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Before I ask a question about each of the multiple driver issues I am having, what are some things I can do to either attempt to fix the issues myself or to at least provide helpful information in my question?

I realize many proprietary drivers do unorthodox things, but perhaps there are general strategies that work for most drivers.

Background: I am using Ubuntu 14.04. I know some bash but not much about Linux drivers.

Examples of what I am looking for:

  • Finding error logs and system configuration information
  • Deciding which of the above information is relevant and what it means
  • Any essential information I should know about how Ubuntu drivers work
  • Tips for particular types of issues:
    • totally dead (hardware does not seem to even be detected)
    • intermittent problems (such as hardware that works initially but stops working seemingly at random or after the screen locks)
    • configuration problems (for example, where to find configuration files and how to preserve configuration set by guis after logout)
    • alternate drivers (when more than one driver is available for the same hardware)
  • Differences between categories (sound/ graphics/ mouse/ network/ etc...)
  • Anything else that might help...?

What I have already tried:

  • Googling and searching on AskUbuntu - perhaps I do not know the right terms to use?
  • dmesg and System Logs - have way too much information!
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  • I like the idea but this seems way too broad. It could at least be broken down by the categories of drivers (sound/ graphics/ mouse/ network/ etc), since they will all have different answers for many of the other questions.
    – Nattgew
    Jul 9, 2014 at 15:54
  • So, there is not much in common between the various categories?
    – Oleg
    Jul 10, 2014 at 1:30
  • They will not all put logs in the same place, they require different troubleshooting steps, etc. Maybe you could just do "graphics/keyboard/mouse" and "everything else", but there will still be a lot of variation. I might try to put some info together and then see if it needs to be separated.
    – Nattgew
    Jul 10, 2014 at 17:47

1 Answer 1

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Where to look for errors

A good general place to start is /var/log/syslog or dmesg. You can search through these logs for relevant info based on the type of driver or hardware, or based on the time that an issue occurred. The /var/log directory has other logs that may help depending on the issue.

Graphics errors may be listed in ~/.Xsession-errors or /var/log/Xorg.0.log.

If you can find a relevant section based on that searching, then this section will be a good place to start for searching for solutions here or elsewhere.

Types of issues

Totally dead

This may mean that you either must install the drivers manually, or the device is not supported by the drivers. Searching based on the hardware name will help in deciding which this is. If the device is not supported by the driver, you can file a bug (or see if one already exists).

Intermittent problems

Try to determine when the issues happen. Does a specific action trigger the problem? This information will probably be needed to fix the problem. Noting the times when the issue happens will help when looking through log files for clues.

Configuration problems

This will depend on the driver and type of device.

Alternate drivers

Some devices, notably certain graphics cards or network devices, have multiple drivers available. Try the "Restricted Drivers" tool in Ubuntu to see if options are listed there. If nothing shows up, search for your device model to see what the options are.

The Ubuntu help documents provide a good starting point for debugging many driver issues. Also, there's a good chance that someone has been in the same situation, so make sure to look on the forums and here for possible solutions.

Device info

For PCI devices, try lspci.

For USB devices, try lsusb.

Devices may be listed at boot in /var/log/syslog when they are detected. Graphics hardware is listed in /var/log/Xorg.0.log.

Graphics Drivers

The most common drivers are for graphics cards by Intel, Nvidia, and ATI/AMD.

Intel drivers are included in the kernel, so they should automatically be loaded for most Intel cards. Updating your kernel (either through software updates or by upgrading Ubuntu) could fix issues with the Intel drivers.

Nvidia and ATI/AMD cards have two options: an open-source driver and a closed-source proprietary driver.

For supported cards, the open-source driver is used by default. For Nvidia this is the nouveau driver, and for ATI/AMD this is the radeon or ati driver.

Closed-source drivers are also available from the manufacturers. Nvidia provides the nvidia driver, and ATI/AMD provides the fglrx driver.

Closed source drivers generally provide better performance and features than the open source versions, and may be worth a try when resolving issues.

For other types of cards, such as SIS and VIA, the drivers are included by default, and may be updated between versions of Ubuntu or in regular software updates.

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