Installing a video card from scratch

[Knapp]

On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 11:40 PM, Mike McMullin <mwmcmlln at mnsi.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 2010-02-24 at 10:18 -0500, Hal Burgiss wrote:
>> On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 9:38 AM, Rick <rickmorn at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I'm running on an IBM Thinkcentre M50, using the built-in video hardware.  I
>> > just ordered a GEFORCE 7600 GS video card and need to know what to do next.
>> >
>> > I know how to plug the card into the computer, but should I immediately switch
>> > the monitor cable to the new card or do I have to do the software configuration
>> > first to load the driver for the new card?  Will the card work at all without
>> > the driver?
>> >
>> > I've read about EnvyNG and plan to use it.  (Is this a good idea?)
>>
>> Don't know anything about that.
>>
>> I just went through updating an onboard Intel video system to I think
>> a Geforce 8600, and had no major problems. I just bit the bullet,
>> installed new card and monitor, and powered back up without doing any
>> pre-configuration.
>>
>> What did happen was that Ubuntu recognized new hardware, offered to
>> help reconfigure X, etc. But every attempt at this seemingly failed
>> and looped me back to the initial screen. I could login, etc but was
>> at a VERY low res. I tried 'sudo dpkg --reconfigure xorg (not sure on
>> the syntax there) at a terminal, which did absolutely nothing. Just
>> returned to the prompt with no error messages. I then poked around the
>> menus, found something about hardware, and was asked about installing
>> new drivers. This downloaded the Nvidia (proprietary) drivers, which
>> got me back on the road to happiness.
>
>  Assuming Gnome as the UI, System -> Administration -> Hardware
> Drivers, and the Nvidia is a restricted (i.e. non-Free/Foss) driver.
> BTW, check and see if the Nvidia tool box was also installed with the
> driver, it's a handy tool for tweaking the video.

Assuming you are using 9.10 Ubuntu with Gnome, you will need to
install the 185 Nvidia driver. I have this card and it is not top end
but there is nothing I can't do with it and do quite well.

-- 
Douglas E Knapp

Open Source Sci-Fi mmoRPG Game project.
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