how to install programs???

[Brinson]

You probably need to install video drivers.

 

[mikee]

The video driver was installed automatically by ubuntu when I turned on the visual effects
It just started doing this a week ago

 

[KSoD]

Do you have nvidia or ati? I know nvidia has good Linux support. ATi does not. You can always try to edit the xorg.conf file thru the terminal and using the Sudo command. But be careful as you could ruin the setup that was as well. I did just recently myself trying to adjust my mouse to work correctly....

 

[mikee]

its an ancient Nvidia card

 

[Greg]

Do you have nvidia or ati? I know nvidia has good Linux support. ATi does not. You can always try to edit the xorg.conf file thru the terminal and using the Sudo command. But be careful as you could ruin the setup that was as well. I did just recently myself trying to adjust my mouse to work correctly....

Always make a backup before you mess with your xorg.conf


backup:

 sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup

restore:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Mikee, try using nvidia-settings to change your resolution. Dunno if it'll solve your problem, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Nitestick]

try using the legacy drivers for linux from the nvidia site.

 

[mikee]

are the legacy drivers on nvidia s site?

I went to the download driver thing looked up my card and selected linux and there was nothing there to download

 

[Nitestick]

Unix Drivers Portal Page

there are two sets of legacy drivers there.

 

[mikee]

thanks i'll give it a shot.

I'm just stuck with this computer until I get the fan fixed on my current rig
atleast I'm getting some valuable linux experience

 

[Nitestick]

oh, make sure you have the build essentials:

sudo apt-get install build-essentials

i generally rename the package to something short like nvidia-XXXX.run as that makes it much easier to execute. my procedure for installing the drivers is something like this:

drop to a terminal e.g. ctrl+alt+f2

stop GNOME (or kde or whatever DE you use);

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

cd to the directory that the package is stored in, then execute it;

./nvidia-XXXX.run

once the installer is completed you'll have to blacklist the old drivers;

sudo nano /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

add "nvidia, nvidia_fb" inside the inverted commas for DISABLED_MODULES and you should be good to go.

from there i think you can modprobe in the new drivers but you may as well just reboot. so do a sudo reboot and you're off

i hope that helps as it's hard to get a feel for it the first time and every guide i've read lists some incredibly convoluted process, when from memory what i listed is pretty much all you need to do (keep in mind i haven't installed nVidia drivers in a while, last time was about 3 months ago on my grandad's pc).