how do you use ubuntu/Linux on 8MB of video ram

[zer010]

My Dad wants to try out Ubuntu. The computer is something like: 3 GHz AMD; onboard graphics @ 8MB; .75 GB Ram. When I install Ubuntu, the resolution is something like 460x320(?) which ends up cutting off parts of some GUI panels. Is there a fix for this or is there another Linux solution besides a straight CLI?
He's not ready to buy a graphics card yet, no matter what my urging.

[cascade9]

It wont be a 3HGz AMD atthat age. Probably a 3000+, but as fro which version, I dont know (there are lots of 3000+ AMD CPUs)

The onboard graphics would be the problem. It shouldn't be the video memory, 8MB should go to at least 1600x1200, but you could try looking in the BIOS to see if you can allocate more video RAM. I would guess that it is some VIA video chipset, but without knowing what video chip it is using, its hard to know if there will be an easy solution.

If you can run the command "sudo lshw" and post the output here (in 'code' or 'quote' brackets) that would go a long way to figuring out what is going wrong. Or, if yuo can only work with windows (I know I cant deal with 460x320) the the output from a windows tool would help (tools like belarc advisor, everest, etc).

BTW, I dont know about where you live, but I can get 2nd hand nViida AGP cards for virtually northing (less than $10 US). That would work much better than any VIA video, and its a very cheap upgrade.

[halj32]

You could always try Puppy Linux, it's based on Ubuntu
take a look here
http://puppylinux.org/main/index.php?file=Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started. htm

[dodle]

Edit: halj32 was right, the new version of Puppy IS based on Ubuntu. :)

I am running Lubuntu on an old AMD Sempron laptop with a terrible graphics chipset, and it runs nice and smooth. Much better than when I was running Ubuntu. I had the same problem of being unable to see the entire screen. The solution was to re-configure the xserver. Here is the thread for the problem: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1544285. Maybe it can help you.

Another distro that I tried recently was SliTaz (http://www.slitaz.org/). It was extremely fast, the boot up seemed to be almost instant, and the display was configured correctly. But because I wanted a Debian/Ubuntu based system I switched to Lubuntu.

Edit: If you do decide to use Lubuntu, don't judge Ubuntu by it. The LXDE Desktop, which Lubuntu uses, is not as far along in development stages as the GNOME desktop, which Ubuntu uses.

[cascade9]

You could always try Puppy Linux, it's based on Ubuntu
take a look here
http://puppylinux.org/main/index.php?file=Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started. htm

I wouldnt say 'based on'. As of version 5.0 it does use ubuntu binaries, but puppy still uses PET package mangament, not debian apt-get etc..

I have no idea why anybody would recommend puppy, or other 'light' distros for an AMD 3000+/768MB setup anyway.

[robert shearer]

I have no idea why anybody would recommend puppy, or other 'light' distros for an AMD 3000+/768MB setup anyway.

Agreed !.
I am running Ubuntu 10.04 on an AMD2600+ with 768 Mb ram and it runs well.

[khelben1979]

Agreed !.
I am running Ubuntu 10.04 on an AMD2600+ with 768 Mb ram and it runs well.

By using XFCE4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfce4) instead of Gnome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_%28software%29) and KDE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDE) the speed increase gets even better! I'm not sure if an Ubuntu installation can accept to not install Gnome though, Debian does accept it. Anyone who knows?

[da burger]

By using XFCE4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfce4) instead of Gnome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_%28software%29) and KDE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDE) the speed increase gets even better! I'm not sure if an Ubuntu installation can accept to not install Gnome though, Debian does accept it. Anyone who knows?

You can. Either by installing Xubuntu (or Kubuntu if you want KDE) or installing xubuntu-desktop once the system is installed. However I seem to remember reading somewhere that Xubuntu ins't actually that much lighter than Ubuntu.

[cascade9]

You can. Either by installing Xubuntu (or Kubuntu if you want KDE) or installing xubuntu-desktop once the system is installed. However I seem to remember reading somewhere that Xubuntu ins't actually that much lighter than Ubuntu.

Xubuntu isnt that much lighter than ubuntu.

Better of doing a minimal install of Xfce, rather than getting xubuntu-desktop.

[kwacka]

Check out the installation/low memory systems help page HERE (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LowMemorySystems)

[scratman]

I'm not sure how you can be having too many problems running Ubuntu with that system spec to be honest. I'm using Ubuntu Netbook Edition on an Acer Aspire One Z5, which has a dual core 1.6Ghz processor, 512 Mb RAM and 8Mb Video graphics. Things work fine for me currently. I'll grant you, the resolution is not high, 1024x600, but that is due to the screen on my netbook, it will cheerfully output fullscreen video at 1280x1024 resolution on my external monitor. HD video is a different story, but I'm not worried about that at all frankly. I can actually get the Desktop Effects working, but I've no need or desire for them.

Honestly, I don't see any major reason why Ubuntu should have problems running on a higher spec machine than mine.

[zer010]

Firstly, thank you all for your help! I know for a fact that his mobo has no AGP slot, but has a lot of PCI slots. I will have to double check to be sure it doesn't have a PCI-E slot.
I will have to do a little more research on his hardware. Next time I go over to his house I will run "sudo lshw" and post the results here.

[sandyd]

Lubuntu (LXDE) (http://www.facebook.com/nixiepixel). Crunchbang (OpenBox) (http://crunchbanglinux.org/)
much lighter, less graphiccy. both based on ubuntu.

[uRock]

One thing to check if you haven't already is whether or not there are any drivers offered in the menu under System> Administration> Hardware Drivers.

From what I can see your specs aren't much lower than mine and we should be able to get Ubuntu 10.04 working.

Cheers,
uRock

[zer010]

Ok, it's been awhile, but I now have the machine in question here. I ran a Live session and got a lshw output (and I was WAY off of my original estimate on the specs!):
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo lshw
ubuntu
description: Desktop Computer
product: VT8361
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
width: 32 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.2 dmi-2.2
configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: 8361-686B
physical id: 0
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
physical id: 0
version: 6.00 PG (02/22/2002)
size: 128KiB
capacity: 192KiB
capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb agp ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: AMD Athlon(tm) processor
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: 6.4.2
slot: Socket A
size: 1333MHz
capacity: 1700MHz
width: 32 bits
clock: 133MHz
capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr syscall mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow up
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 8
slot: Internal Cache
size: 128KiB
capacity: 128KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 9
slot: External Cache
size: 256KiB
capacity: 256KiB
capabilities: synchronous external write-back
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 1d
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 1280MiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM
physical id: 0
slot: BANK_0
size: 1GiB
*-bank:1
description: DIMM
physical id: 1
slot: BANK_1
size: 256MiB
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: VT8361 [KLE133] Host Bridge
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=agpgart-via latency=8
resources: irq:0 memory:e0000000-e3ffffff(prefetchable)
*-pci
description: PCI bridge
product: VT8361 [KLE133] AGP Bridge
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pci pm bus_master cap_list
resources: memory:e4000000-e6ffffff memory:28000000-280fffff(prefetchable)
*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller
product: CyberBlade/i1
vendor: Trident Microsystems
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: agp agp-1.0 pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=32
resources: memory:e5800000-e5ffffff memory:e6000000-e601ffff memory:e5000000-e57fffff memory:28000000-2800ffff(prefetchable)
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: VT82C686 [Apollo Super South]
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 7
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.0
version: 40
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=parport_pc latency=0
resources: irq:0
*-ide
description: IDE interface
product: VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 7.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.1
logical name: scsi0
logical name: scsi1
version: 06
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: ide pm bus_master cap_list emulated
configuration: driver=pata_via latency=32
resources: irq:0 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:d000(size=16)
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: SAMSUNG SP0411N
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: TW10
serial: S01JJ30WA14634
size: 37GiB (40GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=55555555
*-volume:0
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
version: 3.1
serial: 9ea0952a-1094-d84c-9dc1-e9b75f7fcd99
size: 23GiB
capacity: 23GiB
capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2004-10-04 18:49:53 filesystem=ntfs state=clean
*-volume:1
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
logical name: /dev/sda2
version: 3.1
serial: d46a1c6e-0fe6-594f-844e-8839caae24a2
size: 13GiB
capacity: 14GiB
capabilities: primary ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2009-11-05 15:32:17 filesystem=ntfs state=clean
*-cdrom:0
description: DVD reader
product: DVD-ROM GD-5000
vendor: HITACHI
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /dev/dvd
logical name: /dev/scd0
logical name: /dev/sr0
logical name: /cdrom
version: 0213
capabilities: removable audio dvd
configuration: ansiversion=5 mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime state=mounted status=ready
*-medium
physical id: 0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /cdrom
configuration: mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime state=mounted
*-cdrom:1
description: CD-R/CD-RW writer
product: LTR-52327S
vendor: LITE-ON
physical id: 0.1.0
bus info: scsi@1:0.1.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom1
logical name: /dev/cdrw1
logical name: /dev/scd1
logical name: /dev/sr1
version: QS09
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
*-usb:0
description: USB Controller
product: VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 7.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.2
version: 1a
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=32
resources: irq:12 ioport:d400(size=32)
*-usb:1
description: USB Controller
product: VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 7.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.3
version: 1a
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=32
resources: irq:12 ioport:d800(size=32)
*-bridge UNCLAIMED
description: Bridge
product: VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI]
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 7.4
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.4
version: 40
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bridge pm cap_list
configuration: latency=0
*-multimedia
description: Multimedia audio controller
product: VT82C686 AC97 Audio Controller
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 7.5
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.5
version: 50
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm cap_list
configuration: driver=VIA 82xx Audio latency=0
resources: irq:11 ioport:dc00(size=256) ioport:e000(size=4) ioport:e400(size=4)
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: b
bus info: pci@0000:00:0b.0
logical name: eth0
version: 10
serial: 00:30:1b:0f:0c:df
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 duplex=half latency=32 link=no maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
resources: irq:11 ioport:e800(size=256) memory:e8000000-e80000ff memory:28100000-2810ffff(prefetchable)
*-scsi
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@1:2
logical name: scsi2
capabilities: emulated scsi-host
configuration: driver=usb-storage
*-disk
description: SCSI Disk
product: SanDisk Cruzer
vendor: SanDisk
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdb
version: 8.02
serial: u
size: 3863MiB (4051MB)
capabilities: removable
*-medium
physical id: 0
logical name: /dev/sdb
size: 3863MiB (4051MB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: signature=0001f83b
*-volume
description: Windows FAT volume
vendor: mkdosfs
physical id: 1
logical name: /dev/sdb1
logical name: /media/sndsk4gb
version: FAT32
serial: e62e-bb77
size: 3863MiB
capacity: 3863MiB
capabilities: primary fat initialized
configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat label=sndsk4gb mount.fstype=vfat mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=999,gid =999,fmask=0022,dmask=0077,codepage=cp437,iocharse t=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,flush,errors=remount-ro state=mounted

[zer010]

I find this output particularly interesting:
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 1d
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 1280MiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM
physical id: 0
slot: BANK_0
size: 1GiB
*-bank:1
description: DIMM
physical id: 1
slot: BANK_1
size: 256MiB
It says that there is a 1GiB module installed, but when checking memory in System Monitor, it says the total RAM is 615.4MiB. It tells about the same in WinXP. I wonder why this is so...

[vlaar]

*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller

You don't have a driver installed.
If you try to install that. The errors might disappear.