Ubuntu trouble

[aaronkupen]

Alright, I've had Ubuntu linux installed on my PC for about a few months now. The trouble is... it doesn't work. It loads up, and I see the Ubuntu screen booting up all the files, but after that I get a screen that just has a bunch of different colored pixels on it and I can't see anything. I figure I installed the wrong Video drivers, but I can't seem to fix it by changing them.

I need some serious help, I'm tired of having a dead OS on my harddrive and I still want to use Ubuntu.

 

[macdude425]

OK, we will need two things:
1. What your video card is
2. A copy of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

After you give us those, we may be able to see what is going wrong.

 

[aaronkupen]

My video card is an nVidia 6600gt
and a copy of my what? I'm extremely new to linux.

 

[macdude425]

There is a file, in the folder /etc/X11 named xorg.conf. It is simply a configuration file that tells the GUI how to work. I need you to somehow get a copy of that and paste it on here.

You could put it on floppy or pendrive and take it to another computer and then send us the file. If you need help doing this, let me know.

 

[aaronkupen]

Problems, my computer doesn't have a floppy and also the screen is so messed up I can't see anything. How am I supposed to find the file?

 

[macdude425]

Oh, I thought you were already at a command prompt. My bad.

Do this: hit Ctrl-Alt-F1, and that should bring you to text mode. Log in (if necessary) and you will be brought to a prompt with a flashing cursor. Now, since I am assuming you are going to copy the file to a pendrive and then copy it to another working PC, you will need to do the following steps.
1. Type ''sudo mkdir /media/usbdir" and hit enter.
2. Type "sudo mount -t auto /dev/sda1 /media/usbdir -o rw" and hit enter. It should come back to another prompt.
3. Type "sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /media/usbdir". There should be no error messages, and you should be brought back to the prompt again.
4. Type "umount /media/usbdir" and pull the drive out. Even if there ARE error messages, go ahead and pull it out anyways.

Take the pendrive to a computer that works and has internet, copy the xorg.conf file off, and attach it to a reply. I'll take a look at it and see what I can find.

 

[aaronkupen]

Nope no pendrive, but I'll see if I can install a spare floppy drive in my house really quick.

 

[macdude425]

OK, then the directions I gave you will be slightly different. Let me know when you get it in.

 

[aaronkupen]

Alright, it's installed. So now, explain this thing to me.

 

[The General]

This is a bit of a stretch, but we have the same brand of cards, and I know the nv drivers didn't work when I had a 6600gt.

Okay anyway, once you hit ctrl-alt-f1 and log in, do this:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

When it asks what driver (should be the first screen) tell it to use the vesa driver. At this point you'll at least have a GUI thats usable.

You may need to hit ctrl-alt-f1 really fast as soon as you see the funny colours. This is because when X crashes, the keyboard gets messed up with it after a while.