Ubuntu ATI card workaround

[Garland]

I have a powerbook G4 with a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 card. I am trying to dual boot Ubuntu 8.10 and Leopard on my Mac. Currently, the Linux boot-up works until it goes (I think) where the login should be. However, all tha shows up is a blank screen. I've heard that the graphics card is the problem. Is there a workaround? (besides the obvious measure of replacing the card) The mac boot-up works fine. (although yaboot glitches occasionally with it:sweat:)

Please include instructions.

Thanks in advance!

[shooraijin]

Per this,

http://linuxd.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/ubuntu-810-support-dropped-for-ati-mobility-radeon-9700-rv300-chips/

it's a problem with the ATI proprietary driver. I don't know if the steps listed will work for PowerPC, but I can't see why not assuming the .debs are there.

[Garland]

Do you think that, if I install Ubuntu 8.04, which should work with the card, as per the site, I could make the necessary changes and it would work?

(meaning, does this process sound plausible?)

[shooraijin]

Install *over* 8.10, you mean?

[Garland]

Well, yeah. Only until I fix the problem. I don't have anything to lose in the overwriting. (since the first time I could potentially get on was when the graphics card problem came up.)
Either that or I could delete the whole partition's data and then install it.

[shooraijin]

I guess that might work, but tbh I'm better with *BSD than Linux. Maybe our usual Linux suspects have a better idea.

[Garland]

Can you refer me to them?

[shooraijin]

Rather than name names, we shall let them flock to this thread (if they know or can suggest).

[Garland]

that's fine with me.

[Garland]

Update:I got a Linux manual for my birthday. Suggestions are still wonderful but I may be able to figure it out.

I'll update again if I figure it out.

[Whitefang]

When you get to the blank screen, try pressing ctrl+alt+1, to see if you can get a text based log in prompt.

If you can, good, we can move on from here. Go to the manufacturers website for your video card, and look for drivers. If they support Linux drivers, they will provide instructions on how to build and install the module. If not, you can try using a google search, there are many Linux communities out there where questions like this are asked all the time.

If you cannot log in, I cannot imagine rolling back to 8.04 would help, though you may as well try. (Driver support generally gets better, not worse, as the operating system is updated.)

That's about all the general help I can give you. If you find out some more specifics I might be able to help further.

Alright, I read the problem on that webpage, and I would definitely try following those instructions. Very, very strange that the driver is no longer supported. For some reason everyone hates Linux. Still, follow the instructions and see what happens, if you need some specific help with any of them I'll see if I can help you out.