I am running Ubuntu 6.10 x86_64 and I cannot get my video card installed. I read the user manual for Ubuntu and it said the following:

No Nvidia Video cards have 3D acceleration enabled automatically with Ubuntu, because the manufacturer does not release open source drivers. However, it is possible to activate 3D acceleration.
The process depends on which type of video card you have.
• If you have an older TNT, TNT2, TNT Ultra, GeForce1 or GeForce2 card, install the
nvidia-glx-legacy and nvidia-settings packages from the “Restricted” repository (see Chapter 3, Adding, Removing and Updating Applications [p. 9]).
• If you have a newer card, install the nvidia-glx package from the “Restricted” repository (see
Chapter 3, Adding, Removing and Updating Applications [p. 9]).
To set up the new driver, enter in a terminal:
sudo nvidia-glx-config enable
You can adjust the settings of the new drivers by running nvidia-settings (see the run application
manual [ghelp:user-guide#tools-run-app] for help on how to run an application without
using the menu). If you wish, add a menu entry for this program (see the menu editor manual
[ghelp:user-guide#menu-editor] for help on how to add menu entries).

I did the above and when I restarted the computer the system would not start in graphical mode. I recieved the following error:

(WW) NVIDIA: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:0:0) found

(EE) No devices detected

Here is a copy of my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file I think it is important as the error said it was using it:

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "lv3:ralt_switch"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NVIDIA Default Card"
Driver "nv"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "VA1930wm"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NVIDIA Default Card"
Monitor "VA1930wm"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1440x1440" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x640" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1440x1440" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x640" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x1440" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x640" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x1440" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x640" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x1440" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x640" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x1440" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x640" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection


So here is my original problem and why I screwed my operating system up by trying this. I have dual 19 inch Viewsonic VA1930wm monitors. These monitors are widescreen and have a natural resolution of 1440x900. This screen resolution is not available in my version of Ubuntu. I was hoping updating the video card would help but it only made things worse. So my real question is how do I get these two monitors to work in dual mode with the proper resolution. If you can tell me how to fix what is wrong now I would appreciate it but I can always reinstall if you know a better way of fixing my original problem but don't know what is causing the error. I have a GeForce 7600 GT video card. I read the what to post and could not find the lspci file he was talking about so sorry for not including it. I also know he said model numbers are worthless but i don't know anything else about it. Thank you for your help.

lspce isn't a file; it's a command. From a console, run 'man lspci' without quotes for the manual page on lspci.

To capture the output of lspci to a file, you could do: lspci | tee lspci.txt. That's lspci piped (|) through tee to a file called lspci.txt. Tee displays the output on screen as well as writes the files named after the tee command (in this case: lspci.tst).

Then it's just copy the contents of the file, and paste into your post.

As for the monitor resolution problem, that's a function of the graphics card. If the card supports 1440x900, you should be able to configure it to display that resolution on the monitor.

With regard to installing the nvidia driver, have you checked the nvidia website for instructions on installing in Linux. I know they have specific instructions for my primary distro (SuSE), but I can't say for certain that they have instructions for installing and configuring under Ubuntu.

I notice you have a GeForce 7600 GT video card. Does it support dual-head operation? Is it considered a legacy card? I notice in the information you quote form the Ubuntu manual references to legacy drivers. Perhaps you should be using a newer driver?

I don't run dual heads, nor do I use Ubuntu, so I can't tell you how to do it.

The {Driver "nv"} part shows you are not using the NVidia closed source driver, but rather the open source attempt at getting an NVidia card to work. If you had the closed source NVidia driver installed, it would say {Driver "nvidia"}.

As per bigrigdriver's wise advice, follow the instructions from NVidia's website. It should be as simple as downloading the 86_64 driver, and executing the installer as root. It will modify your xorg.conf file to read nvidia where it should, and it will go from there.

Do NOT for any reason under the sun reinstall. That is like trying to use the entire Amazon river to put out a match. It is gross overkill. Unlike the river analogy, it also won't work. Like many newbies, you're trapped in thinking the distro-specific things are the best way to perform tasks. They aren't. Every distro-specific tool is only the simplest way to get things done. They are often far from the best, as your case shows. It isn't Ubuntu that doesn't allow a specific resolution, it is a problem with your xorg file. That problem as I wrote above, is that you aren't using the "best" driver for your card. You will get the best resolution and performance out of your NVidia card with the closed source NVidia driver. It isn't the "best" philosophically, because you can't see how it works, but it will, most likely, give you the ability to use any resolution your card and monitor are capable of.

Peace,
JimBass