New to Linux

[mrmann14]

So I am very new to linux, it is essentially my first time trying to use it. I am trying to install it on the following:

Dell Inspiron 6400 / e1505 (Vista)

2.0ghz C2D
2gb Ram
ATI x1400

So I'm trying to Dual Boot ubuntu with Vista, I installed Vista first. When I try to now install the newest ubuntu I get the following error:

"Failed to start the X server (your graphical interface). It is likely that it is not set up correctly. Would you like to view the X server output to diagnose the Problem?"

If I click yes:

"X window System Version 7.2.0
blah blah blah (its a lot to type, so if it'll help just tell me and I'll type it out)
(EE) VESA(0): No matching modes
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

Fatal server error:
no screens found."

What can I do to fix it ?

 

[sourceninja]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI

 

[mrmann14]

Install from Ubuntu repositories (easier)
Instructions for 7.04 (Feisty)
* Install linux-restricted-modules and restricted-manager provied in the restricted repositories:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-generic restricted-managerOpen the restricted drivers manager included in 7.04 "System -> Administration -> Restricted Drivers Manager" and select "ATI accelerated graphics driver". This will hopefully enable fglrx in a painless way. If not, follow the instructions for Edgy.

Where do I enter this?

 

[silverpig]

Hit ctrl-alt-F2 (or F3 or F4...) to get a new terminal. Log in, then do it there.

 

[mrmann14]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Hit ctrl-alt-F2 (or F3 or F4...) to get a new terminal. Log in, then do it there.

But I wasn't able to install it. That's my problem.

 

[drag]

Your monitor resolutions were not being correctly detected, that's why X Windows didn't start.

Your using a R500 generation ATI card. With these cards there are no open source drivers aviable for Linux due to ATI basicly being hugely stupid and won't let anybody release them. (even though basic 2D drivers do exist, ATI is not allowing them to be released)

So what it is trying to do is use the 'VESA' driver. Vesa is a standard for video cards, a sort of minimal lowest denominator. Vesa compatability is how your able to do things like access your BIOS settings irregardless of what type of video card you happen to be using at the time. So Ubuntu is trying to use this compatability in order to give you very basic GUI access.

But for some reason Linux is not able to either correctly detect your monitor's settings or you monitor may not support the resolutions that Linux is trying to use by default.

I don't know why it's failing. You can try to edit the Xorg configuration file and manually inputing correct refresh rates and such.


These guys are trying to get you to install the proprietary ATI driver that will provide you 3d and 2d acceleration.

So what you need to do is log into the text-only console and try to use apt-get (which installs software in Ubuntu through it's package management system) to install these drivers.

Hopefully when you have these drivers installed, and have X reconfigured properly to use them then everything should 'just work'.

(However ATI's drivers are not very good, so it's probably not your fault if it doesn't work. It's unfortunate that ATI does not do a good job supporting Linux developers... )

 

[mrmann14]

How do I log into the text-only console?

 

[toekramp]

mmm linux

 

[skreet]

You can't install the binary drivers on the LiveCD, I don't think. The best thing to do is try the ATI and radeon drivers. This requires a little tweaking, unfortunately. You want to hit ALT-CTRL-F2, and run this command:

sudo nano -w /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Find a section that says:

driver "vesa"

And change it to:

driver "radeon"

Press CTRL-O to save and confirm, CTRL-X to quit and then do:

/etc/init.d/gdm restart

To restart the Gnome Display Manager. If that doesn't work, repeat and try "ati" instead of "radeon". Best of luck!

 

[sourceninja]

Oh, if you can't get the liveCD to boot up, you need to use the alternate install CD. Newer ATI cards have problems with the liveCD, use the alternate install CD and do a text based gui install. Then install the 3rd party drivers and you will be good.

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: mrmann14
How do I log into the text-only console?

If your looking at the blue screen that has the errors for X windows you can get to the virtual console by going ctrl-alt-F2

You can have several virtual terminals running. Generally speaking ctrl-alt-F1 through ctrl-alt-F7 are virtual consoles, and ctrl-alt-F8 is for GUI. But that can change and you can configure it differently. Some drivers have issues with switching back and forth between virtual consoles and X Windows.


If you have multiple computers (say a laptop and your desktop) it makes it easier sometimes to use remote command line. You have to install ssh server
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#SSH_Server

and then you can 'ssh' from one computer to another. That way if one computer has a GUI and the other has a broken GUI then it makes it easier to look up stuff.

In Linux GUI to copy and paste in and out of the terminal is simply done by 'highlight to copy' then 'middle click to paste'. That's why Unix systems have 3 button mice.

(note that this behavior is inconsistant across applications, were with Gnome and KDE windows-style copy and paste generally works pretty good except for terminals since those key combos are used for other things. Also each application is responsable for it's own copy/paste buffer, this is a X design flaw and what happens if you copy and the close out the application you loose that text and you can't paste it anymore)


If your other system is Windows you can use a nice program called 'putty.exe' to ssh from windows into Linux. To copy and paste using putty it's similar except to paste you use the right mouse button, not middle... if I remember correctly.

This way when you following directions online it makes it easier to avoid typos and makes things quicker. Also it is easier to copy any errors or other information you want to look up on google and such things.

 

[gus6464]

The ATI drivers for anything in the X1000+ series is pretty crappy for linux. The open source drivers work best with cards up to X850. Blame it on ATI for offering very crappy linux support even still after all these years.

 

[mrmann14]

Originally posted by: skreet
You can't install the binary drivers on the LiveCD, I don't think. The best thing to do is try the ATI and radeon drivers. This requires a little tweaking, unfortunately. You want to hit ALT-CTRL-F2, and run this command:

sudo nano -w /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Find a section that says:

driver "vesa"

And change it to:

driver "radeon"

Press CTRL-O to save and confirm, CTRL-X to quit and then do:

/etc/init.d/gdm restart

To restart the Gnome Display Manager. If that doesn't work, repeat and try "ati" instead of "radeon". Best of luck!

I went to do this, but when I entered "sudo nano -w /etc/X11/xorg.conf" command it took me to a blank screen with some commands at the bottom like replace all and stuff but there was nothing to replace.