Using the Intel Arrandale (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD) with Ubuntu 9.10

Bill Giannikos (Home Page)

The recently release Intel Arrandale chipset is not supported as standard by Ubuntu 9.10. Most people are finding that all they get is a blank screen, even when using the Live CD. This guide will add support to your Ubuntu installation for the Arrandale chipset.

When you try to install Ubuntu 9.10 using the Live CD you will likely get a blank screen. In this case you will need to boot with Safe graphics mode activated. To do this on the Live CD's boot menu press F4 and select Safe graphics mode.

In this guide we are forced to install experimental packages and an updated kernel to get the Arrandale functioning. It's possible there may be some stability issues in doing this.

You should run a full update for your installation of Ubuntu to ensure you have all the latest packages installed before following this guide.

Ubuntu 9.10 uses the 2.6.31 kernel as standard but we actually need at least kernel 2.6.32 here. To install the updated kernel follow these steps:

1. Open a web browser and head to http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/. From here you need to download the latest version of the 2.6.32 kernel. At the time of writing this was 2.6.32.8 so you would download the files:

For the 32bit version of Ubuntu:
linux-headers-2.6.32-02063208-generic_2.6.32-02063208_i386.deb
linux-headers-2.6.32-02063208_2.6.32-02063208_all.deb
linux-image-2.6.32-02063208-generic_2.6.32-02063208_i386.deb

For the 64bit version of Ubuntu:
linux-headers-2.6.32-02063208-generic_2.6.32-02063208_amd64.deb	
linux-headers-2.6.32-02063208_2.6.32-02063208_all.deb
linux-image-2.6.32-02063208-generic_2.6.32-02063208_amd64.deb

2. Load up a terminal window if you are in the graphic interface.

3. Now enter the following command (replacing /path/to/ to the actual path you downloaded the above files to):

sudo dpkg -i /path/to/linux-*deb

You may be asked for your password at this point, enter it to continue.

4. The kernel should now have been installed. Restart your computer now and see if it is still working properly.

The next step is to update Xorg to a version which supports the Arrandale chipset. Follow these steps:

1. Load up a terminal window if you are in the graphic interface.

2. Edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file with your favourite editor. For nano you can use:

sudo nano -w /etc/apt/sources.list

You may be asked for your password at this point, enter it to continue.

3. Now add the following line to the bottom of this file:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

4. Save the file and exit the editor. With nano you press Ctrl-X, answer yes to the prompt and then press enter on the file name.

5. Now run the following two commands:

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 8844C542
gpg --export --armor 8844C542 | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade

Xorg has now been updated.

6. We now need to tell Ubuntu to use the new driver. Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file with your favourite editor. For nano use:

sudo nano -w /etc/X11/xorg.conf

7. Locate the line which says:

Driver "vesa"

and replace it with:

Driver "intel"

8. Save the file and exit the editor. With nano you press Ctrl-X, answer yes to the prompt and then press enter on the file name.

9. Now restart the computer and you should have a properly working display.

If you see strange graphic artifacts or poor performance with these new drivers it may be the case that you need to disable Compiz. Compiz uses the 3D portion of the graphics chip so disabling it will switch the display to 2D. To do this go to the System menu, select Preferences and then select Appearance. In this new window select the Visual Effects tab, select None and then click Close. Compiz is now disabled.