aspect ratio display

[rolfUser]

I have this strange problem with my computer.
I have Ubuntu 12.04 installed on my PC and I notice how the aspect ratio is 4:3. Under Settings, I check Displays and see that only two configurations are available and they are both 4:3 resolutions. Isn't there also supposed to be a 16:9 aspect ratio?
My monitor is actually an hdtv with tv, video, hdmi, and vga outputs. The VGA is the one I use to use the computer.
So what I am curious to know is why I cannot get a 16:9 aspect ratio, and if it is possible, how do I get the 16:9 aspect ratio?

[Impavidus]

I once had a similar problem on my laptop, not connecting to a TV but with the 16:9 screen fixed at 4:3 aspect ratio, giving an ugly, stretched image. It was solved by upgrading from 10.04 to 11.04, then the latest version, which contained the drivers for my hardware. So if you've got some recent hardware you may want to try switching to 12.10 or 13.04 (will be released in a few days). Or check for available proprietary drivers. Depends on your graphics hardware.

[rolfUser]

Okay. I'm willing to upgrade if it may improve the situation. It sounds exciting. But one question: Are there any precautions I should take?

When switching from Windows XP to Ubuntu 12.04, I needed to extract all of my files to this huge 35gb usb drive and then put the files back in after installation was complete.

[Impavidus]

You switched from win XP to Ubuntu? In that case you probably don't have very recent hardware, so upgrading is not very likely to help (if you wish, you can upgrade, but it may be easier to stay with the LTS release). Can you tell us exactly what hardware is in that computer? Specifically the video card? And did you install proprietary drivers?

[Yellow Pasque]

Post your /var/log/Xorg.0.log

[rolfUser]

Well I'm not that savvy with computers. I can tell you that this computer is roughly 13 or 14 years old or maybe older and it is from HP.
A sticker on the front of the motherboard reads, "Pentium 4".

I'm not sure how to answer the question about the video card on the pc, or proprietary drivers.
/var/log/Xorg.0.log ______ I don't understand that either.

[Impavidus]

That's an old one.

Concerning the Xorg.0.log, you can add an attachment to your post. Just navigate to /var/log/Xorg.0.log, which is a file somewhere on your system, and attach it.

Entering the command

lspci | grep VGA

(copy-paste to a terminal) should give us the graphics controller of your machine. It may be too old for current Ubuntus.

[rolfUser]

Using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, I looked up File System, selected var folder, then log folder, and found Xorg.0.log file which opened in gedit.
Xorg.0.log is a big long document filed with hard data. I don't know what to make of any of it.

What am I looking for?
What does lspci | grep VGA mean?

[rolfUser]

More importantly, how do I know I am not unknowingly giving away my IP Address when I attach this file? I want to know.

[Impavidus]

In the Xorg.0.log we are mostly interested in any statements on monitors and drivers. During boot, Ubuntu detects monitors and loads drivers. Something goes wrong there. The Xorg.0.log file doesn't contain your IP address, which is already known to every website you ever visited, but it does contain detailed info on your hardware and kernel and the name you gave to your computer. This is not enough information to hack your machine. To be sure, you can always edit the file before you send it.

The lspci | grep VGA command consists of two parts. The first part, before the |, lists information about your hardware as it is recognised by your system, the second part filters that information to keep only the lines containing "VGA", listing information on your graphics.