solving fglrx issues with EnvyNG

(355 days since last post. It's nice to be back.)

I run Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid) on a Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, posessing an AMD Sempron processor and and ATI Express 1150 graphics card. ATI/NVIDIA's laptop graphics card driver set, "fglrx," is not my favorite piece of software, and has been the only sticking point in my otherwise-awesome Linux experience.

This article compelled me to install some additional updates to Ubuntu, hoping to protect my lappy's HD from total destruction due to over-parking. Unfortunately, the series of updates broke the tenuous bonds between fglrx and xorg.conf. I was left unable to uninstall fglrx through either traditional channels or X.

EnvyNG (or Envy Legacy for Gutsy and older versions of Linux) is a handy little script that will detect the proper NVIDIA/ATI driver for your laptop and install it. It can also scrub all traces of fglrx's unholy influence from your xorg.conf file and allow you to re-install it cleanly should the need arise, which neatly solved my problem.

Next demon: during boot, GRUB spits out "MP-BIOS error 8254: timer not connected to IO-AIPC." Solution shall be posted forthwith.