Update to kernel 2.6.24-17-386 messed up graphics

[ahood]

Thank you to kuyote, CryNoz, Pumalite, nugznmugz, and maraja!

The quick replies and many suggestions are much appreciated.

My experience has been interesting to say the least. I did solve the problem described above, but I used yet a different solution.

Nothing I did would break the link between kernel 2.6.24-17-386 and vesa graphics mode. I attribute the unbreakable link to either a very strong love affair between this particular kernel and vega or to an equally strong hatred between this particular kernel and nvidia-glx-new. The strength of the passion between these was admirable.

However, I wanted my 1440x900 resolution back and nvidia powered desktop back!

The solution I was forced to do was to uninstall the following packages

linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-17-386
linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-17-386

I then installed, or verified,that the following packages were installed

linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-16-386
linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-16-386
nvidia-glx-new
nvidia-kernel-common

I then rebooted and wonderfully, I was NOT notified that I was in low-graphics mode and the system was going to use the vesa driver. Hurray!!!!

However, I was still in a very low resolution (640x480). So, I clicked on Settings --> Administration --> Hardware Drivers and I was very pleased to see 'NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (latest cards)' appeared, although the checkbox was empty.

So, I checked the checkbox next to the NVIDIA option, closed the Hardware Drivers window, and logged out/back in.

Upon logging back in, I was still in low resolution mode (640x480). I attempted to change the resolution by clicking on System --> Preferences --> Screen Resolution.

Unfortunately, I was greeted with the following message.

The X Server does not support the XRandR extension. Runtime resolution changes to the display size are not available.

I searched the ubuntuforums and found a few posts that addressed the XRandR issue, which involved manually editing the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

So, I executed the following command in a terminal.

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

The output was the following:

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# 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 "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "vesa"
Busid "PCI:3:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Screen 0
Option "NoLogo" "True"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
Vendorname "Plug 'n' Play"
Modelname "Plug 'n' Play"
modeline "640x480@60" 25.2 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -vsync -hsync
Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1440 900
Modes "640x480@60"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "v4l"
EndSection

Section "device" #
Identifier "device1"
Boardname "vesa"
Busid "PCI:3:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Screen 1
EndSection

Section "screen" #
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Defaultdepth 24
Monitor "monitor1"
EndSection

Section "monitor" #
Identifier "monitor1"
Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection

I manually edited the xorg.config file (see below)

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# 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 "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "vesa"
Busid "PCI:3:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Screen 0
Option "NoLogo" "True"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
Vendorname "Plug 'n' Play"
Modelname "Plug 'n' Play"
modeline "1440x900@50" 25.2 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -vsync -hsync
Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1440 900
Modes "1400x900@50"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "v4l"
EndSection

Section "device" #
Identifier "device1"
Boardname "vesa"
Busid "PCI:3:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Screen 1
Option "RandRRotation" "on"
Option "RandR" "on"
EndSection

Section "screen" #
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Defaultdepth 24
Monitor "monitor1"
EndSection

Section "monitor" #
Identifier "monitor1"
Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection

I then rebooted the machine and made sure I was booting into linux kernel 2.6.24-16-386.

SUCCESS!!!!

After logging into the system, I was running at 1400x900 resolution with the NVIDIA driver in use!

My only wish is that I don't have to do this again; however, because I manually edited the xorg.config file, I suspect that I will have to repeat manually editing this file in order to have an easier time of using the NVIDIA driver if I choose to move to Ibex via an upgrade.

In other words, re-installing Hardy or Ibex from scratch will probably eliminate the need for manually editing the xorg.config file.

I have no plans to move to the 2.6.24-17-386. I don't know if the difficulty I experienced with this newer kernel is specific to my machine or if there truly is a compatibility issue with the NVIDIA driver. I suspect that the issue is specific to my machine.

I hope this thread was useful to others. I learned a lot from my fellow ubuntu users.

Thanks to all.

Al

[Pumalite]

Cheers. Back it up right away.