LinuxQuestions.org - I screwed with my GRUB to change tty resolution... now the monitor sleeps in booting?

Ubuntu lucid. AMD 64bit

I changed my system to boot to run lvl 1, and used to enter the gui with 'startx'.
But at that level and whenever I would use the one of the tty's, the command prompt would be incomplete (e.g. ostname~$ instead of user@hostname~$). It seemed that the resolution was the problems, so I googled how to change tty res.

One suggestion was using startupmanager to change the resolution. I changed it to the native resolution of my lcd (1280x1024 according to nVidia driver). I noticed the application gave an error but it indicated a problem with tcp/ip connectivity, which seemed irrelevant. When that didn't change it, I tried messing with the grub config files and tried several suggestions including 'quiet splash text' and 'vga=794 video=VGA-1 : 1280x1024'...

So. Now when I turn on the pc and let it resume naturally, the monitor "sleeps." I turn it on again, HOLD SHIFT to access grub menu, and get this:
------------------------------------
GNU GRUB version 1.98-1ubuntu13
--------------------------------
Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-40-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-40-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-39-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-39-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-38-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-38-generic (recovery mode)
Memory test (memtest 86+)
Memory test (memtest 86+, serial console 115200)
----------------------------------------------

I press 'e' to edit the commands before booting on the first option highlighted and am given this:
---------------------------------
recordfail
set gfxpayload=1280x1024
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set effd1f9c-0eb6-497b-b7e7-b20740a7eid8
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-40-generic root=UUID=effadj7-b20d-ddkf-32de-wdkj4ad79da6 ro vga=794 video=VGA-1:1280x1024 quiet splash text
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-40-generic
---------------------------------------------
I've tried changing the 'gfxpayload' value to 'auto' and 'text', changing the 'quiet splash text' to 'nomodeset' with no improvement so far. After editing, if I press ESC to return to menu, and 'e' again, I noticed that the changes I made aren't saved and the values remain the same as before. When I press the Ctrl-x to boot with the edited commands I get the same black screen and the monitor shuts down.

I've also tried booting from thumbdrive and cd but I have the bios with a password lock (so I haven't been able to change booting priorities). Any suggestions on what I should edit in the grub commands or how I can enter the system through another media (cd or thumbdrive) to then change the grub config files would be greatly appreciated. Also, if I can somehow hack the bios, that might be fun. Thanks.

*btw this is my first question, so if there's anything I'm doing wrong please tell me.