display problem

levian4 · 09-07-2009, 10:47 PM

hi, i installed ubuntu 9.04 days ago, with success installation of skype, scim, a network printer, n updated all the items in "update manager". however, the screen is somehow, always distorted after a while the laptop is turned on. i tried changing the appearance n fonts rendering but failed to reduce the "defects". attached is the screenshot, it gets more serious if more are performed during one session. what should i do to fix this? thanks!

everest40 · 09-08-2009, 04:52 AM

That's a very weird problem. I wonder if maybe the fonts Ubuntu is using are being loaded into a bad part of your RAM. Have you tried running memtest86?

levian4 · 09-08-2009, 04:57 AM

no, i have not. how do i run a memtest86? sorry, i have very limited linux knowledge.

Laurens73 · 09-08-2009, 03:42 PM

I had a similar problem with a Debian machine a few years ago. I solved it by selecting other fonts in the settings menu.

everest40 · 09-08-2009, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by levian4

no, i have not. how do i run a memtest86? sorry, i have very limited linux knowledge.

When you boot up your computer, before it goes into Ubuntu, it should show something to the effect of "GRUB loading, press escape to enter the menu" and a timer indicating how many seconds you have until Ubuntu boots. memtest86 is one of the options on the menu.

levian4 · 09-08-2009, 10:53 PM

everest40,

i ran the memtiest86 n it was successful. the message returned is "Pass complete, no error, press Esc to exit".

Laurens73,

i tried your way n changed all the fonts through System > Preference > Appearance > Fonts. the disappearance reduced but i still see black squares here n there. attached another screentshot as reference.

Laurens73 · 09-09-2009, 08:41 AM

The reason that I think of a font problem is also that you only have the problem on the letters h,l,k and in the second case it is only the h showing the black shadows in the same font. If you have an other computer at home, you could try to move the /usr/share/fonts directory to a safe backup place and copy the /usr/share/fonts from an other install to the affected one to see if it's no corrupted data on your hard disk. If you only use truetype fonts you even can copy fonts from Windows by copying it from c:\windows\fonts to /usr/share/fonts/ttf. If you don't have an other computer at all, try doing it with a live cd, maybe your ubuntu install disk is one (if it's an Ubuntu desktop cd) or a cd from parted magic for example.

levian4 · 09-09-2009, 09:14 PM

Laurens73,

i do not have another ubuntu installed, however i do have windows on my desktop. i copied the arial.ttf to /usr/share/fonts n changed all the fonts under Appearance to arial. however i am not allowed to delete the rest of the font files. the problem continues. if i leave it long enough, it will become even serious. a restart is then required. do i have the problem due to an inconsistent refresh rate too? since there are missing parts every now n then, i will need to drag (highlight) the area for it to refresh the display.

Laurens73 · 09-12-2009, 02:58 PM

Hmmm... the fonts didn't corrupt over time over here, they were bad in a constant way. Looks like there's something else going on. What video card do you have installed, and what video driver do you use in /etc/X11/xorg.conf?

levian4 · 09-13-2009, 08:30 PM

Laurens73,

Quote:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

here is the whole /etc/X11/xorg.conf. i am not sure which are the exact answers to your questions, does this help?

Laurens73 · 09-14-2009, 10:27 AM

Yes, it does help to see that xorg is auto-detecting your video card. Normally it's the easiest way to get the video card and/or monitor working, also with replacing hardware no modifications are needed then, but I think in your case xorg falls back on low resolution vesa modes. If you start a package manager like synaptic (makes it easier for beginners) search for nvidia if you've got an nvidia card, search for fglrx if you got an ati chipset, or intel with an intel chipset and look if you can find something like xorg-nvidia or linux-fglrx etc etc. Try to install the appropriate driver and use the automatic config tool wich is also listed (install first of course).

levian4 · 09-14-2009, 09:57 PM

Laurens73,

i am currently testing the installation for kubuntu 9.04. installed skype but failed to get pidgin installed, with the error:

Code:

checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether NLS is requested... yes
checking for intltool-update... no
checking for intltool-merge... no
checking for intltool-extract... no
configure: error: The intltool scripts were not found. Please install intltool.

everest40 · 09-15-2009, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by levian4

Laurens73,

i am currently testing the installation for kubuntu 9.04. installed skype but failed to get pidgin installed, with the error:

Code:

checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether NLS is requested... yes
checking for intltool-update... no
checking for intltool-merge... no
checking for intltool-extract... no
configure: error: The intltool scripts were not found. Please install intltool.

This looks like it should be in a separate thread, as it has nothing to do with the display problem.

That being said, you can install pidgin in Kubuntu using the following command:
sudo apt-get install pidgin

If you are compiling Pidgin from source for a reason (perhaps to get a newer version?) you can install the intltool scripts with:
sudo apt-get install intltool

levian4 · 09-15-2009, 01:25 AM

everest40,

sorry about posting the question here. n thanks for the command (sudo apt-get install pidgin), it worked like a charm!

levian4 · 10-01-2009, 02:34 AM

just an update, the graphical problem was recognized as one of the bugs: here. apparently not fixed?