Problems with starting Xubuntu

[Joep L. Blom]

On 14-12-11 17:14, Nils Kassube wrote:
> Joep L. Blom wrote:
>> I just installed Xubuntu 11.10 on a system on a 1 TB Hitachi disk
>> from an USB-stick.
>
>> However, when I started from the disk The graphical interface was
>> unusable. I graphic mode (in which it started) the monitor displayed
>> "signal out of range" and when I shifted to terminal (CTRL-ALT-F1)
>> the characters are illegible, rather large some are in reverse
>> script and others are not recognizable.
>> The monitor is an LM17N with specs 1280x1024 at 75Hz H-freq 31-81 V-freq
>> 56-75. I thought reasonable values, i suspect that Xubuntu uses a
>> V-freq over 75 Hz and the monitor refuses that.
>> However, How can I correct this. Using Esc. when starting or F4
>> doesn't work.
>
> ESC was used with the old GRUB but 11.10 uses GRUB2. There you can get
> to the boot menu if you hold the shift key.
>
>> Using the Live USB I looked at the xorg.conf but there
>> nothing is seen (only default for device and screen).
>
> That's normal because the xserver doesn't need the xorg.conf any longer.
> However if it exists, it would be used.
>
>> The video-card is I think an NVIDIA board but it is a somewhat older
>> system (2005) and worked always without a problem (with Ubuntu 8.04
>> and Windows).
>
> You can find out which video card you have from the command line with
> this command:
>
> lspci | grep -i vga
>
> I would suggest to check the file "/var/log/Xorg.0.log". Perhaps there
> is a hint what went wrong with the monitor setup.
>
> Do you still have an old xorg.conf from a previous *Ubuntu version? You
> could try to use that file with the current Xubuntu version.
>
>
> Nils
>
Nils & Liam,
Thanks for the reply. I will try the given suggestions. The problem I 
think is the V-freq that is wrong and I hope that the change in 
resolution will work.
I cannot use lspci as not only the resolution is apparently out of range 
but also the character set used is wrong when in a terminal.
I let you know if any of the gien solutions work.
Thanks anyway,
Joep