Kubuntu 13.04 screen goes black

[Charlie Zender]

Bonjour,

I upgraded my Dell Inspiron 6500 from Kubuntu 12.10 to 13.04.
Then things "went south".
The worst remaining problem is that the desktop display
breaks after kdm login: the login itself works fine but then
the screen turns _completely black_ during desktop setup.
X and all related processes appear to keep running: the process
table contains them and I hear the sounds the Plasma desktop
makes as it starts running. But I cannot see any of it because
it is all black.

Any idea how to fix this or where to look for clues as to what
is malfunctioning?

Thanks,
Charlie
-- 
Charlie Zender, Earth System Sci. & Computer Sci.
University of California, Irvine 949-891-2429 )'(