Is Ubuntu compatible with asus x58c?

Question

I have installed Ubuntu on my asus x58c the install when fine but after the screen went black, I thought it was becouse I installed 64bit (the laptop has 4GB ram) but then when I installed the 32bit version the same thing happened.

Answer 1

Probably not 100%. The system has a SIS graphics controller included and those are seriously lacking support.

Regarding the black screen I found this fix for Natty (might be worth while checking if it is applicable to 11.10 too) (copy/paste from link and untested):

sudo apt-get install git xorg-dev libdrm-dev libtool mesa-common-dev

After installing these packages, then type on your terminal:

git clone git://github.com/hellnest/xf86-video-sismedia-0.9.1.git 
cd xf86-video-sismedia-0.9.1
./configure –prefix=/usr –disable-static 
make 
sudo make install 

Then reboot your system.

Default resolution is 1280×800.

If your system has a 1366×768 resolution, you can edit your xorg.conf, by typing :

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Copy this script:

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Configured Video Device"
    Option         "UseTiming1366" "yes"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Default Screen"
    Monitor        "Configured Monitor"
    Device         "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Save, and its resolution will be changed but you can’t get your 3d effect. So the 3d Unity cannot be activated, but if you still need the Unity, you can install 2D Unity by going here:

• How do I install and switch to the Unity 2D desktop?

Then activate your 2D Unity

sudo unity-2d-launcher

Reboot your system.