Display Settings / Video Card Recognition

[Gargi]

As learning projects, I've got two Ubuntu versions running on two separate pcs - 12.10 on a system which still has Windows XP on it, and 9.04 which has only Ubuntu. The display on the 12.10 system works great. On the 9.04 though, it looks as though I've only got 16 colors, etc. I can't seem to set the resolution higher. This is causing some side to side scrolling, etc. I'm guessing that it's using some default display drivers, and not the optimal settings for the video card. I have no idea where to look. Help?

[sandyd]

As learning projects, I've got two Ubuntu versions running on two separate pcs - 12.10 on a system which still has Windows XP on it, and 9.04 which has only Ubuntu. The display on the 12.10 system works great. On the 9.04 though, it looks as though I've only got 16 colors, etc. I can't seem to set the resolution higher. This is causing some side to side scrolling, etc. I'm guessing that it's using some default display drivers, and not the optimal settings for the video card. I have no idea where to look. Help?

Support for 9.04 ended on October 2010. As a result, it is likely that your graphics drivers are out of date.

[Gargi]

Thanks! I already tried upgrading this system to 12.10, using an external cd/dvd drive (no internal)..sigh. Failed attempts. The drivers must be out of date for that as well. It's got a cd drive, but not the required dvd drive. Admittedly, I'm not that sharp as a programmer or with hardware. The trial by fire learning program...screw it up and start over .

[Mark Phelps]

On your 9.04 system, please open a terminal and enter the command "lspci" (without the quotes) and look for the line containing "VGA". That will tell us the make and model video chipset you're running. It could be that there are no current drivers in 12.x for that chipset.

[Gargi]

Thanks Mark! I'll try that next.