Ubuntu – Messed up updates. Managed to get to desktop, but can’t install Fglrx drivers back

driversfglrxxorg

Ok so, I did a Hardware Security Update in Ubuntu 14.04, but noticed my fglrx drivers getting removed, then I closed the update manager which lead to me not being able to enter into the graphical interface, I managed to fix that, but now I have X Org drivers and want to install fglrx drivers back. But I get this error:

0 ✓ xxmonster@xxmonster-desktop ~ $ sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 fglrx-updates : Depends: 

                          xorg-video-abi-11 but it is not installable or
                          xorg-video-abi-12 but it is not installable or
                          xorg-video-abi-13 but it is not installable or
                          xorg-video-abi-14 but it is not installable or
                          xorg-video-abi-15 or
                          xorg-video-abi-18 or
                          xorg-video-abi-19
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Should I try doing sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates xorg-video-abi-11 xorg-video-abi-12 xorg-video-abi-13 … x-org-video-abi-18 xorg-video-abi-19. I don't know what to do and I need help.

Best Answer

According to the information page about the LTSEnablement Stack on the Ubuntu Wiki, updates bring along new kernels and new versions of Xorg.

The problem here is the new version of Xorg. 16.04 doesn't work with fglrx because it shipped with Xorg 1.18, which isn't compatible. 14.04 usually works fine because it came with 1.16.

With that Hardware Security Update, you installed a newer kernel, but you also installed a newer version of Xorg: one that is incompatible with fglrx. I honestly don't think there's a way to downgrade that safely, and since you cancelled the upgrade halfway through, your system is already unstable.

Of course, it's possible to recover everything and downgrade without breaking anything, but it is going to take a lot of effort. If you really need fglrx, I suggest you either reinstall 14.04 and don't take HWE upgrades, or check here for some options if you're going to stay where you are: Ubuntu 14.04.5/16.04/16.10 and AMD graphics

Update: it appears you can downgrade Xorg back to 1.16. I am not able to test the safety of this, nor whether or not it functions, so try it at your own risk. Downgrade xorg-server

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