Monitor Issues in Unbuntu
 

Ok so I just bought a new computer after my mac went south, and had to buy a PC for $$$ reasons. I knew I hate windows so installed umpteen different distros of linux before I found unbuntu which to this point I love. There's one problem: I can't seem to configure the refresh rate of my monitor. It is at 85 hz and I think that is too high because my monitor is squealing, not all the time but about half the time. It's a real high pitched noise that drives everyone in the house insane and I know it is not good for the monitor either. I have done massive amount of research online and tried some reconfigure command in the terminal, tried manually altering the xorg.conf file. My monitor specs say it can handle 30-50 and 50-160 but at 85hz i'm having this problem. The odd things is it seems to mostly happen in gnome and not kde. One final thing, I do not belive it is the monitor because on the log in screen sometimes I will move the mouse and the image will actually jump half off the screen, i only have to move the mouse to that edge and the screen will recenter again, but with distortion at the top. Please someone help, it took me forever to find a distro i liked and this seems to be an ubuntu only problem. Maybe of interest I do have the Intel Extreme 845GV video card with shared memory, apparently causes alot of problems, but only caused me problems in Unbuntu.

Maybe you have a virtual desktop chosen in your xorg configuration. The best way to fix these issues is to run (as root) the command /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig.

This will lead you through a X configuration process. If at the end (and restart the server) you still think refresh rate is the problem, try editing the xorg.conf file to be something like this in the display section

1280x1024@75 (for 1280x1024 resolution at 75 Hz)

Post any problems you run into here :)

I have run the xorgconfig setup thing and it always crashes xserver so i have to replace the xorg.conf file it made with my backup from the command line, which is a horridly difficult thing for me as i have like the very base of linux command knowledge. i've given up on ubuntu. what really makes me sick about all this is when i switched back to pc i was so upset, but i realized i could run linux, well after trying so many distros i did not particularly care for i found ubuntu and absolutely loved it and for something like this to happen makes me so upset. ubuntu was everything i wanted, easy to customize, what little command line usuage i needed to know was easy to learn, most programs installed through synaptic (limewire, video lan client, etc) and it was just so fast. i dont know, this has just turned into a poor me sob story LOL, so i'm downloading debian since i know ubuntu's based on debian, but i'm just thinking it's not going to be the same, but we will see. but thanks for replying

I've always had mixed success with ubuntu, but it is always a shame to hear stuff like what happened to you. Sorry bout that man. During the install you should be able to config the x server to work, I never had any problem with ubuntu and that.

Did you try Fedora, I don't want to sound like a redhat whore, but I too tried a bunch of other distros and found that Fedora was by far my favorite, it does require just a little more know-how than ubuntu, but compiling from source or using yum is about it. The only caution that I would give about redhats stuff is to stay away from rpms as much as possible.

I hope that your foray into the x86 world is more positive than it seems to be at this point. I too love macs, but money thing, so I know where you are coming from. I think that Linux is definitely the way to go however.

Don't give up man, there is a whole world of cool stuff with Linux out there.