Screen resolution loop [help!]

[Rashkae]

David Armour wrote:
> Leonard Chatagnier <lenc5570 <at> sbcglobal.net> writes:
> 
>> I think the command is nvidia-xconfig and should be run with sudo.
>>
> <snip>
>>
> 
> Thanks to Leonard and Rashkae for their replies. Here's what I tried 
> yesterday:
> 
> System>Admin>Hardware Drivers>
> 	- lists two options, *both with red light radio buttons*, i.e. not installed?
> 		* 'highlight' Nvidia accelerated (96)[1] [Recommended]
> 		* select Activate
> 
> [1] a live-CD boot of Mandriva 11 also lists Nvidia 96 as the appropriate 
> 	driver
> 
> sudo nvidia-xconfig (As it happens, I mis-typed my Friday up-date as 
> 'nvidia-config' when I had actually used 'nvidia-xconfig'.) ... produced
> an unfamiliar error message:
> 
> After "Using X config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf", the system displayed:
> 
> PARSE ERROR: line 35 of Module section
> 	"Disable" not a valid keyword [2]
> 
> Backup xorg.conf as xorg.conf.backup. Newfile: xorg.conf.
> 
> [2] line 35 of xorg.conf reads: Disable "DRI"
> I believe that placing a "#" at the start of the line would work?
> 
> *******
> soft reboot
> *******    ...
> 'thermometer' GUI...
> CLI log-in prompt?
> 	black screen...
> 
> *******
> hard re-boot
> workhorse log-in:
> 	black screen...
> 
> recovery mode
> 	resume 
> 	workhorse log-in
> 	black screen...
> 
> Live-cd trials of openSuSe, mandriva11, fedora 9 ensued.
>  
> Desktop effects, however, weren't enabled in Fedora, either; mandriva 
> also had video display issues (screen re-writes, for example, were so 
> patchy that the live-cd was essentially unusable); and I couldn't see how
> to enable multiple 'desktops' with openSuse, a 'deal-breaker' for me.
> 
> Booted Puppylinux 4 live-cd which offers a selection between xorg and 
> xvesa x-window servers, and having selected xorg, lists a number of
> LCD resolutions, with subsequent horizontal/vertical refresh rates, along 
> with useful warnings such as "Unconfirmed MAXIMUM for monitor; OK
> for card".  I chose LCD 1280x1024x16, with h:31.5-67/v:50-75 refresh rates, 
> and found myself confronting a screen of breathtaking beauty seconds 
> later. The clock showed the correct time, even.
> 
> [Warning! Kids! Don't try this at home!]
> 
> Since I have yet to make sense of the arcana and incantations necessary 
> for a working home network, I then emailed my wife's computer with 
> attached copies of puppy's xorg.conf, and xorg.conf.NVidia files, intend-
> ing to patch their relevant and clearly functional sub-sections into this 
> Ubuntu's buggered and knackered xorg.conf, to see if that produces a
> usable display. Excelsior!
> 
> Thanks again for your continued help in working out this mystery.
> 
> 
> 
> 

You really really shouldn't have to do all that.

If you run xfix, then start Ubuntu, enable the Nvidia binary driver..
what happens?  At this point, your display should be working properly.
You can change resolution to all those your monitor says it supports by
using the gnome Screen Resolution applet.