivers in kubuntu 12.10

[Falc7]

I have installed kubuntu 12.10 on my new laptop, which has a Ati Radeon 7730.
I was following this guide to get the propritory graphics drivers working
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubu...e#Command_line

I did this:
sudo apt-get install fglrx fglrx-amdcccle
Then this:
sudo amdconfig --initial -f

However that seemed to brake everything, and I only got a command line interface on reboot.

So i reinstalled Kubuntu, and used the minimal config for the xorg.conf file
Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI radeon 7730"
Driver "fglrx"
EndSection

I tried forcing xorg to use the new xorg.conf file:
sudo amdconfig --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf --tls=1

But it gave an error message

I decided to test whether the driver was working with
fglrxinfo

It isen't working. Not sure what else I can do, can anyone help?

Edit: One further question, If i mess everything up and get a command line interface again, is there a command I can use to delete the xorg.conf file, and avoid reinstalling everything again?

[Dutchman]

If you still don't have X and are at the command prompt, assuming you placed 'xorg.conf' in the usual place, type this at the prompt:

'sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf'

Enter the root password when prompted and your file should disappear.

Kubuntu and other Ubuntu derivatives use 'udev' now to properly configure hardware, so the file you're creating is only confusing X. The easiest way to install the proper driver is to use Jockey, "Additional Drivers" in the KDE menu. It will put the driver in the proper place and trigger the proper scripts so X can see it the next time you boot. It takes a while, it actually compiles some things so it doesn't install fast, but it should work if your card is identified correctly. I have three computers, one with ATI and the other two with nVidia cards, and haven't had a problem with any of them using Jockey.

Let us know how you make out.

[Falc7]

Jockey lists two drivers as being available:
ATI Fire GL
Video driver for the AMD graphics acelerators

I randomly chose ATI Fire GL, jockey tells me that the driver is activated and working. However desktop effects do not work, and I cannot start the catalyst control centre. Furthermore the command fglrxinfo returns an error code

[Dutchman]

I think the first thing we need to do is find out for sure which driver is loaded and currently working. There's many ways to do this, easiest probably would be to open Kinfocenter (Applications>System>Info Center) and go to "Graphical Information>OpenGL" then under driver it should list what's currently running.

Another way is to look in your ~/.xessions-errors file. There should be a line in it like this:

OpenGL vendor string:                   NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string:                 GeForce 8400 GS/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL version string:                  3.3.0 NVIDIA 304.51
OpenGL shading language version string: 3.30 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
Driver:                                 NVIDIA
Driver version:                         304.51
GPU class:                              G80/G90
OpenGL version:                         3.3
GLSL version:                           3.30
X server version:                       1.13
Linux kernel version:                   3.5
Direct rendering:                       yes
Requires strict binding:                no
GLSL shaders:                           yes
Texture NPOT support:                   yes

If it's still using the default "radeon" driver, you may have to blacklist the driver to keep X from loading it by default. You can do that if necessary by adding a line to:

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Just type in "blacklist radeon" (without quotes) at the end of the file.

Before blacklisting though, I'd do one of the first suggestions and find out what is running. If the Catalyst driver is loaded, then you have some other problem preventing 3D that will need to be found.

[Falc7]

KInfoCentre tells me 'Could not initialise open GL'

[Dutchman]

Well you can try blacklisting, but I have to say I've never had to do that before. Another thing, if blacklisting radeon causes your X-server to not start, and you're not used to using a terminal mode editor like nano or vi, you'll have to boot into the install CD, mount your hard drive and edit out the blacklisting that way.

Another possibility that comes to my mind now is that settings or files created when you did the original 'fglrx' install and configuration might be causing problems with the driver Jockey installed. If that's the case, you may have to uninstall them all and start again with Jockey.

[Falc7]

I've decided just to wait until a compatible ati driver comes out, i've gone back to 12.04 in the mean time