I'm just adding another anecd^Wdata point that I also have an ATI RS880M (Mobility Radeon HD 4200) and experience a blank screen with the 12.6 legacy driver. Like the OP, my X hangs after loading module ddc but before probing the displays.
I've added my logs to the OP's bug at http://ati.cchtml.com/show_bug.cgi?id=586 Nick -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org