Hey guys,

Sorry I am another newbie (but that's good right?!). Anyways, I am attempting to install a graphics driver on my dell notebook for an ATI Mobility 9700.

I downloaded the file:

ati-driver-installer-8.26.18-x86.run


When I try to install it (per website instructions) I get this:

[root@localhost dls]# sh ./ati-driver-installer-8.26.18-x86.run
Creating directory fglrx-install
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing ATI Proprietary Linux Driver-8.26.18............................................................................................. .................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... .............................................................
==================================================
ATI Technologies Linux Driver Installer/Packager
==================================================
Detected configuration:
Architecture: i686 (32-bit)
X Server: unable to detect
Removing temporary directory: fglrx-install
[root@localhost dls]#


Anyone have any idea why my X Server would not be detected? Thanks in advance.

You probably have to start the X server, with something like 'startx'.

--- rod.

EDIT: Just re-read, and see it is failing at installation. Do you have an X server installed? X.org or Xfree-86?

Thanks for the response. I have Mandriva/Mandrake 10.1. Maybe, I am just confused. I would have thought Xserver would be included with my Mandrake installation. I thought X was the thing that displays the windows and graphics. I would think I have that because I am using a graphical user interface right now.

If I type "startx" or "X" it will display a message saying the server is already active.

is it possible to read the file "whatever.run" in a text editor, carefully if a binary file.
At least that might tell you what its looking for and where.
If text file change it to where your X server files are.

A google gave me this
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ati...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
put the file name in google and check it out . seems to be stuff for debian but it might help

I couldn't read the file.. I tried opening it in emacs but nothing showed up and it lagged my system. I did download just the driver in an rpm package this time.

Here's what I tried:
[root@localhost dls]# rpm -iv fglrx*.rpm
error: Failed dependencies:
libexpat.so.1 is needed by fglrx_4_3_0-8.27.10-1


What in the world is going on? Why does Linux have to be so difficult?

Here's the website where I am getting the files:
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...ge&folderID=27

Should I be worried about the X Server not being found? And do rpm packages automatically overwrite my old video card drivers.

It is telling you that the driver depends on another library in order to operate. It cannot see an RPM installed version of said library, so it is telling you to get it before it can complete the installation. If I recall correctly, expat is a regular expression parser library, which does seem a bit odd for a video driver. For best results, you should do as it says, and get the expat library and install it.

You are entering the world of 'dependency hell'. It is linux's way of keeping losers who can never let go of the Windows apron-strings away.


For non-RPM installations, you should probably be worried. Most RPMs will overwrite the old version. It's what you want, really.

--- rod.

Ok, so there is no libexpat.so.1 anywhere out there that I can download. So instead of that, I tried to do the link thing
Here's what I did:
[root@localhost lib]# ln -s libexpat.so.0.5.0 libexpat.so.1

Now when I search for libexpat.so.1 I actually get results:
[root@localhost /]# find -name libexpat.so.1
./usr/lib/libexpat.so.1

However, when I try to install the thing again nothing changes:
[root@localhost dls]# rpm -iv fglrx*.rpm
error: Failed dependencies:
libexpat.so.1 is needed by fglrx_4_3_0-8.27.10-1

Here's some more info:
[root@localhost lib]# ls -l libexpat*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 Dec 31 2005 libexpat.so.0 -> libexpat.so.0.5.0*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 127172 Jul 29 2004 libexpat.so.0.5.0*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 Aug 4 12:28 libexpat.so.1 -> libexpat.so.0.5.0*

Creating symbolic links to versions that purport to be what they really are not, isn't generally a good idea. Moreover, rpm will not find any installed libraries, other than what was installed by rpm. It wasnt't too hard to find expat rpms for Mandrake at rpmfind.net. Did you look there?

There is also the option of creating an rpm from source tarballs, although I sense that this isn't a place you want to go right now (or ever, probably).

Having re-read your original post, I'm rethinking the meaning of the 'X server not detected' message. I think it may simply mean that it is unable to detect which X server you are running. This may be harlmess. Just speculating, but it may be possible to tell the installer script something about the existing X server on the command line, like whether it is X.org or Xfree-86, and where it is installed in the filesystem.

Finally, since you do seem to have a working X server, what benefit do you expect to gain by installing another/different video driver? Perhaps the optimal solution is to simply leave well enough alone.

--- rod.

First of all, thanks for your response. I truely appreciate the help.

I have looked on several rpm sites, and I can't seem to find that specific file contained in any of the packages for Mandrake or others.

Right now my display is screwed up. This is especially evident when I run Mozilla. I get random lines drawn all over the screen and can't read anything because there is too much random crap created by my driver. Also, when I shut down my system, There are a ton of random error messages thrown about the display, and it sometimes displays the background as a blur of brownish color on shutdown.

Okay, mmy best suggestion with respect to the expat RPM issue is to get the latest expat rpm for Mandrake, and install that. I think it will give you a libexpat.so.1.XX. It should be safe to symlink that to a libexpat.so.1. Those RPMs are available at pbone and RPMfind, and probably several others. Try that, and let us know how that goes.

Alternatively, you could run the rpm installation with the --nodeps flag to force it to go ahead and install withouth regard to dependencies.

Hope this helps.

--- rod.

hello

hata: Failed dependencies:
libexpat.so.1 is needed by fglrx_4_3_0-8.28.8-1.i386

rpmfind.net Found 4 RPM for libexpat.so.1

Package Summary Distribution Download
freevo_runtime-3-3.i386.html Freevo_runtime SourceForge freevo_runtime-3-3.i386.rpm
freevo_runtime-3-2.i386.html Freevo_runtime SourceForge freevo_runtime-3-2.i386.rpm
freevo_runtime-3-1.i386.html Freevo_runtime SourceForge freevo_runtime-3-1.i386.rpm
freevo_runtime-1-1.i386.html Freevo_runtime SourceForge freevo_runtime-1-1.i386.rpm

i tryed to install freevo_runtime-3-3.i386.rpm but

[root@localhost Desktop]# rpm -ivh freevo_runtime-3-3.i386.rpm
hata: Failed dependencies:
libreadline.so.4 is needed by freevo_runtime-3-3.i386

[root@localhost Desktop]# whereis libreadline.so.4
libreadline.so: /lib/libreadline.so.5

now i need libreadline.so.4? Help

This is a fairly common problem, the solutions are a bit messy. What happens when you install a package by using RPM is that an entry for that package is made in a database that is maintained by RPM on your system. That is the only place that RPM looks to find out what is already there. It will not do the equivalent of 'whereis' to decide whether dependencies are met.

You can install libreadline.so.5 from an RPM. This is probably the easiest and best solution.

You can install libreadline.so.5 from a source RPM. This is probably the most difficult, but still a good option.

You can tell RPM to ignore dependency issues by using the --nodeps commandline option. This is okay as long as you know what you are doing. Ignoring ALL dependencies might be risky. I don't think there is any way to tell it to ignore only specified dependencies.

--- rod.

i already have libreadline.so.5

[root@localhost Desktop]# whereis libreadline.so.5
libreadline.so: /lib/libreadline.so.5 /lib/libreadline.so /usr/lib/libreadline.so

i found this at RPMfind.net but already installed as i said

[root@localhost Desktop]# rpm -ivh libreadline5-5.0-2mdk.i586.rpm
Hazırlanıyor... ########################################### [100%]
libreadline5-5.0-2mdk already installed

yesterday i tryed

[root@localhost Desktop]# rpm -ivh --nodeps freevo_runtime-3-3.i386.rpm

[root@localhost Desktop]# rpm -ivh fglrx_6_8_0-8.28.8-1.i386.rpm

but didnt work. it gived a different error. it was about a contradiction.

if this error message is importand i can try it again. now i reinstalled my mandriva 2006