"xforcevesa" bypasses Radeon 9600 problem. The bug exists in Dapper and Edgy.
Just helped on a similar problem: 0) On a computer with ATI Radeon 9600 (and AMD64 processor) 1) Boot with Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper AMD64 version Live CD Boot starts normally, and splash screen is shown. When GDM should start: What should happen: - GDM should start normally What actually happens (the bug): - A blank black screen appears. Computer is not completely crashed: numlock changes light. Bypass: - Safe graphical mode works perfectly. Optimal resolution for the display is automatically detected: 1280x1024 @ hor: 63,92 kHz, vert: 59,9 Hz. Looking at /isolinux/isolinux.cfg on cdrom reveals that the correct boot parameter is xforcevesa. - "xforcevesa" makes display work when it is added to boot parameters with F6 "other options. This same parameter could be added to grub boot parameters on an installed system. On the same AMD64, ATI Radeon 9600 system, Ubuntu Linux 6.10 Edgy x86 alternate install cd had the same problem: blank screen when GDM starts. Also latest Knoppix failed to start X. I'm writing a very short Radeon 9600 installation howto here http://www.iki.fi/karvinen/ati_radeon_9600_with_linux.html -- GDM Display refuses to initialize with ATi Card https://launchpad.net/bugs/30488 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs