Ok, give this a whirl. These are not all 100% my own ideas. There are countless others to thank if this works, especially in the start up scripting...which was primarily taken from:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/is-there-a-tutorial-for-using-screen-to-auto-start-cgminer-51622 and kano from cgminer thread.
#### I did not have luck letting GDM auto-login work, so I recommend removing GDM and using a script to startx, you can try it without this option if you want
$ update-rc.d -f gdm remove
$ sudo apt-get purge gdm
$ sudo dpkg --purge gdm
$ sudo nano /etc/rc.local
#add this line just before exit 0: su - user -c startx &
control o enter
control x
$ sudo sync
$ sudo coldreboot
#### end remove gdm auto-login to replace with startx
#### download and install driver
$ cd /home/user/Downloads
$ wget http://www2.ati.com/DRIVERS/hotfix/radeon_7900_series/amd-driver-installer-8.921-x86.x86_64.run
$ sudo chmod +x amd*
#### this next step should be run from VNC or directly on the machine instructions for vnc setup here, but you can skip if doing locally
$ sudo chmod uog+rw /dev/ati/card*
$ sudo xauth merge /home/user/.Xauthority
$ export DISPLAY=:0
#### And now your ready to connect using X11 forwarding.
#### Windows users can select X11 forwarding in putty by ticking the box located on the menu sidebar/Connections/SSH/X11.
#### end VNC setup
$ sudo ./amd* --force
#### GUI installation will eventually open select all the default options to install
1) Install driver 8.921 - continue
2) !Agree
3) Automatic
4) Exit
#### GUI complete
$ sudo aticonfig --adapter=ALL -f --initial
$ sudo sync
$ sudo coldreboot
$ sudo su
# cd /opt
# wget http://developer.amd.com/Downloads/AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64.tgz
# tar -xvzf /home/ubuntu/AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64.tgz
# cd AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64/
# cp -pv lib/x86_64/* /usr/lib/
# rsync -avl include/CL/ /usr/include/CL/
# tar -xvzf icd-registration.tgz
# rsync -avl etc/OpenCL/ /etc/OpenCL/
# ldconfig
# sync
# coldreboot
#### other configurations
add this line to rc.local : /usr/local/bin/miner-launcher.sh 60 &
#### nano /usr/local/bin miner-launcher.sh
#!/bin/bash
DEFAULT_DELAY=0
if [ "x$1" = "x" -o "x$1" = "xnone" ]; then
DELAY=$DEFAULT_DELAY
else
DELAY=$1
fi
sleep $DELAY
screen -dmS cgm su user -c "/usr/local/bin/startcgminer.sh"
#### control x
#### nano /usr/local/bin/startcgminer.sh
#!/bin/bash
export DISPLAY=:0
export GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS=1
cd /opt/miners/cgminer #or where you put cgminer...i think this is the defualt location in linuxcoin
./cgminer -c cgminer.conf # or whatever options you want
#### control x
#### make executable and change owner of the above files
$ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/*miner*.sh
$ sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/*miner*.sh
####
that should do it....
coldreboot and see if it works.
Thank you for the instructions: will document what I did/do here.
test rig:
6950 slot 1
7970 slot 3
monitor and keyboard and mouse directly
create new linuxcoin usb stick with 500 persistence
boot, gdm does not load
followed instruction for removing gdm and adding 'su - user -c startx &' to rc.local
coldboot
during boot, cannot find startx, ctrl c to stop
sudo find / -name startx (nothing)
shutdown, put new 'live-rw' on stick to start over
my plan now is to install the driver without the 7970 in rig... rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf, shutdown, put 7970 in rig and boot.. crossing fingers
remove 7970 from test rig
boot into linuxcoin GUI
open root console to execute 'download and install driver'
download driver
execute downloaded file....... no space left on device
shutdown
create new linuxcoin with 1000 persistence
boot, download driver, chmod +x, execute driver...
rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
shutdown
install 7970 reboot
black screen......
shutdown, remove 7970
boot into linuxcoin GUI
attemp to execute the following:
$ sudo su
# cd /opt
# wget http://developer.amd.com/Downloads/AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64.tgz
# tar -xvzf /home/ubuntu/AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64.tgz
# cd AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64/
# cp -pv lib/x86_64/* /usr/lib/
# rsync -avl include/CL/ /usr/include/CL/
# tar -xvzf icd-registration.tgz
# rsync -avl etc/OpenCL/ /etc/OpenCL/
after extracting AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64.tgz there is no directory AMD-APP-SDK-v2.6-lnx64
executed the Install-AMD-APP.sh per the README
execute the 'rsync -avl include/CL/ /usr/include/CL/' there is no directory /opt/include/CL
sync
coldreboot
booted into linuxcoin GUI ( I can tell by the display that it is definitely diff drivers)
usually if I want to add or remove cards in linuxcoin, all is needed is : rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf, shutdown, change cards, reboot
but now there is no xorg.conf file....
adding 7970 and booting now.
rig booted to command prompt.. attempted aticonfig init all, command hung
attempted aticonfig listall, command hung...
reboot.. black screen........ shutdown, boot to windoz. mine
as you can see i have no idea what I am doing with X and such.. I have now learned how to install the new drivers but I am still at the point that I cannot get the GUI to load if the 7970 is in the rig. that is the hump i need to jump.