HD3870 on Ubuntu 8.04 x64--help!

[OriginsOfRuin]

Hey there. So, I'm definitely a noob when it comes to Linux, but I am a quick learner and therefore, thought I could figure out how to correctly install my HD3870 in Linux... and I have so far failed. I've googled every combination of HD3870 and linux/ubuntu I could think and have tried everything that's come up, but I still can't get it to work!

I'll try and list as best I can what I've tried so far:

Installing The RadeonHD Driver On Ubuntu

Methods 1 and 2 here

I've also downloaded and installed the .run files from ATI of Catalyst versions 7.12-8.4 (yes, all of them). It's been about 3-days and I still haven't figured it out .

But anyway, this is my first time using Linux, but I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about hardware and computers in general, so I wanted the challenge of learning Linux. I know some basic terminal code by now, such as 'sudo' and commands like 'gedit' and 'apt-get update', but not much more beyond that, so please try and keep your instructions as noob-oriented as possible.

At the very least, I know how to reset my xorg.conf file with the 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg' command.

Here's my hardware configuration, by the way, and I have the latest updates.

Asus P5K-E Wifi/AP
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160
4GB DDR2-800 RAM (2GB Crucial Ballistix, 2GB OCZ Platinum)
MSI Radeon HD3870 512MB
160GB WD primary SATA
400GB Seagate secondary SATA

I've seen on other forums where guys post their xorg.conf files. Just let me know if you need to see that or not.

As of right now, I managed to set it to 1440x900 resolution with my Acer AL1919W 19" 16x10 monitor, but it still doesn't recognize my HD3870. Any help would be appreciated and I'm anxious to figure this out!

Oh, one more thing. I've been looking a little more at different distributions of Linux (I only picked Ubuntu because I heard it was the most popular) and was wondering if there's any one of them in particular that would have hardware support for the HD3870? Or is Ubuntu the best one anyway? I'm a gamer, so I'd like to see what kinds of games I can run on this machine, but mostly, I'm running Linux just to learn Linux. You can let me know which one you're running and why you like it if you want.

Thanks again!

[Melcar]

Here is how I install the drivers for my HD2900XT. The same method is used on my laptop (200M) and on a HD3850 I have on another PC, and it works every time. I'm using Ubuntu 7.10:

- Download the driver from ATI's website

- Open a terminal and type the following:

sudo apt-get install build-essential fakeroot dh-make debhelper debconf libstdc++5 dkms

# install ia32-libs if on a 64bit OS


cd ~/<to where you saved the driver>
sudo sh ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run

# let the installer run with the automatic option

cd
sudo aticonfig --initial

# reboot

Before you do all of this I suggest you uninstall any fglrx package you may have on your system (from previous attempts) and rebuild your xserver.

Note that if you install the driver this way, you need to uninstall it a certain way:

cd /usr/share/ati
sudo sh ./uninstall-fglrx.sh

[OriginsOfRuin]

OK, I think I made some progress on this. I did what you said, including uninstalling my previous drivers, and rebooted. When I logged in, it just came up with a black screen, so I rebooted again and reset my xorg.conf file.

The weird thing is, when I booted up again, in System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers it has ATI accelerated graphics driver that is NOT enabled, but it's in use. Also, my xorg.conf file is virtually blank. I guess this is progress because it never listed as in use before.

I think I'm going to try just the radeonHD drivers one more time and see if those work...

EDIT: Nope, definitely did not work... booted into 8-bit color mode or something like that, looked terrible.

Looking at my Hardware Drivers box, it now has nothing listed. My xorg.conf reset itself once again...

I'll try this one now.

[Melcar]

Don't use the Restricted Drivers Manager. Have you tried Envy? That seems to work for most. Oh, and the radeonHD drivers don't have 3D acceleration yet.

[OriginsOfRuin]

Yeah, I've tried Envy before... but then again, that was when I didn't know how to properly uninstall drivers. I'll try it again.

I'll try this one now.

That one didn't work as well. I'll get it eventually!

[OriginsOfRuin]

Hmm... I just tried Envy and it says that my OS isn't supported. I guess it technically is a beta.

EDIT: Wow... this is weird. I uninstalled every ATI driver I could find (using Envy, ironically), then simply loaded up synaptic, found the radeonhd drivers, and installed them... and now, my resolution is perfect (1440x900@60), but my xorg.conf file is still unchanged. The screen did, however, go crazy at the login screen, but once I typed in the info, it's fine. I think that's all the testing I'm going to do with it for now since this is the best it's been so far. Thanks for your help, though.

[casiciaco]

I tried several methods and driver versions but fglrx is not yet working.
I do not know what else to do.
My computer is very similar:
Asus P5K-E Wifi/AP
Intel Pentium QUAD Core Q6400
4GB DDR2-800 RAM
HD3870 512MB

Any help ??

[bridgman]

Are you running a 32-bit or 64-bit distro ?

If 64 bit {

Does your BIOS have an option related to remapping RAM above 4GB ? If so, let us know how it is set and try the other option.

If you want to narrow the problem down real fast and don't mind opening the case, drop down to 2GB (carefully ) and test to see if that helps.

}

[oblivious_maximus]

Bridgman, is there any way you(or rather AMD) could lobby Asus to return the remapping options to the BIOSes of any motherboards they've removed them from?? Mine's manual lists the option but they've removed it from all the newer BIOS releases.

[casiciaco]

I found a PCI mapping function, it was :

Advanced
|
Chipset
|
|
|-North Bridge Configuration
|
|-------Memory Remap Feature [Enabled]

I have changed it to [Disable], and reinstalled the driver.
Now the driver works.
Unfortunately, compiz does not work yet.

Thank you.