X11 fails on HP Pavilion dv7

I did a clean install, replacing 11.3 with 11.4 (BTW, why couldn’t 11.4 recognize a ext4 partition??).
When I boot, the cursor is a garbage block in the center of the screen. When I move, the cursor disappears. The display never progresses past the splash and no progress bar appears.
When I boot in safemode, it works, but the display is slow and jerky.
This is such a show stopper for me that I had to revert to 11.3 which does not like my touchpad.

There is no reason a ext4 partition should not work unless it is corrupted.

Since safemode works this sounds like a video card/chip problem what is your video?

Thanks for your reply.

(info gathered from 11.3)
ATI VGA compatible controller
Bus ID: 1
Bus: PCI
Class(spec): VGA-compatible controller
Class: Display controller
Device Identifier (spec): 70729
Device Identifier: 92353
Driver: Radeon
Drivers
Active: Yes
modprobe: Yes
Modules
modprobe radeon
Hwcfg Bus: pci
Kernel Driver: drm
Model: ATI VGA compatible controller
(is that enough info?)

You might need to install the propritary ATI drivers.

openSUSE Graphic Card Practical Theory Guide for Users