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I currently installed Ubuntu 11.10 and when I am prompted to install Additional Drivers, I get confused on which to use between the 2 FGLRX graphics drivers:

  • ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver (post-release updates)
  • ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver

These 2 appear but I am not sure what to choose. Previously, on 11.04, only the latter appears (the one without the post-releae updates).

What's the difference between these 2 drivers?

Braiam
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baktin
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4 Answers4

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The 'post release updates' will install Catalyst 11.9 which is the latest version while the 'ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver' will install Catalyst 11.8 which was the driver at the freeze stage of 11.10 development

There has been issues with the 11.9 driver with Unity (see ubuntu forums here) so I suggest you install the 'ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver'.

Richard
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Mark Rooney
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there is a problem with fglrx and unity involving vsync. open up "amd catalyst control center", then head to 3D/more settings and set wait for vertical refresh to always off. this should speed things up a huge amount.

Jagoly
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  • Doing this completely solved the performance issues I've been having on my Radeon 6700. Thanks so much! – jbwiv Dec 12 '12 at 20:38
  • Sadly, I spoke too soon. It seems to have helped some what, but sluggishness with Windows animations continues. – jbwiv Dec 12 '12 at 20:56
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Fglrx is going to install the version of AMD's driver that was first released when your current version of Ubuntu were released.

Fglrx-updates will update to the latest driver when ever it's available. Keep in mind that updates through this may have a long delay relative to manually installable driver available on AMD website.

Khalid Abu Shawarib
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Said well, but keep in mind those drivers ( the graphics driver not the catalyst software) are older than the ones offered by ATI/AMD so the best thing to do is to check their website ( search for ATI drivers ) to see if your graphics card is supported for linux or not, in that case the Ubuntu developers have suggested to download them from the manufacturer's web site rather than the ones on repos ( https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI ) however i lost my UI for some odd reason, carries its own risks.

Bruno Pereira
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ben
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  • The best troubleshooting post on getting ATI drivers to work on any system is here on Ubuntu Forums – Mark Rooney Oct 16 '11 at 21:03
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    It's generally not a good idea to use the drivers on AMD's website. They don't integrate well with the Ubuntu system, and you'll likely have problems. I would use them only if the drivers provided through Hardware Drivers do not support your card. – RAOF Oct 16 '11 at 22:52