Making ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 work with Fedora 7
I have been trying to get Fedora 7 to run on my notebook for the past week or so. I've gone through about 10 CDs/DVDs, trying different images; live cds, install CDs, Fedora 6, Fedora 7, etc...
Anyway, it seems to not like my display. I am guessing that it is my video card, or a lack of a driver for it. My specs are as follows:
4GB RAM
Core Duo T2300 @ 1.66GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 (256MB)
It's an upgraded Alienware m5750 that I got about a year ago. I'll be putting in a Core 2 Duo in a couple of weeks, if that information is useful.
Basically, I just want to get Fedora 7 working with a GUI.
Let me know what more information is needed.
I've also tried Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and several others. The one that sort of worked (it gave me some sort of GUI) was MEPIS 6.5.
Anyway, it seems to not like my display. I am guessing that it is my video card, or a lack of a driver for it. My specs are as follows:
4GB RAM
Core Duo T2300 @ 1.66GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 (256MB)
It's an upgraded Alienware m5750 that I got about a year ago. I'll be putting in a Core 2 Duo in a couple of weeks, if that information is useful.
Basically, I just want to get Fedora 7 working with a GUI.
Let me know what more information is needed.
I've also tried Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and several others. The one that sort of worked (it gave me some sort of GUI) was MEPIS 6.5.
out of the box install could be quite problematic ...
anyway there are no open source drivers for 2d because the X1xxx all don't have the old radeon 2d core anymore.
but there is the binary, closed source driver which can be found at: http://ati.amd.com/support/driver-de.html
I know all this might not be of much help, but perhaps you post a real error message the next time ? Normally that helps resolving problems much quicker.
anyway there are no open source drivers for 2d because the X1xxx all don't have the old radeon 2d core anymore.
but there is the binary, closed source driver which can be found at: http://ati.amd.com/support/driver-de.html
I know all this might not be of much help, but perhaps you post a real error message the next time ? Normally that helps resolving problems much quicker.
ASKER
I don't know what you mean by a "real error message".
I tried following the instructions here: http://felipec.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/ati-r500-driver/
after booting from the live CD, but the best that happened was the GUI would start, and I would have a mouse for about 2 seconds before it would just crash again.
In addition to the instructions in the link I provided, I had to also install the following: gcc, autoconfi, automake, and libtool.
I tried following the instructions here: http://felipec.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/ati-r500-driver/
after booting from the live CD, but the best that happened was the GUI would start, and I would have a mouse for about 2 seconds before it would just crash again.
In addition to the instructions in the link I provided, I had to also install the following: gcc, autoconfi, automake, and libtool.
Hi,
Have you tried issuing the following command as root:
X -configure
this should generate a xorg.conf file for you that might work. When your installing Fedora are you presented with a graphical installer?
Have you tried issuing the following command as root:
X -configure
this should generate a xorg.conf file for you that might work. When your installing Fedora are you presented with a graphical installer?
ASKER
I haven't tried that command yet. I'll do that now. When I try to install Fedora, I don't get the graphical installer.
It seems to try to start the graphical installer, but then it crashes.
Thanks for the input. I'll post how it goes.
It seems to try to start the graphical installer, but then it crashes.
Thanks for the input. I'll post how it goes.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
The error I initially mentioned was in fact in a pop up box.
I can't seem to get the closed-source drivers to work either. They also do the thing where GUI tries to go, but just crashes.
I can't seem to get the closed-source drivers to work either. They also do the thing where GUI tries to go, but just crashes.
and we can't help without any error messages ...
perhaps posting the contents of -->>>>>> /var/log/Xorg.0.log <<<<<< helps us all ...
initial error message or not - having a pencil and paper ready sometimes help even in the digital age
or do suppose when your car is broken, walking into the next garage and just telling the mechanic that your car is broken will get it fixed ? (of course you leave your car at home ...)
perhaps posting the contents of -->>>>>> /var/log/Xorg.0.log <<<<<< helps us all ...
initial error message or not - having a pencil and paper ready sometimes help even in the digital age
or do suppose when your car is broken, walking into the next garage and just telling the mechanic that your car is broken will get it fixed ? (of course you leave your car at home ...)
ASKER
I sort of got it working.
I used the following command to get Fedora to install in text mode:
"/usr/bin/liveinst"
I then used "yum update", and the default VESA driver showed me a GUI that I could work with, but I couldn't figure out how to make it display at 1920x1200. The best I can make it do is 1600x1200.
If you can tell me how to do this, I will award the points. Otherwise, I will ask that the question be closed.
Also, every attempt to install the proprietary driver resulted in the original problem, so I had to restore the xorg.conf to the VESA driver.
I used the following command to get Fedora to install in text mode:
"/usr/bin/liveinst"
I then used "yum update", and the default VESA driver showed me a GUI that I could work with, but I couldn't figure out how to make it display at 1920x1200. The best I can make it do is 1600x1200.
If you can tell me how to do this, I will award the points. Otherwise, I will ask that the question be closed.
Also, every attempt to install the proprietary driver resulted in the original problem, so I had to restore the xorg.conf to the VESA driver.
ASKER
This question is now obsolete. Fedora 9 works flawlessly (compiz, too) on this card.
ASKER
This question is now obsolete. Fedora 9 works flawlessly (compiz, too) on this card.
ASKER
AIGLX: Screen0 is not DRI capable