Installing an NVIDIA video card on Ubuntu

[c800957276]

Hi,
I'm trying to install Ubuntu (or Xubuntu) on a PC that has integrated on board video. After that I want to disable the onboard video and use an NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS video card.
I tried it before, and got a lot of resolution problems. This is what I did:
- First, I put the card in the PCI slot and modified the bios to use it as the default video, and booted from the ubuntu CD. The installation did not go through as I got no screen output (I guess ubuntu did not recognize my video card).
- Second, I restarted and modified the BIOS so that the onboard video was the default. This worked when I booted from the CD and installed, I got screen output and all. I completed the installation and turned off the computer.
- Third, I installed the card on the PCI slot but did not change the BIOS, booted and used the onboard video, downloaded the NVIDIA driver (190.53) from the NVIDIA website, installed it, and turned off the PC.
- Fourth, I modified the BIOS so that the NVIDIA video was the default, plugged the monitor to the NVIDIA VGA output, restarted, and got ubuntu working at a very low resolution of 640*320.

This is where I am stuck. I can't change the resolution to 1024*768 or 1366*768. I only get 640*320.

Is there any way to avoid all this and do a fresh installation of ubuntu 9.10 with the NVIDIA card already in and as default on the BIOS?

I am thinking the resolution problems started because I got video drivers mixed up with intel onboard during installation, then NVIDIA. I guess I should have removed the intel drivers first before installing NVIDIA drivers. If anyone agrees, how do I uninstall Intel video drivers?

If that is not the case, how do I configure the NVIDIA drivers to work properly?

My PC is an older IBM 8303 KKU at 2.26GHz, with 2GB RAM, 40GB HDD, and a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS
Thanks.

[reed9]

Two things that might help.

Install nvidia-xconfig and nvidia-settings.

sudo apt-get install nvidia-xconfig nvidia-settings

From the terminal do

nvidia-xconfig

This should get you a working /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. There are some options you can use, but you hopefully don't need to worry about them right now.
Chapter*3.*Configuring X for the NVIDIA Driver

Then do

gksudo nvidia-settings

to launch the GUI config interface and see if you can set a better resolution.

[c800957276]

Thank you,
Did not work. I'll try a fresh installation tonight. I also gave opensuse a try by doing a system probing with the installation dvd. It run at 1024x768. I did not install it yet, but if I can't get Ubuntu running properly by the end of the week, I might as well try opensuse. That's the thing with Linux, you have all the flavours!

[techieMoe]

Ubuntu should have a built-in tool that will download and install Nvidia drivers for you. It's in the System menu under "Hardware Drivers." It essentially does the same thing that reed9 mentioned, just in a more automated way. You might give that a try before you scrap Ubuntu entirely.

[Rubberman]

Personally, I prefer to install the drivers directly from nVidia. They seem to work better for me. They build and install the kernel module in-situ, and then give you the option for the installer to update your xorg.conf file. Sometimes that causes problems, but generally I have been able to fix those issues relatively easily.

[c800957276]

Ubuntu should have a built-in tool that will download and install Nvidia drivers for you. It's in the System menu under "Hardware Drivers." It essentially does the same thing that reed9 mentioned, just in a more automated way. You might give that a try before you scrap Ubuntu entirely.

I tired that too, and it did not work.
opensuse seems to work better on this PC. Ubuntu works great on the laptop.

[c800957276]

Personally, I prefer to install the drivers directly from nVidia. They seem to work better for me. They build and install the kernel module in-situ, and then give you the option for the installer to update your xorg.conf file. Sometimes that causes problems, but generally I have been able to fix those issues relatively easily.

That's what I did first, and when I got the option for the installer to update the xorg file, the resolution still sat at 640x320.