UBUNTU 7.10 video install problem on T60 WSXGA+

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rmcder · #1 Post by **rmcder** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 7:52 pm

I'm trying to install, and the installation dies after having a problem with the display (at least I think that's what's happening). Is this a known problem with high-res widescreens? Any ideas?

I did look at the post on a solved video problem, but it didn't seem to address my particular problem, since I'm not getting the install to work.

tylerwylie · #2 Post by **tylerwylie** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:20 pm

What video chipset?

rmcder · #3 Post by **rmcder** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:56 pm

tylerwylie wrote:What video chipset?

ati x1400 - resolution 1680x1050

Installation seems to die when Gnome is loading, so I think the native resolution is the problem. The install seems to max out at 1400x1050.

tylerwylie · #4 Post by **tylerwylie** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:19 pm

Which drivers are you trying? the fglrx ones?

rmcder · #5 Post by **rmcder** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:48 am

tylerwylie wrote:Which drivers are you trying? the fglrx ones?

Heck if I know; whatever is on the installation cd. All I know is that it's supposed to be UBUNTU v7.10. I'll be happy to look, but you'll have to tell me what to look for, and where to look for it.

It occurs to me that maybe I'm not clarifying my situation.. I'm not just trying to install video drivers, I'm trying to install LINUX itself, and the install is dying before anything gets installed.

#6 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 12:52 pm

When booting to the live cd use "safe video mode". Then install after it boots up.

cpascu01 · #7 Post by **cpascu01** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:27 pm

You don't have to use "safe video mode." Once your start the livecd up your screen will flicker a couple of times and then you'll get a blue screen. When the blue screen pops up, press:

Alt+F1

Afterwards, type:

''startx"

This should bring you into the livecd so you can install Ubuntu.

rmcder · #8 Post by **rmcder** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:04 pm

carbon_unit wrote:When booting to the live cd use "safe video mode". Then install after it boots up.

Thank you for the response (also to tylerwylie). I've tried that as well. Everything proceeds, and I can see various things loading, up until GNOME, and then, after several unsuccessful tries to intialize the display, I get the message:

"The display manager has been shut down about 6 times in the last 90 seconds. It is likely that something bad is going on. Waiting 2 minutes before trying again on display."

Whereupon everything dies. I eventually hit the power button and it lets me exit the install.

rmcder · #9 Post by **rmcder** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:05 pm

cpascu01 wrote:You don't have to use "safe video mode." Once your start the livecd up your screen will flicker a couple of times and then you'll get a blue screen. When the blue screen pops up, press:

Alt+F2

Afterwards, type:

''startx"

This should bring you into the livecd so you can install Ubuntu.

Would this blue screen be the one where the error message I referred to is written?

cpascu01 · #10 Post by **cpascu01** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:12 pm

Yes it is.

I made a mistake with my directions, so I edited my last post. It now says to press:

Alt+F1

I hope this helps. When I get a chance I'll post a howto on how to update your driver to ATI Linux Driver 7.11.

Just as a warning don't try installing 7.12. If you do, you will lose your native screen resolution.

rmcder · #11 Post by **rmcder** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:15 pm

cpascu01 wrote:Yes it is.

I made a mistake with my directions, so I edited my last post. It now says to press:

Alt+F1

I hope this helps. When I get a chance I'll post a howto on how to update your driver to ATI Linux Driver 7.11.

Just as a warning don't try installing 7.12. If you do, you will lose your native screen resolution.

Thank you! I'll try this out later tonight (when I have time to deal with any other issues that may crop up). Hopefully this fixes my problem.

rmcder · #12 Post by **rmcder** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:27 pm

Ok... Installed, I think. I get the same video issue going from boot loader, hit alt-f1, and login prompt comes up. Haven't gone beyond that yet. I assume I have to modify something in the startup process to use STARTX to avoid all the screen retries and boot normally? Tried to look at the partitions using Partition Magic 8.0, but apparently it doesn't understand linux partitioning (I can't imagine why that should be; it isn't like linux is unusual!?!).

Is there a Partition Magic-like utility that handles all kinds of partioning so I can modify my WinXP and LINUX partitions as needed? Seems to me there was something under OS/2 that understood all the partitioning schemes; surely there must be something around that can do the job? Guess I might as well uninstall Partition Magic from WinXP at this point!

K0LO · #13 Post by **K0LO** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:52 pm

Partition Magic should do fine with Linux partitions. I had no trouble using it on ext2 and ext3 partitions. It does tend to get a little fussy if the slightest inconsistency with the old DOS partitioning rules is found.

Other alternatives are Acronis Disk Director (my current favorite) and PartedMagic (a close second). PartedMagic is a newer release of Gparted with some cool additions.

rmcder · #14 Post by **rmcder** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:04 pm

k0lo wrote:Partition Magic should do fine with Linux partitions. I had no trouble using it on ext2 and ext3 partitions. It does tend to get a little fussy if the slightest inconsistency with the old DOS partitioning rules is found.

It says it found errors in the table and wanted to "correct" them. I figured that'd be a bad idea. When I got into the program, the linux ext partitions were there, but there were also some entries with nonsensical numbers, so there was clearly a problem with either Partition Magic or with the LINUX install. I'm assuming it was Partition Magic.

k0lo wrote:Other alternatives are Acronis Disk Director (my current favorite) and PartedMagic (a close second). PartedMagic is a newer release of Gparted with some cool additions.

Works out; I just ordered Acronis, so I guess I can test the Partition Magic results.

cpascu01 · #15 Post by **cpascu01** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 1:31 am

rmcder wrote:Ok... Installed, I think. I get the same video issue going from boot loader, hit alt-f1, and login prompt comes up. Haven't gone beyond that yet. I assume I have to modify something in the startup process to use STARTX to avoid all the screen retries and boot normally?

The problem you are experiencing with your video card is due to the ATI driver. All you have to do, now that you have Gusty installed, is enable the restricted driver for ATI cards. I found that if you go to

System -> Administration -> Update Manager

and just update your system, your video driver problem should be fixed.

scoot1212 · #16 Post by **scoot1212** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:56 am

I have a T60 with the X1400 chipset too and trying to get Ubuntu installed is a pain. You have 3 options if you want to use Ubuntu.

1. Get a Ubuntu 7.04 beta disc - The one that I have the video card works then do a dist-upgrade
2. follow these directions http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installin ... inkpad_T60
3. Download Ubuntu 8.04 - ubuntu and ati actually play nice together with this revision.

I highly recommend option 3 but if you want a stable setup do option 2. If you do option 2 you absolutely need to be plugged into the network no wireless support until you get your video working. also you will probably have to go through the same steps after you get 7.10 installed.
Good luck,
Scott

rmcder · #17 Post by **rmcder** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:46 am

Well... I logged in, and it took me to the desktop. The update manager tells me that everything is up to date. I can't enable the restricted drivers because it can't seem to find xorg-driver-fglrx. I got the wireless going, btw, so I was connected to the Internet. When I tried to close (hit the red "off" switch), nothing happened, and I eventually had to turn the computer off.

Today, I went through the same login process and followed the directions for number 2 above (THINKWIKI site). When I tried typing $ sudo apt-get install -y xorg-driver-fglrx, the package couldn't be found. I used STARTX to get into UBUNTU. Screen is now cycling every two minutes and one of the cycles gets me the desktop. It says something about two displays, so I guess I accidentally have attempted to set up two different screen displays, one of which is working. Hit the red "off" button, and this time it worked - At least something worked! I now seem to be at the prompt again, but the screen still seems to be cycling (no desktop visible this time, however).

Follow-up: Used STARTX again, and between cycles I looked at PACKAGE MANAGER and the restricted system packages. There is one package in there, and it isn't installed. It wasn't dpkg; I think it was dl-something. I looked at the installed xorg and got a value of 1.7.2-5ubuntu13.

Ideas?

rmcder · #18 Post by **rmcder** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:03 am

If I decided to throw in the towel and try 8.04, is the install smart enough to overwrite my previous installation and leave the partitions as they are?

cpascu01 · #19 Post by **cpascu01** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:09 pm

The reason it probably could not find the necessary driver is because some of the needed repositories are not enabled. Navigate to

"System" > "Administration" > "Software Properties"

Make sure there is a check near the Main, Restricted, Universe, and Multiverse repositories. Afterwards, it will ask you something about reloading your repositories. Once completed, try updating your system again.

I hope this helps you out. I would write a thorough howto and how I got my ATI x1400 working, but I'm currently on the road right now.

rmcder · #20 Post by **rmcder** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:52 pm

Thanks! That did it; everything seems to be working now, I even get a "shutdown" option after hitting the "off" button. Now all I need is a good set of ati drivers for acceleration, etc. I'll look forward to when you can outline the process for installing the Catalyst Linux 7.11 driver.

scoot1212 · #21 Post by **scoot1212** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:52 am

How many watts are you using in Ubuntu?

Scott

rmcder · #22 Post by **rmcder** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:07 pm

scoot1212 wrote:How many watts are you using in Ubuntu?
Scott

Um... I have no idea. Obviously I need more info in order to respond intelligently to you.

tylerwylie · #23 Post by **tylerwylie** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 6:16 pm

rmcder wrote:
scoot1212 wrote:How many watts are you using in Ubuntu?
Scott
Um... I have no idea. Obviously I need more info in order to respond intelligently to you.

Check "gnome-power-manager" or gpm I'm not sure what the binary is called, but that'll give you information on power usage and whatnot. That is what I believe he is asking for.

scoot1212 · #24 Post by **scoot1212** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:35 pm

I'm curious to see how many watts your laptop is using when on battery. The best way to check is to right click (i believe) on your battery icon and select power history. it will give you a graph and tell you how much power you are using.

Thank you,
Scott

rmcder · #25 Post by **rmcder** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:43 am

scoot1212 wrote:I'm curious to see how many watts your laptop is using when on battery. The best way to check is to right click (i believe) on your battery icon and select power history. it will give you a graph and tell you how much power you are using.

Thank you,
Scott

After the initial startup demands, it looks like it settles around 19.5 watts. I remember seeing a post somewhere (Thinkwiki?) about paring this number down; maybe I'll look into that at some point.

scoot1212 · #26 Post by **scoot1212** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:23 pm

Thank you for checking. If I recall correctly I was up in the area of 26 to 30 watts on battery. That was a straight install with wifi, bluetooth and 2nd hard drive. For now until I have time to play with powertop? to get the usage down I just use Ubuntu in VMware Workstation or Player.

Scott

UBUNTU 7.10 video install problem on T60 WSXGA+

UBUNTU 7.10 video install problem on T60 WSXGA+

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