Lenovo T60 Specs:

debian 5.06 (Stable)- Lenny
Kernel 2.6.26-2.686
T2400 - 1.83 GHz Duo Proc
2 GB RAM
M52 ATI Mobility Radeon x1300 video
xorg 1;7.3+20

I have read several articles on the net on installing ATI and nVidia proprietary drivers and even seen a few in here but the more I read about this the more I get confused. I am trying to find a way that works and not have to reinvent the wheel each time.

Here are the two methods that I have seen so far:

Method 1: (from LinuxIdentity for Debian 4.0r3)

1).aptitude install linux-image-2.6-686 linux-headers-2.6-686

2).reboot

3).aptitude install fglrx-driver fglrx-control fglrx-kernel-src fglrx-driver-dev

4).aptitude install module assitant build-essential

5).cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak

6).m-a and check fglrx-kernel

7).Verify in xorg.conf that the default driver reads fglrx

This method seems rather intense and I am not sure how someone could have deduced all this if they were just trying to install a driver. I would have thought I could just searched and maybe installed fglrx-driver, but I am a n00b.

--------
Method 2:

I just searched debian.org and seen three packages

xserver-xorg-video-ati
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd

I have used aptitude in the past and normally I would just do aptitude install <packagename> and the install would work. But how do I verify that these actually installed the driver that I needed and do I get 3d support or only 2D support. Does it modify my xorg.conf file automatically? Do I need to just run xorg-configure and it automatically takes care of the rest?

What happens when I get a new kernel in debian? Do I have to reinstall or recompile a certain piece in these two methods?

--------------------------

Current xorg.conf

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

------------------------

Can someone explain to me the best method to use and the most reliable/

You could download the driver from this page.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...2&lang=English

The same page has instructions.

Ok. I installed the ATI Proprietary drivers and screen seem to function fine but I was never able to get 3D support to work. So, I decided to remove the proprietary drivers and install the fglrx-drive from backports.org for Debian Lenny (fglrx-driver version 1:10-4-1) and compile the fglrx-source file.

I have read that there was problems with the Debian Lenny fglrx-driver version from debian.org and that the backports version had been modified to work correctly. WRONG!!!

After I updated the headers for my kernel and installed fglrx-driver and compiled the the fglrx-source and installed it with module-assistant. I rebooted. Which prove to be the wrong thing to do. Because when I rebooted, the X Server did not work. All I got was the shell.

I did however get several logs and I have attached those for viewing. The only one that I could not included was the xorg.conf file.

Attached Files

	dmesg.txt (40.9 KB, 15 views)
	lspci.txt (26.0 KB, 12 views)
	X0rg.0.log.txt (30.4 KB, 13 views)

Hello columbiasts1,

your problem is that according to your lspci the module fglrx is loaded. The xorg-server wants to use the radeon module.
You know: after installing the fglrx driver you'll have to issue the "aticonfig" command in order to generate a new xorg.conf, did you do that?

Markus

No chance to get the 10.4-driver from the backport-repos to work with your card. ATI dropped support for this card with the 9.4-drivers.

Thanks markush!!!!

I jumped to the shell and run the aticonfig and done a startx from the shell and it worked like a charm.

In order to install ATI X1300 drivers on Debian 9 I did following:

1. Install synaptic package manager.

2. In Synaptic do search for "microcode" and select "amd64-microcode". Then Apply.

3. Reboot