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My main system runs on Lucid Lynx 10.04, and since it's running rather well I do not wish to upgrade yet.

However the graphics chipset X1700/V5250 doesn't work well for games. The open source driver is insufficient. And the substandard vendor doesn't bother to release the binary driver for current Xorg versions.

So that made me pondering options. The notion of using the Xorg-edgers PPA makes me shiver. But I assume it might be possible to install another Ubuntu version as separate userland debootstraped onto my system. Hardy Heron 8.04 would be a good idea if I wanted to persue the binary driver option. This would give me an older Xorg, but I'm very unsure if that fglrx/catalyst driver would be compatible with the 10.04 kernel - since the binary driver needs some kernel hook I believe.

I've just tested Maverick, and the open source driver is objectively faster than the Lucid version (tested a few 2D/3D games). So this might be a better option. I'm unsure if I will see the same effects, if I just install the 10.10 userland and Xorg. So that's my question.

Can a debootstrap 10.10 setup /maverick/ actually work under a Lucid basesysten? Any caveats for the installation? And would it be possible to leave my main Xorg running, and chroot into /maverick/ and run the newer Xorg on another VT?

Alternative: Is there a simpler way than debootstrap to install a secondary Lucid Lynx side-by-side (no partition) so I can toy with Xorg-edgers safely?

2 Answers 2

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You certainly could install and use Maverick userland. Check out my answer to a similar question for a brief howto.

It's likely that some of the performance improvement you noticed in 10.10 is due to the newer kernel, and 10.10 userspace might not work properly on the 10.04 kernel. Fortunately, it's quick, easy, and safe to have multiple kernels installed in parallel. Grab the linux-lts-backport-maverick kernel from lucid-updates and you'll be able to boot into the newer kernel.

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  • Gave it a try. Maverick userland works perfectly, there are the same X11 speedups even without the kernel. But I might try that as well. Only I've used xinit -- :1 vt8 instead of startx for a separate server.
    – mario
    Dec 21, 2010 at 10:07
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Why not test it from a live cd or live usb? Just add the ppa during that session and run the upgrade, log out and back in and see if it works. Unless you need a new kernel, this way will work fine.

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  • Not sure if this is to succeed within the constraints of a livecd. (But trying anyway). The overlay filesystem is often insufficient to install extra software, and an Xorg update is rather consuming. Also a testrun on an unvaried livecd might not reveal the true effects on a customized installation.
    – mario
    Dec 20, 2010 at 17:53
  • I have tested software with no problem, I suppose you would run into issues if you have a low amount of RAM though. Dec 20, 2010 at 19:25

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