Bad graphics drivers for linux, fail at reboot

7arenc3

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Jan 30, 2014
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Hello everybody, new here trying to build my first litecoin rig. I've installed ubuntu 13.10 (gnome) on top of rog crosshair v with 3 7970's. After install I downloaded what I know to be a faulty gpu driver from amd. After reboot, bios loads then screen goes blank. I have entered recovery mode and attempted to remove the drivers, to no avail. Please help, it won't even allow me to boot to another usb to reinstall ubuntu. I know I'm new and this may be an easy fix, but any help is greatly appreciated.
 

Robert Pankiw

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Mar 26, 2012
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You might be able to enter terminal.

On the blank screen, press ctrl+alt+F1 to open a terminal session.

This site has a nice, detailed write up, but you only care about the very end, which has the commands:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update

Please note, I'm not much of a linux expert, but I've had this happen to me (using fglrx drivers). That should work, but if it doesn't, comment back here.

You can use 'links' on your machine in terminal. It's a full text web browser. To get it, it should just be:
sudo apt-get install links
You're clearly on a working machine, so that won't be needed, but my failed machine was the only one I had, so I found a site using it, and fixed my issues.
It's nearly 2am for me, so I'm off to sleep.

Edit: Do you get a BIOS screen when booting? You should be able to boot off of a live CD / USB, but your hard drive is likely the boot target. You'll need to read the manual for the specific key, but my laptop is F9 or ESC (Esc for Bios, F9 for boot options). Your computer is likely a different key, hence the manual.