AMD/ATI Video Graphics Driver Install Fail system crash
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jotapesse
deepin
2016-02-14 12:14
Author
Edited by jotapesse at 2016-2-13 20:36

Problem: I tried to install AMD/ATI fglrx driver (deepin version) available from Driver Manager (screenshot below). It installed correctly and when I rebooted the system it no longer booted to login screen. It crashed lightdm or Xserver. I then called the virtual console TTY1 screen (Ctrl-Alt-F1) to try to recover from the driver install, logon and removed all installed fglrx drivers:
  1. $ sudo apt-get purge fglrx*
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It complained something about a missing .so library from plymouth. Then I reinstalled the ati opensource driver and rebooted:
  1. $ sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-ati
  2. $ sudo reboot now
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It was able to boot to the Deepin login screen but the plymouth (boot) theme did not work! I then tried to reinstall plymouth deepin theme:
  1. $ sudo apt-get install --reinstall plymouth-theme-deepin-logo
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Rebooted but it did not work, boot theme still doesn't work and 3 gray dots appear instead. I then thought to use Driver Manager to repeat the fglrx driver (this time I tried the ubuntu version) and it failed to install, retried the deepin version and rebooted. Now the system is completely borked, no virtual console is available and I can no longer login. I finally opted to fully reinstall Deepin 15.1.

Request: If a driver is generally known to not work and crash the system (which seems to be the case) then Deepin should not offer it from Driver Manager (altough still available from repository/command line install). This seems to be a recurring event specially for AMD/ATI drivers that fail to work with newer Xserver/Xorg versions. Taking the driver down (if not working) from Driver manager would reduce issues with users and contribute to a more reliable Deepin system. Naturally some testing would be required from Deepin team before releasing the graphics driver. This graphics driver issue is critical to a working system/desktop.

Reported with Deepin Feedback.

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dance707
deepin
2016-02-28 05:43
#1
Your feedback did some good ! I see they removed the defective AMD drivers from Driver Manager.
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jotapesse
deepin
2016-02-28 07:13
#2
Yes, it seems so. That's good, less trouble for newbies installing drivers unaware of the issues that comes with them.
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