[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu/Linux is still not an OS for the masses - discuss

[Jacob Mansfield]

I have but one thing to say about this argument.
DOES ANYBODY ACTUALLY CARE???
Jacob Mansfield
Programmer



On 13 October 2010 22:25, Will Bickerstaff <will.bickerstaff at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 6:41 PM, Rob Beard <rob at esdelle.co.uk> wrote:
> > On 13/10/10 16:30, Roy Jamison wrote:
> >> Do all of these machines have nVidia graphics cards?
> >> Just a thought, but there's a known issue with the new Xorg 1.9 ABI that
> >> breaks the older nVidia drivers, and I'm guessing the 6800 would be one
> >> of them, hence the reason that Ubuntu *thinks* it is running ok. That
> >> might also explain the fact that there is no X fallback coming up.
> >>
> >> Kernel modesetting commands anyone?
> >>
> >> I remember seeing something about a machine with SiS graphics...I had
> >> trouble with them too :(
> >>
> >>
> >
> > With regards to video problems, on 10.10 (and IIRC 10.04 LTS) when you
> > boot from the CD (or even USB stick) as soon as it comes up with the
> > icon of a keyboard and a person in a circle press the Enter key.
> >
> > Then you can choose your language.
> >
> > Then press F6 and then ESC.
> >
> > A line will come up saying Boot Options with a command line after it.
> >
> > Press the backspace key a few times to remove the following:
> >
> > quiet splash --
> >
> > then enter the following:
> >
> > xforcevesa --
> >
> > The boot options line should now read:
> >
> > file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz
> > xforcevesa --
> >
> > Once you have made these changes, press enter to boot.
> >
> > You should see a load of boot messages scroll by and eventually with any
> > luck a desktop should appear.
> >
> > If you get a blank screen, you should be able to press Control - Alt -
> > F1 to get to a terminal.  If you're plugged in to the network via a
> > network cable with any luck you should be able to run the apport-bug
> > command to create a bug report (in text mode it will still walk you
> > through logging a bug).
> > I must admit, it's been a long while since I've had to boot Ubuntu with
> > VESA display drivers (which is essentially a safe mode video driver) so
> > I was a bit surprised to see the option has been removed from the boot
>
> Anyone know the reason behind dropping it. It seemed to disappear in Hardy
>
> > menu.  I believe the last machine I had to do it on had an Nvidia
> > Geforce 6200 AGP graphics card.  I can't remember what I did to get
> > round it (I do remember it involved some head scratching and googling
> > from another machine).
> >
> > Anyway I hope this is of some help to someone.
> >
> > Rob
> >
>
> Isn't this what the OP was getting at. Why isn't this included as on
> option, so when the desktop fails to load, which in my experience, is
> far more common than is being indicated in this discussion, the user
> can reboot and try the 'safe graphics mode' option doing exactly this.
>
> What you've just posted, may as well be written in Urdu, the user the
> OP is describing would find this a ridiculously complicated method
> just to get a usable desktop.  What they need is a selection that
> explains in plain English this is what you do if the normal method
> doesn't produce a desktop. Why was the safe graphics mode option ever
> removed?
>
> Maybe we should even get grub to create a 'safe graphics mode' entry,
> that way if a user later experiences video issues they can at least
> get to a desktop.
>
> Old nVidia hardware is an absolute nightmare in my experience, and
> I'll be keeping clear of nVidia for a long time. I experienced bug
> 220951 on a system which failed to start X. What to do then. Unusable
> tty's and no X.... Screwed. A safe graphics mode in my boot menu would
> have made life so much easier. I've learnt, and changed my grub conf
> to always create one.
>
> --
> ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
>
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