Fixing long boot-time with black screen in Gutsy

After I installed Gutsy, I noticed that my the boot-time was considerably longer than other with Gutsy. We were talking a couple of minutes of waiting after I turned it on. So I checked around for a solution, and found one. Here is what you need to do:

1. First we take backup of one of the files with this command in the terminal:
   # sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.original
   
2. Now in the terminal, run the following command:
   # sudo gedit /etc/usplash.conf
   
3. Edit the file's content to:
   

   # Usplash configuration file xres=1024 yres=768

4. Save it, exit the text editor, and run the following command:
   # sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
   
5. Find this section in the text file:
   

   ## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the ## alternatives ## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5 # defoptions=quiet splash

6. Add defoptions=vga=791 at the end, making the section look like this:
   

   ## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the ## alternatives ## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5 # defoptions=quiet splash defoptions=vga=791

7. Save the file and exit the text editor.
8. Now run the following command in the terminal(notice the ` are grave accents):
   # sudo update-initramfs -u -k `uname -r`

This should fix the boot screen, and also result in a much faster boot.

Credits to malcam for his post on ubuntuforums explaining this.

Getting 3D acceleration on my Asus A6Va in Ubuntu 7.10

A few days after the release of Ubuntu's new version, Gutsy Gibbon(7.10), I decided to do a fresh install on my laptop.

Everything was auto detected during the installation, and I was instantly able to use it properly. There was only one thing missing, namely 3D acceleration. Without it I could not use the integrated compiz-fusion, nor play any 3D games.

At first I tried to use the restricted drivers manager which comes with Ubuntu, but after reboot I got just a blank screen and unresponsive keys. I then rebooted it again, and this time the X-server started, but it was using the initial drivers without the 3D acceleration.

Secondly I tried the newest ATI drivers that you download from the AMD site. When I installed those and rebooted I got a kind of light show on my screen when I booted. It looked really cool, but it didn't make the computer more usable.

Now I have managed to get the 3D acceleration working, and the solution I present here might also work for other with different computers or ATI graphic cards and the same problems as me.

Here is how I did it:

1. I had to download an older driver from ATI's archive. For my computer, an Asus A6Va with ATI Mobility Radeon x700, I had to use the 8.39.4 driver.
   
   
2. The file was saved to my ~/download directory.
   
   
3. I then had to make the file executable:
   # sudo chmod u+x ~/download/ati-driver-installer-8.39.4-x86.x86_64.run
   
   
4. Ran the installer as root:
   # sudo ~/download/ati-driver-installer-8.39.4-x86.x86_64.run
   
   
5. And followed the instructions, choosing "Install Driver" and "Automatic".
   
   
6. Now you got two options, either reboot your computer(which is easiest), or load the module and restart your X-server.
   
   
7. To load the module, you have to run the following in the terminal:
   # sudo modprobe fglrx
   
   
8. Then just hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart your X-server.

With this driver, the desktop effects were still not working. To get them working I just ran:

1. # sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl
   
   
2. And restarted the X-server

I really hope this helps others in similar situations getting the most out of their ATI graphics cards in Ubuntu.