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Ubuntu 12.10 and AMD Catalyst problem (solved)

Written by Panos Georgiadis on . Posted in Hardware Linux, Ubuntu

Many users when they wished to upgrade their Ubuntu 12.04 up to 12.10, they encountered a problem concerning their graphics. This problem appeared only to AMD Radeon GPU users and especially to those who had Radeon HD 4000,  HD 3000 or HD 2000 graphics card.

The root of the problem lies with AMD’s recent announcement which drops the support of these models. As result, after upgrading to Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal, the packaged version of fglrx is no longer functional, leaving the users with a bitter taste of a broken graphics environment.  In a matter of fact, this problem is not 100% percent related to Ubuntu 12.10, but it comes with the new version of xorg 1.13 that is included in Quantal.

According to AMD’s press release:

“AMD has moved to the AMD Radeon™ HD 4000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 2000 Series new driver support model.  These updates will focus on resolving application specific issues and critical updates. The reason for the shift in support policy is largely due to the fact that the AMD Radeon HD 4000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 2000 Series have been optimized to their maximum potential from a performance and feature perspective.“

So guys, if you own one of them . . . .

AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series
AMD Radeon HD 3000 Series
AMD Radeon HD 2000 Series
AMD Radeon HD Series AGP
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 4000 Series
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 3000 Series
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 2000 Series

. . . . you are going to use the Legacy driver which currently is Catalyst 12.6 Legacy

Simply put:

-  Ubuntu 12.04 + xorg 1.12 + fglrx = ok

-  Ubuntu 12.10 + xorg 1.13 + fglrx = fail ( even if you try to downgrade xorg down to 1.12 then you gonna break Unity)

solution: Ubuntu 12.10 + xorg 1.13 + legacy_fglrx

That has been told, you can either download the driver from AMD’s Official Website (click here) and then run the script

sh amd-driver-installer-12.6-legacy-x86.x86_64.run

instead of running the script you can build the packages as an alternative:

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/legacy/amd-driver-installer-12.6-legacy-x86.x86_64.zip
unzip amd-driver-installer-*
sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-*.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/quantal
sudo dpkg -i fglrx*.deb
sudo aticonfig --initial -f

or use a 3rd-party repository created by Tomasz Makarewicz for this purpose only. (I personally recommend it)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:makson96/fglrx
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install fglrx-legacy

finally reboot your PC

However, if something doesn’t work out, you can always remove the repository and go back

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:makson96/fglrx
For questions please refer to our Q/A forum at : http://ask.unixmen.com

Related posts:

  1. How to install AMD Catalyst 12.8 in Ubuntu
  2. AMD released ATI Catalyst 12.3, howto Install in Ubuntu and LinuxMint
  3. Howto install ATI Display driver in Ubuntu
  4. Black screen after activating Nvidia propriety drivers in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat & LinuxMint10 | Solved
  5. Install the latest proprietary graphics driver in Ubuntu

74 Comment(s)

Panos Georgiadis

Panos is studying Control Systems Engineering. He has passion with both hardware and software and writes articles and reviews for many IT websites. In his free time, he plays guitar and drinks beer with friends. Contact: drpaneas (at) gmail (dot) com
  • http://twitter.com/Aleksandar_93 Aleksandar Jovanov

    Or use the open source drivers. I have played 0ad and HoN with radeon open source drivers and they both work at good FPS. GS and Unity also work with open source drivers at good FPS.

  • aiphee

    Just installed on notebook with 3200 with jockey-kde and its working…

  • ArchaicReality

    got bored with ubuntu and moved back to mint

  • Arun

    What about amd radeon 7600m on swichable mode with intel HD 4000

  • Tomasz Makarewicz

    Hi,
    You are wrong in few places.
    First of all Ubuntu 12.04 is using X-Server 1.11.
    Second: You can’t install AMD Legacy on Ubuntu 12.10. It is not supporting X-Server 1.13.
    Third: X-Server 1.12 will not break Unity. Actually in my ppa I am downgradeing X-Server to 1.12 version to make it work with fglrx-legacy.
    Best regards,

    • http://www.ubuntuxtream.com/ Panos Georgiadis

      Thanks Tomasz

    • subkhan

      hi tomasz,
      how to downgrade the X-server to 1.12?
      my unity is broken, now using gnome panel
      thanks

      • Tomasz Makarewicz

        Add my repo and update system or compile X-Server 1.12 yourself.

    • http://twitter.com/julianpacific Julian Pacific

      Please see problem above trying to compile. I guess you got past this since you have built it. Thanks.

    • cousasin

      thanks bro! first time full time ubuntu user…solved in just a few minutes…

  • jwk

    thanks for the heads up on this prob , I just enabled my onboard radeon 3000hd chip as my previous nividia card failed, so I think i’ll buy a replacement card before upgrading from 12.4 to 12.10

  • Polar Bear

    please answer after succesfully installed makson96 package i got vesa m96 in graphic in system properties.What does it mean.I have Mobility Radeon hd 4650

  • LikeBuffaloWingsALittleTooMuch

    FYI, the FirePro M7740 chip, which was offered with Dell’s M6500 laptop, requires the legacy driver described in this article. Using the PPA, everything went smoothly.

    Note that there was no need to run “aticonfig –initial”, which is something that I thought might be necessary.

  • http://www.facebook.com/humberto.verdugo1 Humberto Verdugo

    What about hybrid cards?
    the AMD driver was working fine on 12.04 =/
    but not for Ubuntu 12.10
    I tried this ppa and does not work properly.

    abc@chronos:~$ lspci | grep VGA
    00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
    01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Caicos [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series]
    abc@chronos:~$

    • harry

      hey i have 12.04 installed with hybrid card[radeon HD7600m]
      how to install the drivers?

  • Richard

    The 3rd-party repository created by Tomasz Makarewicz is excellent. Thumbs up from me (12.10, Amd64 and ATI 2600XT). Thanks guys!!

  • Antonio

    How to install on amd/intel hybrid graphics?

  • http://nekogear.co/ Nekogear Works

    first try with fglrx_legacy : unity is missing and compiz stopped working
    second try with Tomasz Makarewicz PPA’s : HURR DURR, Kernel Panic

    testboard: 12.10 x86 + AMD Radeon HD3200

  • Foryourinfo

    I tried the ppa on a laptop with hd 4250, the screen didn’t come back on after restart.

  • HaydeezPluto

    Go with the recommendation (repo). First check that it’s the video card that’s causing the problem, as was in my case. You can check the video card information by “lspci | grep VGA”.

  • indure

    Thanks, good job

  • Björn Persson

    Went the ppa-route, greeted by black screen on reboot. Mob Radeon 4250.

    • Viktor Vítek

      I have same problem, after install from ppa i got black screen and cant do nothing….. Any solution pls?

      • Björn Persson

        Reboot into tty, purge the ppa and os radeon-drivers will be reinstated upon next reboot. a pity though, i much prefer the evil binary blob from amd.

        • adsb

          Another Mobile 4250 user here, tried the ppa, black screen. Reverted to radeon and it’s fine.

        • viktoo

          thanks, its worked…. just hope that there will be some solution, because binary blop is much faster and has much better power managemet…

        • DavidHollinger

          Same thing here Mobility HD 4200

  • EazyVG

    Installed the legacy driver for my HD 4330 using the above PPA (ppa:makson96/fglrx), all good after reboot, driver installed correctly according to glxinfo. Hope the PPA will be maintained per kernel updates. Thanks.

  • Marcel Renaud

    Also got a black screen after rebooting….

  • gzd

    i went for the ppa and everything’s ok…
    excellent job thanks Tomasz + Panos :)
    (ati 4200 on asus m4a785-td-v-evo)
    they should know about this @ the ubuntu team…!?

    • Esteban Javier

      hi, what about youtube videos, them works right for you? for me dont work

  • koee

    Excelent solution :) thank you so much

  • aqlus salimi

    root@xxxxxxxxx-Vostro-1088:/home/xxxxxxx# sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-*.run –buildpkg Ubuntu/quantal
    Created directory fglrx-install.CbSNzZ
    Verifying archive integrity… All good.
    Uncompressing AMD Catalyst(TM) Proprietary Driver-8.97.100.3………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
    =====================================================================
    AMD Catalyst(TM) Proprietary Driver Installer/Packager
    =====================================================================
    Generating package: Ubuntu/quantal
    Package build failed!
    Package build utility output:
    ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: 294: ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: debclean: not found
    dpkg-buildpackage: source package fglrx-installer
    dpkg-buildpackage: source version 2:8.970-0ubuntu1
    dpkg-buildpackage: source changed by AMD: Advanced Micro Devices.
    dpkg-source –before-build fglrx.tQVlAj
    dpkg-buildpackage: host architecture i386
    debian/rules build
    Can’t exec “debian/rules”: Permission denied at /usr/bin/dpkg-buildpackage line 510.
    dpkg-buildpackage: error: debian/rules build failed with unknown exit code -1
    ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: 294: ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: debclean: not found
    dpkg-buildpackage: source package fglrx-installer
    dpkg-buildpackage: source version 2:8.970-0ubuntu1
    dpkg-buildpackage: source changed by AMD: Advanced Micro Devices.
    dpkg-source –before-build fglrx.zu1yaX
    dpkg-buildpackage: host architecture i386
    debian/rules build
    Can’t exec “debian/rules”: Permission denied at /usr/bin/dpkg-buildpackage line 510.
    dpkg-buildpackage: error: debian/rules build failed with unknown exit code -1
    Removing temporary directory: fglrx-install.CbSNzZ

    help me……. please….

  • aqlus salimi

    root@xxxxxxxxx-Vostro-1088:/home/xxxxxxx# sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-*.run –buildpkg Ubuntu/quantal
    Created directory fglrx-install.CbSNzZ
    Verifying archive integrity… All good.
    Uncompressing AMD Catalyst(TM) Proprietary Driver-8.97.100.3………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
    =====================================================================
    AMD Catalyst(TM) Proprietary Driver Installer/Packager
    =====================================================================
    Generating package: Ubuntu/quantal
    Package build failed!
    Package build utility output:
    ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: 294: ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: debclean: not found
    dpkg-buildpackage: source package fglrx-installer
    dpkg-buildpackage: source version 2:8.970-0ubuntu1
    dpkg-buildpackage: source changed by AMD: Advanced Micro Devices.
    dpkg-source –before-build fglrx.tQVlAj
    dpkg-buildpackage: host architecture i386
    debian/rules build
    Can’t exec “debian/rules”: Permission denied at /usr/bin/dpkg-buildpackage line 510.
    dpkg-buildpackage: error: debian/rules build failed with unknown exit code -1
    ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: 294: ./packages/Ubuntu/ati-packager.sh: debclean: not found
    dpkg-buildpackage: source package fglrx-installer
    dpkg-buildpackage: source version 2:8.970-0ubuntu1
    dpkg-buildpackage: source changed by AMD: Advanced Micro Devices.
    dpkg-source –before-build fglrx.zu1yaX
    dpkg-buildpackage: host architecture i386
    debian/rules build
    Can’t exec “debian/rules”: Permission denied at /usr/bin/dpkg-buildpackage line 510.
    dpkg-buildpackage: error: debian/rules build failed with unknown exit code -1
    Removing temporary directory: fglrx-install.CbSNzZ

    help me……. please….

    • spacering

      sudo apt-get install devscripts, hope it help !

  • Eric

    This works, but leaves me with a big fat “AMD Unsupported Hardware” in the lower right hand corner of my desktop. I’m using a FIrepro M7740 video adapter. And can anyone tell me why AMD is trying so hard to make me angry?

    • Pete

      Same issue here. Happy to have it working, but fustrated with the watermark

  • Dave

    Thanks guys!!

  • Scott

    Thanks for the solution. All is working well now with the repo solution.

  • ken

    Got a radeon 6450. Tried to play Shatter the other day, and the graphics were horrible. Started out real bad with pixels, and then really went to pot. I installed the “fglrx” package. Do I need to follow these steps from the beginning, or can I do it after installing the fglrx packages?

    • crnm3

      did u have ny boot issues or pixelation on boot with the 6000 series?

  • Hardly

    Thank you, thank you thank you Thank you, thank you thank you Thank you, thank you thank you, been struggling with this for weeks 3rd-party repository created by Tomaszfixed it straight away, I will never ever by an amd card again, *ast%$”ds

  • alex

    Thank so much. It worked right away. I used repository. I hope more people will know about this work around.

  • dustookk

    Thanks ! my problem solved !! LOL

  • http://twitter.com/jagerx9 jagerx9

    Confirmed not working with AMD HD 6950.

  • David

    I have a Radeon HD 4250, and for this breaks my multi-monitor setup. I use an old Acer monitor with DVI at 1680×1050, and the HDMI-out goes to my TV 1920×1080. For some reason, it keeps going back to Cloned Desktop on every reboot. I can boot up Catalyst and re-set Multi Display but that’s tedius. Also, the TV has all the menu items just outside of the viewing area.

  • Alinn

    Hi
    Thanks alot :)

  • Githlar

    I found this solution a while back when I upgraded to 12.10 (Using a Mobility Radeon HD 4650) and it worked like a charm… up until Nov 24th something crapped out on me and I’m stuck in Gnome Classic – even tried reverting ALL of my repositories (both standard and PPA) so I was just using the stock quantal repositories (not quantal-updates, quantal-backports, etc) and it’s still broken =’(. Apt log isn’t helping either. Oh well, guess I can live with Gnome Classic – I did for years. But after getting so used to Gnome Shell it’s a shame. Either way, I will NEVER use unity.

  • KUBUNTU

    HI, i had a same problem with my graphic card ( ati radeon HD7650m). when i install ubuntu v 11.10/12.04/12.10, in software information see`s her as unknown device. i tried update, all the steps a find on forums, tried to change the codes in driver of graphic but nothing…so. i install kubuntu and he find her immediately. i hope that help :)

  • texas2zee

    Thank you, repository method works great on laptop with Radeon HD3200

  • Ruud van Eeghem

    THANK YOU!!

  • Chris

    Hello, when i boot after use ppa i’ve got black screen how you resolve this problem ?

    I’ve got a HD4200 and i want to install xbmc so i need catalyst. If no solution i have to reinstall 12.04. Thanks for your work.

  • Robs

    Kudos to Tomasz Makarewicz! Excellent repository

  • hossein

    Confirmed not working with AMD HD 4500. Asus kj42 laptop

  • Werner Cedillo

    NOT WORKING!!! I have amd mobility raedeon HD 4200, not working at all!

    • Eduardo Campos

      I have the same video card (amd mobility raedeon HD 4200) and it doesnt work. you are right. I had to downgrade my distro to linuxmint kde 13 (it is based in ubuntu 12.04).

  • Werner Cedillo

    The repository nor the official amd driver is working! It’s impossible to make amd legacy 12.6 work with 1.13, and i think it is breaking unity with tomasz’s repo

  • Werner Cedillo

    I lost my unity, it’s not loading when i login to ubuntu 12.10…

  • Ketan Kothari

    Hi people I to even has stuked with same problem i am having Radeon 7460 g card and Ubuntu 12.10 Please help me

  • http://cms.321start.sk/ evan70

    Thank Ya Tomasz Makarewicz ! Works like charm on my HP ProBook 4515s with Mobility Radeon HD 3200 Graphics ! Great Job

  • http://www.facebook.com/pavlos555 Pavlos Chatzidimitriou

    Thank you for your post. I didn’t upgrade to ubuntu 12.10 until recently because of the fglrx issue. Using the ppa you mention i successfully upgraded using fglrx-legacy.

  • Matt Blanchard

    Until I landed on this page I had struggled for months with the Catalyst drivers with no luck. I added your ppa and it was like magic. You are like a God to me now. I now realize I have a ridiculously fast machine!

  • Sean Davis

    Thanks! The ppa route worked like a charm. I’m running 12.10 3.5.0-22-generic on an Inspiron 570 w/ Radeon 4200 HD.

  • Santiago Ezcurra

    Thanks to Tomasz for the repository, and thanks to Panos for the post. Very helpful!

  • Knut Hoffmann

    Hi,
    I had the graphics-problem too with a virtual machine Ubuntu 12.10 and a Radeon HD3200 IGP. After application of the above repository the graphics worked indeed faster, but the desktop was broken, there was only the background left, no icons and so on. The terminal was openable by key-combination. What’s to do? And by the way, can I carry through any upgrade via apt-get in this state?
    Best regards
    Knut

  • aleksa

    this doesent work. if i do that i cant turn on my linux again. it says xorg broken! :(

  • aleksa

    this doesent work. if i do that i cant turn on my linux again. it says xorg broken! :(

  • Alex

    Thank you so much, spent like 4 hours on this, been to 30 sites, used the ati recommeded files, and your worked, even though its probably not supported for my card, the X850XT or some shit.

  • http://www.facebook.com/rick.makee Henrique Santana

    Thanks!!!!

  • Peter Finch

    Glad I found this post.

    This worked for me:

    use a 3rd-party repository created by Tomasz Makarewicz for this purpose only. (I personally recommend it)

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:makson96/fglrx
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get upgrade
    sudo apt-get install fglrx-legacy

    finally reboot your PC

  • http://twitter.com/julianpacific Julian Pacific

    I typed: sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-*.run –buildpkg Ubuntu/quantal
    Got: Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 3.5.0-26-generic (x86_64)
    Consult /var/lib/dkms/fglrx/8.970/build/make.log for more information.
    vi the above file contains:
    /var/lib/dkms/fglrx/8.970/build/2.6.x/firegl_public.c: In function “KCL_MEM_AllocLinearAddrInterval’:
    /var/lib/dkms/fglrx/8.970/build/2.6.x/firegl_pubic.c:2152:5: error: implicit declaration of fucntion “do_mmap’ [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
    /var/lib/dkms/fglrx/8.970/build/2.6.x/firegl_pubic.c:2152:13: warning: cast to pointer from integer of different size [-Wint-to-pointer-cast]

    Is this because I am using 64 bit kernel?
    I will try the repository as a back up solution.
    Thanks
    J

  • http://basshero.org/ Jason Robinson

    Thanks for the PPA. On my way from 12.04 -> 12.10 -> 13.04 on my wifes laptop and got hit by this after 12.10 upgrade. This PPA allowed me to get Unity back and do the next upgrade.

    AMD (stupid) chip is Radeon HD 2400 XT

  • dom

    after running

    sudo sh ./amd-driver-installer-*.run –buildpkg Ubuntu/quantal

    i get this

    ee the apt-get(8), sources.list(5) and apt.conf(5) manual
    pages for more information and options.
    This APT has Super Cow Powers.
    Unable to resolve libqtgui4. Please manually install and try again.

  • jeethu kashap

    thanks man really last one worked for my 5536 acer laptops

    cheers

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