How to fix ugly plymouth logo on ubuntu 10.10 maverick meerkat for nvidia and ATI drivers

After installing ubuntu 10.10 and installing the graphic drivers I noticed that the ubuntu plymouth logo was looking real ugly. Well here's a good,simple guide to fix it.

First you need to install the v86d package for that open up your terminal and type:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install v86d

After installing the package we need to edit our grub loader for including the rite graphic resolution. For that copy the command below on your terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Your grub config file will now open. Find the line "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" and
replace it with:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1280x1024-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap"
Now find the line #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 and change it to GRUB_GFXMODE=1280x1024
Save the file and close it.

Now open your initramfs module file by issuing command:

sudo gedit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules

At the end of the file add the line:
uvesafb mode_option=1280x1024-24 mtrr=3 scroll=ywrap
Save and close the file.

Now in your terminal type the command:

echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash

and finally the command: sudo update-grub2 && sudo update-initramfs -u
That's it now you can reboot your machine with the new good looking plymouth.

Note: You can play a little with the resolution, as 1280x1024 may not work for everyone! Just make sure that you change it in all three locations as indicated above.

How To Fix Video Tearing With ATI Proprietary Drivers

If you have ATI card and installed proprietary drivers you may notice that drivers are so "awesome" that you need to search for fixes all day ;)

One of the problem that you may get is video tearing, even you tried some things to fix it, it is still here.

This is because ATI Proprietary Drivers.
To fix this once for all do next, open terminal and typing.



First make a backup of xorg.conf

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-backup

If something goes wrong you can any time use backup of xorg.conf

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf-backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now delete xorg.conf

sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now you need to generate new xorg.conf, you can do this by typing:

sudo aticonfig --initial

This will generate new xorg.conf.

Now type:

sudo aticonfig --sync-video=on

This will enable vsync.

Restart computer so it can load new setting from new xorg.conf.

After restart open Catalyst Control Center.

In CCC go to 3D > Anti-Aliasing

Here check "Override application setting" and set "Level" to 4X

Now go to 3D > More Settings

Here set slider under "Wait for vertical refresh" to "Always On"

How to Install FGLRX in Ubuntu 10.10

FGLRX - FireGL and Radeon for X (x stands for X.org)

The perfect 10 has just been released and some people are having troubles installing the ATI proprietary drivers, called FGLRX. Like any other package, there are several ways to install it. Some are better and safer, some are not. Here is a list of ways you can install FGLRX in order from safest to least safest as of October 10th.

1. Repositories

This may or may not work for you, but this is the easiest to install and uninstall. First we need to open up the ol' Synaptic Package Manager by going to System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager. Enter you Admin password and search for FGLRX. Check the box "fglrx" for installation, as well as the other packages that you'll be prompted to install.

Once everything is downloaded and installed, paste this in a terminal:

sudo aticonfig --initial

Reboot, and you should see compiz enabled. If you just see a black screen, reboot into recovery mode, coose to run in low graphics mode and paste the code above.

If that didn't work, then you need to uninstall FGLRX by going back into Synaptic Package Manager, search for the FGLRX package, mark it for complete removal an if prompted, all of the other packages that were installed along with it.

2. Manually Download and Install ATI Drivers

Although this is still relatively easy, it is the most difficult way to install FGLRX. You will have to download the drivers from ATI's website and do a bit of terminal work. First, go to ATI's website and enter the your graphics card's information and download the drivers.

Next, go to where you downloaded your drivers (usually the downloads folder), right click on the file, select "Properties." Under Permissions, check the box that says, "Allow executing the file as a program."

Close that window, click on the file again and choose to run in terminal. You'll be prompted to enter the admin password. Now the installer should appear. The default selections should be fine unless you're using a different distro than Ubuntu.

Once the installation is done, open up a terminal and enter this:

sudo aticonfig --initial

This should configure the drivers to your computer's specifications. Reboot and you will notice a prettier Ubuntu. If you just see a black screen, restart into recovery mode in low graphics mode and enter the above code once more. If that fails again, this method didn't work for you and you need to restart once more into recovery mode in low graphics mode and paste this into a terminal:

cd /usr/share/ati

sudo sh ./fglrx-uninstall.sh

3. Additional Drivers

This is an easy way to install or uninstall proprietary drivers, however, this has not worked for me in the past. Go to System->Administration->Additional Drivers and select ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver for installation. Reboot for the effects to take place. If this didn't work for you, then reboot into recovery mode in low graphics and go back to Additional Drivers and mark the installed drivers for removal.

Those are the three ways I know how to install FGLRX. If this tutorial didn't help you, you can leave a comment and I'll try my best to get it working for you. You can also ask the community at ubuntuforums.org, as they have communities more than willing to help the novice and expert Ubuntu users.