Fixed it! If you are trying to run the Ubuntu Linux install CD on a laptop that has ATI hardware and you are receiving the blank screen after the initial startup (you might even hear the drums but still no screen) try this (Note - you need to have your laptop connected to the Internet for this to work) :
Boot up laptop and then when the CD activity stops and you have your blank screen press Ctrl Alt F6 which takes you to the terminal.
Type :
Code:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
and check it says [OK]. It might say [fail], if it does, try again. It should work the 2nd time.
Then type (one at a time) :
Code:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx
sudo aticonfig --initial
Then restart X by typing
Code:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart
You will be faced with a blue screen asking you whether to restart X despite it running on Display 0: etc etc. Choose Yes. It might not work the first time but if not Ctrl Alt F6 back to the terminal, stop X again as stated above and then run the restart command again. In my case it worked the 2nd time round but not the first.
That should get you up and running within the CD instance and allow you to install the OS. However, you might have to do the 3 steps above again after the installation following a reboot (I did). But it's much quicker doing it using your installed version as opposed to from the CD instance.
That's it - I'm typing this from my laptop in Firefox following those instructions.
If your a newbie to Linux try not to let this put you off. It's an unfortunate problem related to, I think, ATI not Ubuntu itself (so I take back what I said above!)
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=419351
