I am just toying with Ubuntu this week. I downloaded version 9.10 (700 mb) and installed it on an old 20 gig drive.
I must say… the installation went flawlessly. I was surprised that it detected my LAN and almost everything very nicely… except for one major thing. My display. It was set to an unacceptable 800X600, which sucks on my 21″ monitor. I tried the built in software update tool, and allowed it to install the suggested Nvidia driver for my GeforceFX5200 card… only to find upon reboot, that my display was now maxed at 640X480! Arg. I then downloaded the driver myself from Nvidias website, but can’t figure out how to install it… but don’t know if that would make any difference anyway.
What is most frustrating, is despite much searching on Ubuntu’s website and help forums, I can’t find any info on how to install a hardware driver independent from their built-in method. I’ve also asked on the forums for help, and after three days, no answers.
This is a bummer because otherwise Ubuntu looks great. I sure wish there was a way to fix the display problem. Is it just Ubuntu that is at fault? Maybe another version of Linux would do better? Or maybe I just need to add a different video card?
