My love affair with Ubuntu Linux is just growing stronger and stronger. In fact, I've found myself preaching to my neighbours, my friends, my family of cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews, pretty much anyone who will give me a moment to listen or shows interest. Hell, when I was going through my Officer Interview with the Recruitment Officer we spent a good 15 minutes just talking about the benefits of Linux vs Vista. The more I use it, the more I love it, and the more I learn about it.
However, having said that I have finally come face to face with an issue that I just can't seem to resolve and it is really pissing me off to no end that I can't fix it. This is not even Ubuntu's fault it's ATI's and there extreme lack of open source driver support.
Before I upgraded to Gutsy (7.10) I was using Feisty Fawn (7.04) and couldn't be happier. I had 3d accelerated graphics, I had my cube all done up with a cool desktop look (see previous Ubuntu blog for pics), I had Avant-Window-Navigator working like a charm and all was well in the world of me. Then I upgraded to Gutsy and I was extremely excited about it, all of the new features, fixes, and look. However, I come to find out that my ATI Mobility 9100 card is no longer in the Restricted Drivers list, in fact there are no drivers other than the default standard drivers which do not allow me to have 3d graphics acceleration.
So off i go on my search to make it all right. I hit the Ubuntu forums with a gusto, I find a bajillion posts about ATI drivers and the problems people are having. ATI even released a brand new proprietary driver for Linux support for certain cards (of course mine isn't one of them) and some folks are having success.
So I follow a bunch of How-to's, I install the new drivers, then I install the old Open-Source drivers, then I try Envy and try both Auto and Manual installs, then I try reconfiguring my xorg.conf file by myself with some help from the forums.
Nothing worked. No cube, no AWN, nothing. I have my desktop set up the way I want it, I have all of my applications set up and installed, everything is fine, but I can't use my graphics card and I'm super frustrated; here is what my Desktop looks like currently, and I'd like to keep it but add the Compiz-Fusion effects as well:
Anyways...I finally managed to fix it. The fault was actually my own, I had not installed the Beryl Manager and therefore could not run the Desktop effects I wanted. How stupid do I feel now, lol. So in the end the fault wasn't Linux or ATI it was my own, just like everyone out there who sometimes just need to rethink the problem through and don't, lol.
For those of you that would like to try Ubuntu here are some links that are invaluable, and I honestly believe once you give it a shot, you'll ask yourself why you haven't switched earlier.
To install and download: Ubuntu live CD -Ubuntu
For information on installation and apps: Gutsy Gibbon Info
For some great applications: GetDeb
For some sweet and advanced desktop stuff: Fluxbox
And for everyday desktop customization: Gnome Look
--- Seth
P.s. Ubuntu Forms is the best and quickest way to find help if you need it, the community there is unbelievably helpful and quick to answer.
However, having said that I have finally come face to face with an issue that I just can't seem to resolve and it is really pissing me off to no end that I can't fix it. This is not even Ubuntu's fault it's ATI's and there extreme lack of open source driver support.
Before I upgraded to Gutsy (7.10) I was using Feisty Fawn (7.04) and couldn't be happier. I had 3d accelerated graphics, I had my cube all done up with a cool desktop look (see previous Ubuntu blog for pics), I had Avant-Window-Navigator working like a charm and all was well in the world of me. Then I upgraded to Gutsy and I was extremely excited about it, all of the new features, fixes, and look. However, I come to find out that my ATI Mobility 9100 card is no longer in the Restricted Drivers list, in fact there are no drivers other than the default standard drivers which do not allow me to have 3d graphics acceleration.
So off i go on my search to make it all right. I hit the Ubuntu forums with a gusto, I find a bajillion posts about ATI drivers and the problems people are having. ATI even released a brand new proprietary driver for Linux support for certain cards (of course mine isn't one of them) and some folks are having success.
So I follow a bunch of How-to's, I install the new drivers, then I install the old Open-Source drivers, then I try Envy and try both Auto and Manual installs, then I try reconfiguring my xorg.conf file by myself with some help from the forums.
Nothing worked. No cube, no AWN, nothing. I have my desktop set up the way I want it, I have all of my applications set up and installed, everything is fine, but I can't use my graphics card and I'm super frustrated; here is what my Desktop looks like currently, and I'd like to keep it but add the Compiz-Fusion effects as well:
Anyways...I finally managed to fix it. The fault was actually my own, I had not installed the Beryl Manager and therefore could not run the Desktop effects I wanted. How stupid do I feel now, lol. So in the end the fault wasn't Linux or ATI it was my own, just like everyone out there who sometimes just need to rethink the problem through and don't, lol.
For those of you that would like to try Ubuntu here are some links that are invaluable, and I honestly believe once you give it a shot, you'll ask yourself why you haven't switched earlier.
To install and download: Ubuntu live CD -Ubuntu
For information on installation and apps: Gutsy Gibbon Info
For some great applications: GetDeb
For some sweet and advanced desktop stuff: Fluxbox
And for everyday desktop customization: Gnome Look
--- Seth
P.s. Ubuntu Forms is the best and quickest way to find help if you need it, the community there is unbelievably helpful and quick to answer.
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