Thread: Ubuntu

do you have an old-ish ATI card?

Yeah its old.
Its all dusty... hmm jk lmfao
Yeah it is old though. So will I have to deal without the cool special effects unless I get a new one?

no,
there's a bug in the proprietary ATI driver, that affects older cards
the bug dumps stupid refresh rates down the card to the monitor, and results in "out of range" messages on your monitor

I *think* you can fix it just by reconfiguring xorg

Code:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

unfortunately, being in the AMD proprietary driver, no-one but AMD can fix it, and they don't seem to bothered by it...

as for losing all your stuff,
plonk your /home on a separate partition
doing this, you can reinstall Ubuntu (or any distro) and not lose anything
all your files, settings, email, etc. are stored in /home/username

so if it's on a separate partition, you can wipe and reinstall your OS, and your stuff is untouched

see here
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2006/01/...own-partition/

To late...
I already reinstaled ubuntu on the whole drive..
Thanks for your help
So I should run the command then try and re update the video drivers then?

Oh and I would have to reinstal Ubuntu to type the command anyways.
I couldent get anywear the way it was..
No terminal at all..
Ubuntu is already reinstallled on my computer.
so would it be ok to go ahead and run the command?

And why I am talking about it, is there a way to use itunes? JW.
I Mean I dislike the other music programs it comes with but I can deal if I have to..

you can run itunes in wine
but I would seriously not recommend it

I'd go with either Rhythmbox (default gnome), Amarok or Banshee
all 3 can sync iPods

Yeah, I dont like running things in WINE, its to sketchy it fells like!
But should I still run that command you gave me above?
And any more advice I should do because I just reninstalled Ubuntu again?

I would definitely consider putting your home folder on a separate partition.

you can completely hose your system, reinstall, and be back up & running as if nothing happened, all within a half hour

as for getting a 3D desktop
Exactly what graphics card do you have?

Not sure (I cant see it right now)
My mom bought this rental computer.
But uhh How would I Put my home folder on a seperate partion?
Reinstal ubuntu but with the guided? And make it like half and half?

Seen your post on Ubuntu forums

You're going to have to post up what graphics card you have
otherwise no-one can really help

can you run

Code:

lshw -class display

this will show what card you have

Yeah heres what it says..

michael@michael-desktop:~$ lshw -class display
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller
product: RS480 [Radeon Xpress 200G Series]
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 5
bus info: pci@0000:01:05.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: vga_controller bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=64 mingnt=8
michael@michael-desktop:~$

great,
now can you just confirm which version of Ubuntu you're using

you can check in system > admin > system monitor
on the first tab, there's a line starting with "Release...."

also, while you're at it,
can you post your xorg config file

Code:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Ubuntu 8.04 hardy

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
EndSection

okie dokie

Try adding these lines to your xorg.conf
and trying the driver again

Code:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
HorizSync 60-90.0
VertRefresh 30-70.0
EndSection

How would I add those lines? I mean were is the file at that I add those to?

1)
Install the ATI driver

2)
Don't reboot

3)
Run

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Edit file adding 2 refresh rate lines, as above

4)
Reboot

Ok, I will do that soon probably when I get back today!
Thanks for your help!
Will this probably solve the problem were I have to log into the fail safe gnome?

should do, yes

bear in mind I don't own an ATI card
I know about the refresh rate bug in the ATI proprietary driver for older cards
but this solution is based purely on googling your problem...