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So, I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 right now. Last night I realised that I'm way behind as we're up to 14! Decided to run the updater and figured I'd take the path of least resistance (but lengthy choice) of going 12.04 - 12.10 - 13.xx - 14.xx. So I download the first packet and then get an error message about my graphics card perhaps not working in 12.10.

Now part of the reason I was looking to upgrade is because I get (and have always had) this strange occasional flickering - now that I have two screens it's just on the second monitor.....oddly this is not the same port that was giving issues before). The graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD5450 and I have the Catalyst (I think it's 13 or 14) driver installed - last night. It could be that the graphics card has never worked properly...I bought the PC new and with an "upgraded" video card and it's always suffered with this flicker. I just figured that the drivers weren't right or something.

So I have 3 questions: 1) is my video card broken or is the driver letting it down and causing the flicker? 2) will it be able to handle the upgrade to 14 via 13? Or should I cut my losses and get something newer? 3) if I should get something newer....what should I get (

Thanks in advance....

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  • I have a HD 5450 with dual monitors (VGA + DVI), and it works well on 14.04 and everything else I've used, without flicker. If I understand correctly, you had flicker on both ports, therefore on 2 different cables, so it may be either the card or the seating of the card in the slot.
    – Marty Fried
    Jun 10, 2014 at 19:28
  • Yes, when I first got the machine it would flicker on the DVI port. I've now got two monitors (we moved and the pc was in storage for months) and the DVI is okay but the VGA now has the flicker and occasionally the colour will go really blue. Think I'll try pulling the card and re-inserting. Failing that I'll get a new card and go for the upgrade. Not sure what the warning was all about - something to do with Unity and hardware not being compatible. It's not the best card in the world but it certainly isn't terrible either!
    – Oliwb
    Jun 10, 2014 at 20:20
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    You should be updating directly from 12.04 to 14.04. Apart from that, you should find your card has better support on 14.04 from both the open source and proprietary drivers.
    – bain
    Jun 10, 2014 at 21:10
  • Honestly, its not so safe to upgrade IMHO(H=Humblest). So, this is what I suggest you do. Firstly, backup all your data. Then just download the 14.04 LTS .iso image from the Ubuntu website. Finally, install 14.04 over your existing Ubuntu. Then see if everything is fine. If it ain't I'll be happy to help with that.
    – Venkatesh
    Jun 12, 2014 at 4:46

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