monitor shuts off when ubuntu 10.04 starts after upgrade

[revto]

It goes to a black screen with the cursor blinking at the top left then the monitor shuts off

[Crusty Old Fart]

It goes to a black screen with the cursor blinking at the top left then the monitor shuts off

Okay. That means that the default Nvidia driver (probably the nouveau driver) doesn't work with your graphics card. So, in order for you to boot the OS, you need to disable Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) by using the nomodeset boot option as you have been doing.

Please answer the following two questions:

Is it okay with you if from this point forward, we don't use version 10.10. I can help you through this a little better if we use version 10.04.

Also, is the current installation on your hard drive a fresh 10.04 installation, or is it an "upgraded" version of 8.04?

[revto]

Version 10.04 is the version that I would like to run so, yes.
And the version I am running is an upgrade from 8.04 but I can do a fresh install of 10.04 if if would be easier.

[Crusty Old Fart]

Version 10.04 is the version that I would like to run so, yes.
And the version I am running is an upgrade from 8.04 but I can do a fresh install of 10.04 if if would be easier.

Yes...Upgrades are very often problematic. Please do a fresh install of 10.04. Understand that it still won't boot all the way to gnome until we get a good driver installed. We'll do that from a tty virtual shell.

[revto]

I have a 10.04 disk but when I try to install I have to use the f6 "nomodeset" trick and it brings me to a ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ prompt

Am I doing it wrong or do I need to do a different trick

[Crusty Old Fart]

I have a 10.04 disk but when I try to install I have to use the f6 "nomodeset" trick and it brings me to a ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ prompt

Am I doing it wrong or do I need to do a different trick

We need a different trick. We may not be able to install with a Live CD. Have you ever done an install using an Alternate CD?

[revto]

What is an alternative cd? Where do I get it and what is the basis behind this kind of disk? I love learning and I appreciate you helping me. Thanks

[Crusty Old Fart]

What is an alternative cd? Where do I get it and what is the basis behind this kind of disk? I love learning and I appreciate you helping me. Thanks

First...and most importantly...You're mighty welcome. Thank you for the thanks.

Secondly...it's called an Alternate (not Alternative) CD.

The Alternate CD is used for computers unable to run the graphical desktop based installation, either because the computer does not meet the minimum requirements for the live cd or because the computer requires configuration after the installation is complete in order to use the desktop.

You can download the ISO for the 10.04 LTS Alternate CD from the following link:
http://mirror.hmc.edu/ubuntu-release...rnate-i386.iso

The MD5 SUM for it is:
1c77abb717e7c1ad28611fd81510c758

[revto]

Thats funny! I kept telling myself "alternate" and somehow I managed to put in the "iv".
Once I have it in disc form is it like a normal install from disc or is there some steps that I need to pay attention to or steps to avoid?

[Crusty Old Fart]

Thats funny! I kept telling myself "alternate" and somehow I managed to put in the "iv".
Once I have it in disc form is it like a normal install from disc or is there some steps that I need to pay attention to or steps to avoid?

It's pretty simple. You'll get asked for language, then you'll get a menu with different options. Just pick the one that says install Ubuntu. Don't bother with anything special from the F# keys.

The trickiest part is partitioning. But, there is an option to have the OS use all the available space as one partition for everything. If you want to set up a custom partitioning scheme and have multiple drives and OS's, you'll have the freedom to do it. Fortunately, in this part of the setup there are warnings given before any changes will be permanently written to disk and you have a chance to cancel the disk write and make changes if you want.

After the partitioning is done, you'll have some simple questions to answer, select a machine name, a user name, an admin password, set the clock, choose a location...that sort of stuff. A lot of files will be installed from CD and others will be pulled in through your Internet connection. At the very end, it will install grub and tell you to remove the CD and reboot.

If you get to a place where you aren't sure of what to do, just write it down so you can post it here, and then just make your best guess and continue. If things get jacked, you can always reinstall it. I must have reinstalled it over seventy times. It installs in about 45 minutes on my system (an old 2.4GHz P4 with 2GB RAM).