[SOLVED] Stuck In 800 x 600 Resolution In Hardy.. Help Please!! :(

[HotDogBunToo]

Hello to all you good folks :)

So as I tried to escape from Windows here I am stuck with this awkward 800 x 600 resolution. First are my specs:

Mobo: ECS GF7100PVT-m3 (EDIT: typed in wrong mobo in first posting since that was a previous mobo I had haha)
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7100 / NVIDIA nForce 630i
Ubuntu Server 8.04 (kernel 2.6.24-19-server)
CRT Moniter: Dell E771a

Now for my problem, I can't for the life of me get out of this 800x600 resolution to the promised land of 1280 x 1024. Tried reinstalling my drivers constantly and nomatter how I keep getting these roadblocks:

1) Before getting to ubuntu login I keep getting this awkward screen that tells me that the system can't find my Display or graphics driver while the command line error that shows up beforehand keeps showing that the Nvidia module install is failing

2) Ultimately I login with the big Fisher Price 800 x 600 resolution with only 'System >> Administration >> Screen Resolution' giving me the choices of 800 x 600 or 640 x 480 (for kicks I used the later and talk about unusable! o_o). Also tried the Nvidia X Server & nvidia-xconfig in command line but unfortunately can't get anything more useful then the lovely "You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run `nvidia-xconfig` as root), and restart the X server."

Tried reinstalling the drivers between EnvyNG and "sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx-new nvidia-settings" and even followed useful posts such as this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4801579&postcount=10), along with several edits of my xorg.conf file such as this current one:


# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder3) Thu Feb 14 18:20:37 PST 2008

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 30.0 - 110.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 150.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection


but to no avail, I'm still stuck with the Stevie Wonder resolution :confused:. Thus I'm sure between whatever drivers I have installed and the xorg.conf file something has to get me back to 1280x1024 resolution.. but I'm gonna need much help in this.

So can pleeease somebody help out this Ubuntu n00b? My eyes are dying over here :(

[HotDogBunToo]

Well...

I think I got this 90% resolved on my own tinkering away.

I don't have it recongnized as a Nvidia just yet, BUT at least I got my resolution back! :)

Had to navigate to /usr/share/applications and in there go to "Screen And Graphics".

Selected my 'Dell E771a' moniter from there while settling for the default Vesa video driver.

Upon saving this configuration to a text file (and dragging the "Screen And Graphics" icon to the upper panel so I can still tinker away) and copying & pasting this configuration to my xorg.conf file, noticed upon restarting gnome that resolution for signin finally showing up and when signing in 'System >> Administration >> Screen Resolution' finally comes up with my desired resolution which I'm at the very least can FINALLY explore Ubuntu with!!! \\:D/\\:D/\\:D/

Will still figure out how to get the Nvidia recognized though but at least I have a 1280x1024 config file tucked away!! :) :) :) ^_^

[HotDogBunToo]

Well, that workaround wasn't something that I was happy with completely thus wasn't completely satisfied and kept peeking away in trying to get video drivers working properly & recognized in system.

So I just decided on a whim to just reinstall Ubuntu again this time the Desktop version over the Server that I was trying to work with.

Upon doing this and upgrading the generic kernel to 2.6.24-19 I go to System --> Administration --> Hardware Drivers and actually get a option to install the NVIDIA video drivers (something that I was NOT getting when in Ubuntu Server). So upon doing this and a complete reboot, I got the NVIDIA splash screen and now I get the resolution I want AND fluid quick GUI (which also means Compiz effects which is half the reason I wanted to play around with ubuntu :D )

Didn't resolve it for Server edition but I eventually got it to do what I wanted it to do so I'll consider this resolved. My guess for the server edition is that NVIDIA don't like their stuff installed on the Linux kernel's that Xen compatable, so even when the XEN stuff isn't enabled & running NVIDIA just keeps the stuff from being installed. And while I only get an explicit error telling me this when doin the 'sudo sh Nvidia-vid-driver-package.run' command on the package I would download right from their site, that's the only thing I can think of that makes sense as the drivers I would get from 'sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx-new nvidia-settings' or EnvyNG wouldn't get recognized.

It's probably possible to get NVIDIA video drivers to work with the Ubuntu Server Kernel (especially if you have patience with applying the patches that'll have it ignore the XEN stuff unlike me) but since I'm starting off with fresh install of Ubuntu and not needing the 4+ GB ram support just yet then starting over with Desktop was good enough for me.

Figured I'd update this for anyone that may have Googled in here with similar issues ^_^

[itsdaveperdue]

Wow, I just typed up this big reply and then I reread your post and realized you weren't using server edition....not sure what made me think that.

Anyway, good job on figuring it out.

For future reference the program that installs the drivers is called Jockey. It should install by default and it should be accesible in the System->Administration->Hardware Drivers or you can run it with the command


gksudo jockey-gtk

My guess is something didn't quite happen properly or get detected right during the first install...that will happen occasionally when the planets are in certain points in their orbits.

Dave.