This problem was fixed once but I have forgotten where.
I keep getting little 1/2 inch holes where the pointer is/was. Also the terminal does not echo what I type or the results. It just stays blank. It does respond however to commands as I type exit and it does go back to the gui. In win xp it is fixed by reducing hardware acceleration. In ubuntu it has to do with graphics effects. What is the question, though.

What do you mean "hole"?

A large black square where the pointer is supposed to be?

No. A small 1/2 inch square. It is what was there prior to the present page.
There is another thing I forgot to mention. All system messages and terminals are blank white. One must assume what is there and answer blindly. For instance, if you just OKd an update, you know it wants your password so you enter it. Terminals are also worked blind, but very little. It does make things difficult to say the least.
Something that may or may not be related is, a lot of things seem to be very slow.
I am sure it has something to do with how things are presented. Does it change all at once, diagonaly, or maybe in small random blocks. Effects I believe it was called.
Now you are probably more confused than when I started. I will leave it for now.

What video driver are you using?

Is 3D acceleration important to you?

Speed isn't very important to me. I am not doing that much 3d stuff. As to the driver, I am sure I can get the info from the system. It would probably mean I need a visible terminal. I can get that through a cntrl+function thing which I can't do right now for some reason. Just in case if you know the combination I am thinking about kindly jog my memory.
For the driver thing, I have tried several times to get an *f86 or something and it just kept telling me it didn't exist or something. I think it was xf86.

Can you get to a terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2 ?

Try Ctrl+Alt+F1 or Ctrl+Alt+F7 to get back to your GUI.

That's the sequence I was looking for. I just forgot the alt goes with the cntrl. But on my system it's cntrl+altf7 that goes back to the gui.

What's the output of this command:

I did get an answer to that command but it is a lot for my clumsy copy method. I will need the command for getting it to the clipboard so that I can paste it here. If that doesn't sound right it may be an udesireable answer and not worth the work.

Then use the middle button (press down on the wheel if you have a wheel mouse) to paste.

I doubt this will work from a non-GUI terminal, though.

If it won't work, try this:

And attach out.txt to your post.

Depending on which terminal emulator you are using you may be able to simply select/highlight the text by clicking on the start point, pressing-and-holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse to the end point. Once the text is thus selected/highlit, switch to LQ, position the mouse where you want the text and click the middle mouse button. Those are my principles; if they don't work for you I have others.

The OP is not using a terminal emulator, he is using an actual non-X terminal.

Please read the whole thread before replying.

Another option is to run and then attach the file to an LQ post (the .txt extension is important because of LQ restrictions).

EDIT: safer (in case of any errors) to useEDIT2: just seen MTK358's post suggesting the same

Actually Catkin, your first command worked without a hitch. *IF* the following makes sense.
Damn! I can't find the file to attach it. I am sure it is there just that my ubuntu search procedures and file attachments are not up to the task. The file should be there. The command output looked perfect. Since it mentioned no errors, I assume it went through.

MTKxxx, If your command is similiar, I wouldn't find it either.
I am feeling real stupid guys.

Catkin/MTK358 I am sorry, but I think my post didn't go out. I dont see it. The jist of it was Catkins first command looked perfect in it's output, but I can'y find it so I can't try to attach it. I actually saw nothing and assumed it was written. Right now I am feeling pretty stupid.