Many thanks for you reply MAFoElffen.
In reverse order, the X1200/50 to the best of my knowledge is no longer supported by ATI's propriety drivers, support was discontinued in late 2008, early 2009. So, I can only use fglrx driver and have done successfully in the past 4 releases of Ubuntu. So a propriety driver is not an option.
If as suggested I remove the fglrx driver what will the system use? Note, once I hit CTRL+ALT+F1 Ubuntu goes straight to GDM not to a terminal login. Also, the desktop works, has the correct resolution and is stable as I run the applications.
The only issues are the black screen and the fact that I have to hit CTRL+ALT+F1 each time to get to GDM, not a problem I can do it, it is just a nuisance to have to, and yes it is slow to boot!
(Addition
I have read through the thread in full and as far as my understanding goes, I think that I might need to revert to an earlier kernel say the 2.6.37.x as mentioned. How do I go about getting these, through back ports or PPA?
(Update
I enabled proposed updates in the repository and included was the 2.6.38-9 kernel, I took all of the updates and disabled the repository and restarted the laptop. Current position is that I can now boot from Grub and get to GDM without having to do CTRL+ALT+F1, however, alas in this game there is always an however, there is definitely a delay from when I hit enter on Grub to the monitor/screen being detected of about 28 secs, I then briefly get the Ubuntu image and 5 secs later I get GDM, so it now works, though it seems a lot slower to start than Ubuntu 10.10. I'll have a look at that later but unfortunately my 10.10 installation is now in an external usb chassis.
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