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I am running 64 bit Ubuntu on Dell with 1GB graphic card.

I login with "Ubuntu" hoping to see Unity 3d but it doesn't. Unity 2D runs instead. when I type in 

echo "$DESKTOP_SESSION"

it confirms the Unity-2D.

I've checked the System info that shows like : enter image description here

The graphics row shows itself as empty. SO I've presumed that the graphic drivers aren't detected and hence I went to Unity-> Additional Drivers and installed the fglrx driver that the UI has suggested.

Even after installing so, the graphics part in System info details shows nothing and still Unity 2D runs in spite of all the effort.

Please help! How can I get my Unity 3D back?

Hardware Info

Video Card : AMD Radeon™ HD 6470M - 1GB (For ICC)

RAM : 6GB (1 X 2GB + 1 X 4GB) 2 DIMM DDR3 1333Mhz

OS : 64 bit Ubuntu 11.10

Edit : Output for /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p

X Error of failed request:  BadRequest (invalid request code or no such operation)
  Major opcode of failed request:  155 (GLX)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  19 (X_GLXQueryServerString)
  Serial number of failed request:  21
  Current serial number in output stream:  21
Jorge Castro
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Vamsi Emani
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    more information about your hardware will score you a +1 and better answers! – Bruno Pereira Nov 15 '11 at 16:11
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    @VeeKay Can you run /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p for us and paste the output into your answer? Thanks! – Knowledge Cube Nov 15 '11 at 17:33
  • Er, I mean question. – Knowledge Cube Nov 15 '11 at 17:39
  • I am also interested in a solution for I have the exact same problem and the same output for unity_support_test -p. What I can add is that my issue began after the I updated the system on November 14th. Since I was about 10 days late on my updates I can not pin point which update is to blame... Also I the issue manifested itself not on startup but while I was playing with CCSM. Something (sorry dont remember) caused unity to restart and then 3D effects where lost.. – lpanebr Nov 16 '11 at 13:09

3 Answers3

3

Finally got this resolved myself.

Firstly, I've removed all traces previously installed graphic drivers/fglrx drivers provided by Ubuntu. After doing so, I've re-installed open source graphic drivers instead. Everything is back to normal.

Just in case if anyone else is experiencing the same headache, you can take a look at the below link. I've described in detail, the complete struggle and the steps to resolve it in this blog post.

http://nerdysermons.blogspot.com/2011/11/solve-graphic-driver-errors-unity-3d.html

yefim
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Vamsi Emani
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  • I have a Dell inspiron 15R with the same video board and the FGLRX was working fine 3 weeks ago. Last wee after the update I started with the exact same symptoms and diagnose and output you described. I am however a little cautious in following the instructions you posted because of 1) your post lacks references to the sources of your findings and 2) my current installation does not have the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Did your system have a xorg.conf file? – lpanebr Nov 18 '11 at 12:40
  • Well, I am not too sure if my system did have xorg.conf or not prior to doing this. I reckon it wasn't there intially. Either ways, even if present or not, we do reconfigure the xorg.conf all over right? I mean that's a part of the installation for opensource drivers and hence I didn't cross check about xorg.conf file.

    The reference to the post is completely within the scope of askubuntu. I've browsed through various questions, few relating to Unity and few relating to graphic driver installation and hence worked around it.

     – Vamsi Emani Nov 18 '11 at 12:52
  • After todays system update unity 3d came back to normal. – lpanebr Nov 18 '11 at 19:27
  • I was wrong. My system is partly back to normal. It is using the intel onboard video graphics insted of the offboard ati radeon.. Can you please post your current output of /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p ? – lpanebr Nov 23 '11 at 10:56
  • The blog post appears to be down. Can you reference it somewhere else? – xamox Feb 05 '12 at 20:19
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I have a HP G7 1116sg which is a Germany specific model that has an Intel® Core™ i5-2410M CPU coupled with a Radeon HD6870 integrated graphics card. I have been trying to deal with this unity2d problem for about a year in my off time without any real results.

I thought i'd tried everything, most recently the purging of all things fglrx and trying to use the built in ubuntu drivers as per suggestion here above.

Previously I'd stumbled on to a workaround to the blackscreen I had using Backtrack 5 R2 KDE on the same machine which involed adding a "nomodeset" to my grub.cfg.

Just now I stumbled onto the fix to my "Not software rendered : no" problem to my "/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p" query.

When changed to "modeset=1" in grub.cfg I FINALLY have Unity3d.

This should be added to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT parameter. You can't make permanent changes to /boot/grub/grub.cfg, so to make this change permanent make the change in /etc/default/grub and run sudo update-grub.

John S Gruber
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sturlabragason
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0

It is probably 2nd generation laptop. That means you naturally run into dual graphics card hell on Ubuntu. If you have battery and overheat issue see

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1859945 and

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=11438030 .

As for unity 3d, you can install latest kernel and opensource intel drivers using xorg-edgers ppa. ATI driver freezes if you try to only enable it and play with catalyst. Best option till now is to rely on opensource drivers.

Make sure you have uninstalled all fglrx stuff, remove xorg.conf and then install xserver-xorg-video-intel for your intel hd 3000.

See this on how to uninstall catalyst drivers and install opensource drivers.

http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Oneiric_Installation_Guide#Removing_Catalyst.2Ffglrx

razor
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