First technical problem with linux-startup issue

[dandruff(lake)]

I had my first technical problem with linux today. I am running the newest version of ubuntu(7 something, I know it's "gutsy gibbon"). I boot it up today, and after I entered my user name it password, it just hanged on the background color of the login screen. It didn't show the desktop background yet nor any icons. It just hanged on the login-screen color background. Eventually it loaded. I restarted linux, expecting the problem not to re-manifest, but it did it again. How I can I prevent this?

[devils casper]

Press Ctrl+Alt+F1. Does it drop you at command line login prompt?
If yes, then login there and execute this

lspci | grep VGA
cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep Driver

Post output here.

[dandruff(lake)]

Thanks Casper. I pressed ctrl+alt+f1 and the gui disappeared and I only had a command line interface. Nothing dropped down. I did not know how to get back to the gui, so I had to reboot. I think the reboot went okay(maybe it loaded a little slow), so perhaps any log information would not be valuable now. Could I have entered the commands by simply opening the terminal? Is there a way to access that same command line without "hiding" the gui? And how do I get the gui back from that screen?

Also, what do those commands do?

[devils casper]

My mistake ! I should have mentioned Ctrl+Alt+F7 for switching back to GUI.
There are six command line terminals ( F1 to F6 ) and F7 is for GUI. You can switch to any by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F<x>.

Execute both commands in GUI or text Terminal and post output here.
First command will display info about your Graphics Card and second will display Graphics Driver you are using right now.

[dandruff(lake)]

It's okay Casper. You did not know how truly ignorant I am. Thanks for the key combo, information though. That will come in handy later. Okay, I am going to try the commands in the terminal(the one which is accessible via the gui)

First command's output:

00:0d.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 6100 nForce 430 (rev a2)

Second command's output:

Driver "kbd"
Driver "mouse"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "nvidia"

[devils casper]

Did you install Nvidia Proprietary Driver or are you using default Nvidia driver?

[dandruff(lake)]

I think I am using the proprietary driver, because when I installed Linux, it kind of made a big deal out of it. It said I am using a "restricted driver" and that my driver is not open source. I am pretty sure I downloaded it from Nvidia. I don't think Linux could find an open source driver for it.

Just to clarify, Linux downloaded this driver for me(at least I think it did). IIRC, it looked for a driver, and found the proprietary one, and it could not find an open source one. So it used the proprietary driver, and then proceeded to chastise me for not using an open source one.

[devils casper]

If you have installed correct driver then problem is not coz of X Sever. Check HorizSync and VertRefresh rates in /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Refresh rates must be supported by your Monitor. Check Monitor's Manual for supported HorizSync and VertRefresh rates and edit xorg.conf file accordingly.

[dandruff(lake)]

I know I'm just a newb, but I'm inclined to believe the problem is not due to my display drivers. Linux is just lagging. It's a temporary freeze during bootup. Any other possible causes? Thanks

[devils casper]

Install htop and check which process is taking maximum CPU Cycles.

sudo apt-get install htop
htop

Did you check HorizSync and VertRefresh rates?