LinuxQuestions.org - The system is running in low graphics mode

- Ubuntu (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ubuntu-63/)

- - The system is running in low graphics mode (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ubuntu-63/the-system-is-running-in-low-graphics-mode-4175685459/)

The system is running in low graphics mode

Hello

I have Ubuntu 13.10 and NVidia 8400 GS PCIE graphics card on a desktop PC. And half the time I boot up it gives me this dreaded "The system is running in low graphics mode" prompt. It does not matter if I go 'recovery mode' It seems to happen less often when I do not stop the GRUB menu from auto booting. I have tried nearly everything in the website below:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1416...ics-mode-error

Many things do not apply or work for me in that website. I'm pretty sure not using Nvidia drivers and that could be the issue or not. To me it has something to do with graphics or the desktop itself as the error pops up right before the background for login screen loads. Any help would be great.

Thanks in advance

Sure, here you go:

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT880 Ultra/PT894 Host Bridge

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Motherboard

        Kernel driver in use: agpgart-via

00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT894 Host Bridge

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 1308

00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT894 Host Bridge

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 2308

00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT890 Host Bridge

00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT894 Host Bridge

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 4308

00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT894 I/O APIC Interrupt Controller

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 5308

00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT894 Host Bridge

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/VX700 PCI Bridge

00:02.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT890 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller

        Kernel driver in use: pcieport

00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/8251 Serial ATA Controller

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 5372

        Kernel driver in use: sata_via

00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 07)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: pata_via

00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 90)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237S PCI to ISA Bridge

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 3372

00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/8251 Ultra VLINK Controller

        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. Device 337e

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 7c)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation K7VT series Motherboards

        Kernel driver in use: via-rhine

00:13.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A Host Bridge

00:13.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to PCI Bridge

02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3] (rev a2)

        Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device 3158

02:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)

        Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device 3158

03:06.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23418 Single-Chip MPEG-2 Encoder with Integrated Analog Video/Broadcast Audio Decoder

        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV HVR-1600

        Kernel driver in use: cx18

80:01.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller (rev 10)

        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 0662

        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel

What you mean by 'supported by 340.xx'?

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6186729)

What you mean by 'supported by 340.xx'?

It means that your NVidia card is really old and might be supported by this legacy driver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6186693)

I have Ubuntu 13.10

Have a look at this page and find your release there.
It seems you missed a memo 6 years ago.
You should re-install for many reasons; low graphics mode is not one of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 6186817)

It means that your NVidia card is really old and might be supported by this legacy driver.

It might be old for the latest Ubuntu, but not for 13.10. Do I need to use this driver to fix the problem?

Quote:

Have a look at this page and find your release there.
It seems you missed a memo 6 years ago.
You should re-install for many reasons; low graphics mode is not one of them.

I looked at release notes for 13.10 but do not see anything helpful
What memo is that? I do not find such a thing in this link.
So how can I get rid of low graphics mode and not re-install then?

I left out something after it boots up properly there is a crash right before the desktop loads. It is a 'System program problem detected' box message and has to do with unity-greeter. I can get some more details if needed. But it is not using NVIDIA drivers for sure as you can see from this screenshot:

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6187062)

I looked at release notes for 13.10 but do not see anything helpful
What memo is that? I do not find such a thing in this link.

The memo that support for 13.10 ended on July 17, 2014.

Quote:

Originally Posted by evo2 (Post 6187064)

The memo that support for 13.10 ended on July 17, 2014.

That is only official support from the company that makes Ubuntu, and why I ask on this forum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6187381)

That is only official support from the company that makes Ubuntu, and why I ask on this forum.

It's not as simple as that.
Distro maintenance goes way beyond what the company Canonical Ltd. does.

Ubuntu 13.10 is EOL and that's that, you won't be able to install new software, you will have a hard time tracking down suitable software, it's an online security risk, websites will break,.....

Be that as it may: you posted your question, if someone is willing and able to deal with a 6 year EOL distro, I'm sure they will come forward.
No hard feelings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 6187400)

Maybe so but it's mostly true.
Yes all distro's end support after a set number of years that makes sense

This is all getting off topic, I assume that means drivers too or not? None of this matters for the issue I'm having right now, all of this is not relevant to the 'system is running on low graphics mode'.

Yes, it is what is here. I doubt what's holding anyone back is using a 6 year EOL distro. I bet the same error message will happen with the latest Ubuntu too. No one has offered a clear solution.
Sure just need help.

Could you not just choose one of the other 4 options in your screenshot, like the 319 driver that says tested, and then do a reboot?
Sorry, I am not a Linux expert.

Another option would be to change graphics cards. Try any other model and see of Ubuntu detects and installs the proper driver and the error msg goes away.

~~~~vmelkon

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6186693)

Hello

I have Ubuntu 13.10 and NVidia 8400 GS PCIE

Thanks in advance

Just looking at your other posts you seem to run quite a variety of O/Ss, just out of interest why is that, I tried a few in the past but now I stick to Mint and learn how it works in depth. It suits my needs right now.

Yes I could try one of the other drivers listed, but prefer to use an open source driver, and no one has confirmed that this nouveau driver is the issue.
Well you are not alone with that either.

This is not an option as I have no other graphic cards to use. I'm sure Ubuntu will default to this nouveau driver so it will not help at all and is a real long-shot at this point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GPGAgent (Post 6187830)

I run Windows, Linux, and some times Hackintosh. These are the three main ones but can break it down to Win98/XP/7/8/10, Slackware/Ubuntu/Debian, and Leopard to Catalina. That's an easy one some software will not work on Linux so I'm stuck with Windows

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6187819)

This is all getting off topic, I assume that means drivers too or not?

Yes, drivers too.
Unfortunately, my point is NOT off topic.

Quote:

I bet the same error message will happen with the latest Ubuntu too.

I doubt that very much.

Quote:

No one has offered a clear solution.
Sure just need help.

The best solution really is to install a current distro. (*)
Who here will be able and willing to help with something that hasn't been used for half a decade?
You will hear this answer quite often on various FOSS/Linux forums:
Of course you are allowed to do that, but then you're on your own.
Sorry if it sounds callous.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vmelkon (Post 6187824)

Could you not just choose one of the other 4 options in your screenshot, like the 319 driver that says tested, and then do a reboot?

Good point.
I wonder what OP has to say about that?

(*) NOT vanilla Ubuntu. Something tailored for old hardware instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 6188261)

Yes, drivers too.
Unfortunately, my point is NOT off topic.

Only the part about drivers is not off topic

Quote:

I doubt that very much.

How can you be so sure of that?

Quote:

What do you have in mind for a 'current' distro if not Ubuntu?
I hope the willing part is not a problem but true very few are able to use Ubuntu 13.10 that's fine.
This is not what I like to hear especially on these forums.
Yes but being allowed to do something is nothing if it cannot be done.
It is, but wish this was at least helpful

Quote:

Good point.
I wonder what OP has to say about that?

Nice then.
I said would rather have nouveau drivers as they are open-source.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seskanda (Post 6188656)

What do you have in mind for a 'current' distro if not Ubuntu?

https://distrowatch.com/search.php?c...=Old+Computers

Quote:

I hope the willing part is not a problem but true very few are able to use Ubuntu 13.10 that's fine.
This is not what I like to hear especially on these forums.
Yes but being allowed to do something is nothing if it cannot be done.
It is, but wish this was at least helpful

I don't understand what you are saying there, but it seems that you are taking personally what is essentially a technical issue.
As soon as I mentioned the EOL-ness of your install you haven't focused on the technical issue anymore. Now you're just defending yourself and, it seems, accusing me of not saying what you'd like to hear?