Linux on AMD 64

Gorak

I've been trying to change over to linux on my main PC. I've tried openSUSE, Ubuntu and Mandriva One. I've got an AMD 64 3400+ and a Radeon 9600 pro. I've tried dual boot and a clean install.


openSUSE:

Using the x86_64 version it runs through the install process OK. On first boot it seems to run fine (dual and single boot) until it get's to the desktop at which point I get a black screen with an underscore cursor in the top left of the screen (not flahing). However it runs fine with the LiveCD, but I can't install from that.


Ubuntu:

Using the newest 64-bit version (Edgy Eft I think). The graphics on the boot screen are screwy. It goes through the initial loading of processes but then gives me a black screen.


Mandriva One:

I can install this and it runs perfectly but I don't like the orange title bar and the general chunkiness of it all. The themes don't seem to affect the title bar colour - minor quible but I'm obsessive.


I've a nasty feeling that the problem is my graphics card but openSUSE seems to have no trouble during the install process. I have the latest linux drivers from ATI but have no oppurtunity to install them. Ideally I want to run openSUSE, but I'd be happy with Ubuntu. I tried both of these on an old 32-bit box and had no trouble.

Any ideas?

Daedalus

USE THE 32-BIT VERSION.

Lemming

Yeah, just use the 32 bit version. There's no real reason to use 64, it doesn't do anything better, generally, and it just makes everything harder to use and more incompatible.

Gorak

The 32-bit version of SUSE? The 32-bit version of Ubuntu has the same problem as the 64-bit version and Mandriva didn't make the distinction. That's what made me think it was a graphics card issue.

The 32-bit Windows runs fine but I was wondering if Linux differed.


Cheers guys, I'll try that out.

Daedalus

Look, if you don't have at least four gigabytes of RAM, the 64-bit version of any operating system has no advantages whatsoever.

As for Ubuntu, the only one I have any major experience with, the 64-bit version has the (minor) "black-and-white boot screen" bug and has no flash support, which is more serious than it sounds. Give the 7.04 beta a shot; it's rock-solid-stable for me. Of course, the reliability of a Linux install is proportional to how old the hardware is, and this laptop is going on three years now.

There is no working flash player for 64-bit Linux, and I don't think Adobe has any plans to make one.

japan

For the record, I'd avoid using the official ATi drivers if possible. They're terrible. I got much, much better performance on both my machines running Ubuntu (with Radeon 9700 Pro and Mobility Radeon 9000 GPUs) with the open-source "radeon" driver.

I've never used SUSE, so this pertains mostly to Ubuntu:
Can you get into the GRUB menu to boot in recovery mode? If not, have you tried the Ubuntu alternate install disc? It uses a text installer and should at least get you that far.
Once you're there, you can use "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" to select a different driver (you might have to sudo). I think the two decent ATi drivers are "ati" and "radeon", you could also use the console to install the fglrx (ATi official) driver if neither of those help.