Complete Noob Questions

[mshearon]

I didn't choose Ubuntu or Linux because I'm a programmer... I chose it because it was free, and was recommended to me as a solution to fixing my computer that was crippled by Vista dying.

I've been using it for a couple months now, and have had a couple problems that I haven't been able to fix. First: My computer doesn't remember my graphics settings. Whenever I reboot my computer, I have to tell it my monitor positions and preferred resolutions every time. When I open my display window, it first tells me "It appears that your graphics driver does not support the necessary extensions to use this tool. Do you want to use your graphics driver vendor's tool instead?" I click yes, And it tells me I'm running Linux-x86, NVIDIA driver 180.44, X Server Information: Version 11.0, Server Vendor version 1.6.0, NV-Control version 1.17. When I get my monitors properly sized, And try to save this information by clicking on "Save to X Configuration File", it gives me an option of where to save it, as "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"and a box labeled "Merge with Existing File' is checked. I click save, and it tells me, "Unable to create new X config backup file 'etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup'." I reboot, and I'm back to one monitor instead of 2, and having to set it all up again.

ANext is flash videos and games run very slowly, are very choppy, and seem to take an inordinate amount of resources. Is there a fix for that?

[Kieren]

It would seem that you need to install some drivers for your graphics card. I think when I installed Ubuntu there was a option in the task bar that lets you switch to proprietary drivers. Can you see this option in your taskbar? (Probably near the clock)

[mshearon]

I got the make and Model of my graphics card, and did a search for drivers for it. The nvidia driver I got is the 180.44 referenced above, and, according to Synaptic Package Manager, the latest version. My graphics card is listed among the cards that are supported by that particular Driver.

[Kieren]

Okay, well you said you received the error message:

"Unable to create new X config backup file 'etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup'."

I seem to remember this error happened when the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.back already existed. Try to rename this file to something else before changing your settings. You can rename it with the following command:

mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf.back /etc/X11/xorg.conf.back.old

You should then be able to save your settings without error, even if this doesn't solve all your problems?

[mshearon]

Tried that. Main problem now is it's telling me that I don't have Authorization to save the file. I tried logging in as root, but apparently, I don't know how... It told me I couldn't do so from the main login screen... so where do I switch to Root?

[D-cat]

It could simply be a permisions issue, were you asked your password right before setting up the video?

If not, that could be the issue. First thing, can you post your current /etc/X11/xorg.conf ?

Edit: beat me to that...

Switching to root in Ubuntu is typically not advised, just prepend administrator commands with "sudo".

[mshearon]

So Instead of the 'mv /etc/' I'd put 'sudo mv /etc/'

[elija]

It sounds like you are using nvidia-settings. If so the solution is very simple, well it is when you know it anyway.

Press Alt + F2
Type "gksu nvidia-settings" and press enter. Give your password when asked.

You are now running the config tool as root, so make your changes and you will be able to save them.

[mshearon]

Okay, that did it. Thank you, very much.

Now, is the whole flash problem thing just built into Linux, or is there actually something I can do to fix that?

[elija]

Excellent.

How did you install Flash? The recommended way is to install ubuntu-restricted-extras