ATI driver re-install fail

Question

I know this is a common topic, I myself have even helped others with ATI issues. Unfortunately now I find myself in the position of having ATI driver issues. The 12.1 driver is out, and I heard some issues with the screen flicker have been fixed. Ok, so I said I uninstall my current one, and get the new one.

So for uninstall I did:

sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx fglrx_* fglrx-amdcccle* fglrx-dev*

And then I installed it normally by running the executable:

sh ./ati-driver-installer-11-10-x86.x86_64.run

The driver wouldn't install cause it was saying a current one is already there, so...like a dumb a*** I used --force

sh ./ati-driver-installer-11-10-x86.x86_64.run --force

This run through the installer apparently without issues.

Unfortunately while installing I realized I should have used the following commands:

sh ./ati-driver-installer-11-10-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/oneiric
sudo dpkg -i fglrx*.deb

Well, now I already run the force one, so I rebooted to see what the result is. After failed attempt to start xserver, I managed to log into the 2D fallback version.

Now if I try to run the installer directly I get a warning message:

A previous install of fglrx driver has been detected....

If I try to build the fglrx package with:

sh ./amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/oneiric

I get the error:

objdump: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/alt_ld.so.conf: File truncated
objdump: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/ld.so.conf: File format not recognized
objdump: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/pxpress/alt_ld.so.conf: File truncated
objdump: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/pxpress/ld.so.conf: File format not recognized
   debian/rules override_dh_shlibdeps
make[1]: Entering directory `/tmp/fglrx.wV9uQm'
dh_shlibdeps -l/tmp/fglrx.wV9uQm/debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx:/tmp/fglrx.wV9uQm/debian/fglrx/usr/lib32/fglrx -Xlib32
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libAMDXvBA.so.1.0 contains an unresolvable reference to symbol dlsym: it's probably a plugin.
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: 23 other similar warnings have been skipped (use -v to see them all).
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/atieventsd contains an unresolvable reference to symbol XauFileName: it's probably a plugin.
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libGL.so.1.2 contains an unresolvable reference to symbol XOpenDisplay: it's probably a plugin.
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: 31 other similar warnings have been skipped (use -v to see them all).
dpkg-shlibdeps: error: no dependency information found for /usr/share/ati/lib64/libQtCore.so.4 (used by debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/amdnotifyui).
dh_shlibdeps: dpkg-shlibdeps -Tdebian/fglrx.substvars debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libaticalcl.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/dri/fglrx_dri.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libatiuki.so.1.0 debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/atieventsd debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/amdnotifyui debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/aticonfig debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/atiode debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/fgl_glxgears debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/atiodcli debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/fglrxinfo debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libAMDXvBA.so.1.0 debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libaticalrt.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libatiadlxx.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libOpenCL.so.1 debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libXvBAW.so.1.0 debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libGL.so.1.2 debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libSlotMaximizerAg.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libamdocl64.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libaticaldd.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/xorg/modules/glesx.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/xorg/modules/linux/libfglrxdrm.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/xorg/modules/amdxmm.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/xorg/modules/drivers/fglrx_drv.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libSlotMaximizerBe.so debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/libfglrx_dm.so.1.0 returned exit code 2
make[1]: *** [override_dh_shlibdeps] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/tmp/fglrx.wV9uQm'
make: *** [binary-arch] Error 2
dpkg-buildpackage: error: debian/rules binary gave error exit status 2
Removing temporary directory: fglrx-install.Yubgiq

Using: Ubuntu 11.10; ATI HD4870;

Solution 1

For 64bit systems before doing anything.

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Run each of these, one at the time, if getting any faults ignore it.

sudo sh /usr/share/ati/fglrx-uninstall.sh
sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx fglrx_* fglrx-amdcccle* fglrx-dev*

Remove your xorg.conf file

sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Re-install xorg

sudo apt-get install --reinstall libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:amd64 xserver-xorg-core

Configure xorg

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Reboot:

sudo reboot

After the reboot all the fglrx packages will be gone, you will be using default ones.

Download the newest ATI driver (current version is 12.1)

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run

Once downloaded go to the file location and set it to run as executable

cd /path_of_the_file
chmod 755 amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run

Use these steps to install

sh ./amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/oneiric
sudo dpkg -i fglrx*.deb

Once the driver is installed you need to start up a new xorg.conf file with this command

sudo aticonfig --initial -f

Reboot

sudo reboot

Solution 2

The problem is due to a previous manual installation of the driver, that is without building a deb package, and an incomplete uninstall.

No fear!

Since the package building complains that

dpkg-shlibdeps: error: no dependency information found for /usr/share/ati/lib64/libQtCore.so.4 (used by debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/amdnotifyui).

or, in other cases,

dpkg-shlibdeps: error: no dependency information found for /lib64/libQtCore.so.4 (used by debian/fglrx/usr/lib/fglrx/bin/amdnotifyui).

you can find alternatives to the library in the system, e.g.

locate libQtCore.so.4
locate libQtGui.so.4

and, if alternatives exist, backup the offending library (libraries)

sudo mv /lib64/libQtCore.so.4 /lib64/libQtCore.so.4.orig
sudo mv /lib64/libQtGui.so.4 /lib64/libQtGui.so.4.orig

Finally, create a symlink to the alternatives (in my case: sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libQtCore.so.4 sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libQtGui.so.4 )

Now package building should complete without throwing errors and so its installation.

It has also been reported that if you're trying a simple reinstall of the proprietary driver (e.g. after a kernel upgrade) it can be enough to move /usr/share/ati/lib64 to another backup location and then build the package in the documented way.

Comments

[Konstantin Schubert]

Why are the ia32-libs needed?

[Mark]

This gave "the system is running in low-graphics mode" at boot for me (might be my fault somehow, but I thought I'd give a warning)