no boot to gui unless use recovery and then startx option

[mikey]

ibm a31 2 gig ram and the nasty ati mobile 7500x graphic 10.04

been working like a charm. booting up flawlessly to desktop and then I decided to change my backround and now when I boot I get just past the ubuntu with the dots screen and then a mostly black with a few white and red scratches. if I go to recovery and then start x, boot up is flawless.
any ideas?

[mikey]

somehow screen res went off course. after reset to proper res, the boot seems to be aok again. I also found with this vid card that it's safer to have no effects ticked and video seems to be a bit quicker and crisper.
hope someone derives a bit of help from this faux pas