Resolution changed and can't be returned to original resolution.

[Tod Merley]

On 7/30/06, Tony K. <tony.kruse at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I am beginning to believe this is a hardware issue.
>
> Last night, I booted up an old hard drive I use for experimenting.  It
> has Ubuntu 6.06 on it but has not been updated in several weeks+.  It
> boots as normal and has normal resolution (1024x768).
>
> This morning I booted up my backup server (the original machine giving
> me problems) and I noticed that the login screen looked normal (not
> 640x480). After booting the screen was 640x480 but going to System >
> Preferences > Screen Resolution, all the options are back and I am now
> able to change the resolution back to 1024x768 85Hz.
>
> I then tried rebooting my desktop and it two has returned to normal!
>
> Maybe I have a few ghosts in my machines.


Hi Tony!

Here I use a KVM to switch between an XP and Ubuntu machine.  It was powered
by a wall wart pluged into a separate outlet (I know better but I wondered
how much trouble it would cause). After running the vacume cleaner I noted
that it would not switch nor show the usual "power off on the computer
blinking LED".  Reset cured it, until the fifth time.  Somehow removing and
replaceing the cover cleared that??

It is now powered properly plugged into the same well protected and filtered
as well as backed up power as feeds all of the rest of the computing
equipment save the printers which are one level of filter/protection removed
(sometimes printers are "noisy").  It has had no trouble since, vacume day
or not.

Another possible source of trouble is dimmers, a very noisy electrical thing
- and motors (like in your refrigerator) which tend to send out nasty spikes
when they shut off and tend to pull down the power when they turn on.  At
one place I lived (downtown Seattle) they were doing construction in the
neighborhood.  The lights dimmed occasionally.  Noteing some neighbors who
lost hard drives I bought the UPS then.  When I lived in Bellingham I worked
at a radio station and cared for it's automation which they used to deliver
the commercials to the air at the operators request.  One of the operators
(a lady I grew to trust) told me exactly when the equipment would fail.
Turned out to be the time when they turned off a neighborhood irrigation
pump.

RF (radio transmitters from commercial media (Radio - TV - Cell) ham radio
operators - CB (espically illegal power level CB) two way radios, even
occasionally cell phones can cause "ghosts".  Also lightening.

And of course hardware.  Past seven years electrolytics often dry out (a
common electronic component), dirt tends to make things loose thier cooling
(most often air flow in computers) and hot electronics tend to be less
stable.  Connectors tend to loose contact through dirt, corrosion, and
fatigue.

Software often leaks, is under attack, and is just plane flakey until proven
otherwise.

I suppose when there is a day they actually work for us fully, we should bow
our heads and give thanks!

Good Hunting!

Tod
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