Using a P4/2.0GHZ, 256meg pc. Video display is onboard Intel i845 chipset.

Kubu installs fine from the .iso. It looks fine and is at the correct resolution. Until you install the updates, that is. Then it completely f*cks the resolution because when you reboot, the display is no longer adjustable. It's stuck in 640x480 mode b/c the updates apparently screwed with the hardware and changed the video from 845 to 810. That's what it shows up as in lshw. It's an 845 chipset functioning in 810 mode b/c that's what Edgy locked it into.

Just to be clear, I have gone round and round and round and round again ten thousand times with this. I have exhausted every suggestion available as to how to correct this issue. From changing out the driver to vesa (no change) to installing 915resolution. Absolutely, positively NO CHANGE WHATSOEVER.

I have also attempted sudo dpkg.reconfigure xserver.org to get the error
"command not found." Edgy doesn't recognize dpkg, evidently. I wouldn't know. I'm a n00b trying to resolve the display problem.

I've also tried to edit in recovery text mode to change vga to 771 and reconfigure from the command line with no change whatsoever. The display is locked into and the only option is 640x480.

I've tried edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf in an attempt to edit the graphics card to get some other choices besides 640x480 with no success. The error "unknown mime type for /etc/X11/xorg.conf . Error no edit mailcap rules for type of application."

I've also tried to edit 915resolution using kdesu kate /etc/default/915resolution. The error was "cannot connect to server." I have no idea why. I'm a n00b.

I've also changed monitors from a KDS 19 inch down to a Dell 15 inch. Same deal. I did a fresh install on the same box and Kubu is fine up until you install the first batch of updates after initial installation. Then it locks the display into 640x480 permanently.

I find this issue exceedingly annoying because I can't see the GUI very easily b/c the windows are GARGANTUAN.

I have no desire to "upgrade" to Feisty because I don't like what I've read about it so far and there is no guarantee this issue will be fixed in that version either.

The whole reason I took the time to write this is because it was overlooked as a giant bug by the developers. What else is left to resolve this issue? Without being able to adjust the display, I can't see anything on the monitor very easily.

I might consider buying a new video card JUST to get away from the onboard nonsense with the Intel brand chipset, but there is no guarantee an Nvidia will fix the issue either. If anything, from what I saw when researching the issue, Nvidia cards have just as many issues as Intel onboard.

Oh, BTW, for grins & giggles, I also installed nvidia-glx with zero change. Then I uninstalled it just like the 915resolution. So again, to be clear, this isn't a case of having installed multiple drivers that are in conflict with each other. Each new driver install was properly rebooted and properly uninstalled and rebooted upon having determined it was useless.

I just can't believe this problem wasn't picked up or solved by the developers by now. It's freakin' HUGE and everyone missed it because evidently everyone who installed this distro has a brand new machine and a brand new monitor.

Am I the only person who installed this distro using a 4 y/o box and a 15 inch monitor? Am I only person who has an i845 chipset that is permanently locked into 640x480 mode by Kubuntu? I must be b/c I have posted this issue tither and yon on several Linux forums and the silence on the matter is deafening.

As a n00b, I have no idea know how to solve this issue and apparently, neither does anyone else.

What resolutions are listed under section "Display" in /etc/X11/xorg.conf?

Here's some info. I don't know if this will help, but never know..
I have an MSI machine, with onboard i845 PE chipset, and a P4 1.8 Ghz.
I just learned a little while ago, that the onboard video device on my machine, the i845, does NOT have any video capabilities other than 640x480. This motherboard is designed to NEED an AGP or PCI video card installed.
The default and correct driver for my 845 chipset IS the i810 driver module. However, regardless what driver I would use, the only thing that would come out of it is 640x480. The only thing that uses the onboard device is stuff like the BIOS menu. From that point onward, the AGP card takes over.
When I got my machine 3 yrs ago, it was built with an Nvidia MX440 AGP card, which for all intents and purposes is the default video device on my machine.
I don't use the onboard i845 for *anything*
Maybe your machine is similar?

**If** you did at some point have decent "normal" graphics at a better resolution, I can't explain it, and this info may not apply to you.. So, I hope maybe it helps, but.. Sorry for the difficulty you are having..

All that's listed is 640x480, but that doesn't explain why after I initially installed the distro the display was adjustable and set at 1024x768. It wasn't until after I ran the first batch of updates after installation that it was permanently locked into 640x480.

Maybe I should just get another card and see if that works. These overly large windows are driving me nuts b/c there is no way to scale them down. And for some strange reason, hitting alt + a or alt + o isn't working.

For the record, the box is a Dell Optiplex GX260 whose Win2k loaded HDD I erased with KillDisc before installing Kubuntu.

OK, I think that I thought you had tried fixing the xorg.conf file already. My mistake.
But, if the only resolution in there is 640x480, then that's all you'll get out of the system, regardless what video devices you have, and nothing else is going to change this fact if again, that is the only resolution in the file.
I'm not sure what ALT-a and ALT-o are supposed to do, but if other resolutions are available, CTRL+ or CTRL- might change it. Incidentally, I have a KDS 19" monitor too.

As a little experiment, you could edit your xorg.conf so that you not only have "640x480" but something more comfortable as well.

Just add this in front of the "640x480" (and make sure to leave a space):
"1024x768"

If it doesn't work, it shouldn't break anything either. X picks the highest values that it thinks will work.

If you want to play safe, you should make a back-up of the file first.

so far i have determined that kubu 7.04 doesn't play well with a P4/2.0Ghz/256 meg box with an Nvidia GeForce4 card. It absolutely will not use the PCI card no matter what. despite having installed appropriate video drivers and gone ten rounds with it, it absolutely positively will not use the card. It generates numerous errors:

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h9...o/IMG_0457.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h9...o/IMG_0458.jpg

and/or copletely locks up the system despite numerous memtest passings. I know it's not a bad/insufficient RAM issue or any other hardware issue. it is, in fact, kubu 7.04 that is the problem.

additionally, kubu 6.10 also will not use the nvidia pci card in question. it also locks up before GRUB even loads. the screen is black.

also, kubu 6.10 will not use the audigy PCI card either. in 7.04 it was easy to go to konsole and set as default the audigy card. kubu 6.10, OTOH, absolutely refuses to set the audigy card as default and instead uses the onboard audio.

It's a damn good thing that dell has decided to sell preconfigured machines with kubu 7.04 on it b/c if the audience it hopes to sell on using a linux box had to do what I'm doing JUST to use this flavor linux, the average person would have said to hell with linux 200 rounds ago.

So basically, if you're reading this and thinking about migrating from Windoze to kubuntu, and you don't have a brand spanking new $3k machine and your own linux dork to call 365x24x7, then don't even think about using Ubuntu. I am a fairly technical person. I've been building/configuring/securing Windoze machines since 1993. But no FAQ or Linux community KB has helped me to resolve any of my issues I posted to this board or elsewhere.

Ubu sells itself as older model pc friendly, but as I have just proven with the sound and audio card issues that nobody on this forum has clue one how to fix, you should run far in the opposite direction of Linux b/c you don't have a hope in hell of installing/configuring it on your own.

Some systems may need a few kernel parameters at the boot loader in order to work correctly. Try adding noapic to the boot loader. If it is GRUB, you can do at the boot loader screen when it comes up. The following steps is how you do it.
1) Use the arrow keys to highlight the boot option
2) Hit e to edit
3) Select the kernel line
4) Hit e to edit
5) move the cursor to the far right
6) enter in noapic
7) hit ESC
8) hit b to boot

This should fix most of your problems. You could add noapci or apci=off. Today's distributions comes with SMP enabled kernels which means it supports multiple processors. You could also add nosmp.

I have a Pentium 4 2GHz with 1 GB of ECC RAMBUS memory. It works fine, but I am using Gentoo.


I do not know why you think nVidia is as worst as Intel. Intel is the worst because graphics models 815 and up takes time to change the factory resolutions to custom resolutions and this have to be done every time the computer boots or reboots. The utility 915resolution or 815resolution have to be run every time. Blame Intel for this mess, not Linux. nVidia graphics cards are the easiest and they recently provided more utilities to help a novice to setup properly. I strongly recommend people switching to Linux to buy nVidia graphics. If you are buying a notebook computer, force yourself to buy a model with nVidia graphics. No I am not being paid for saying this.

I can help just about anybody with video and sound card problems.

In order for us to help you, you need to post information such as the output of /sbin/lspci, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /var/log/messages.

The X Window System is skimpy on keyboard shortcuts. After you fix your problems you can then add or change shortcuts with the xmodmap utility and a few text files.

TIPS:
* Hold down ALT and with the mouse hold down the left mouse button over a desire window. Then move it. Try doing this in Windows.
* Hit either CTL+ALT++ or CTL+ALT+- to zoom in and zoom out
* Hit CTL+ALT+BKSPC to restart X Window System or X11 or GUI
* Hold SHIFT and press numlock. The mouse cursor can then move with the numlock keys. Hold SHIFT and press numlock and it will turn this feature off.
* Hit CTL+ALT+F1...F7 will go to each separate terminal screen. CTL+ALT+F5 or CTL+ALT+F4 is for GUI.