I have a Pentium 4 system with 1 gb RAM,, EVGA GEFroce FX-5200 video, 400 gb SATA Drive, Samsung 21.6" Syncmaster flat screen.
It has been running 11.10 Ubuntui with no problem, until I did a software update.* Now all I get is a white screen with strange ascii characters on it.** I have tried goiong to previous versions of Ubuntu on the GRUB, but to no avail.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
John


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On 05/15/2012 08:42 PM, John Schroer wrote:
I have a Pentium 4 system with 1 gb RAM,, EVGA GEFroce
FX-5200 video, 400 gb SATA Drive, Samsung 21.6" Syncmaster flat
screen.

It has been running 11.10 Ubuntui with no problem, until I did a
software update.* Now all I get is a white screen with strange
ascii characters on it.** I have tried goiong to previous versions
of Ubuntu on the GRUB, but to no avail.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

John









The system may have loaded the open-source nvidia driver with 3d
acceleration, which I found extremely buggy. Check your xorg.conf
file in /etc/X11 to see what driver is being loaded. The problem
driver is nouveau.



Art Edwards



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On 05/15/2012 10:42 PM, John Schroer wrote:

I have a Pentium 4 system with 1 gb RAM,, EVGA GEFroce FX-5200 video,
400 gb SATA Drive, Samsung 21.6" Syncmaster flat screen.
It has been running 11.10 Ubuntui with no problem, until I did a
software update. Now all I get is a white screen with strange ascii
characters on it. I have tried goiong to previous versions of Ubuntu
on the GRUB, but to no avail.
Thanks for any help you can provide.


Can you switch into text mode? ctrl-alt-f1? Can you login there
successfully? ctrl-alt-f7 will put you back into graphics mode.


If you can use text mode, and it appears you have a working system,
other than the graphics, then you have a good chance to repair it.
If you can get to the web on another machine this page should get you
rolling:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia

Basically, you will use jockey-text while in text mode.
jockey-text --help <---so you can see the options
jockey-text -l <---list what the machine sees installed
jockey-text -e xorg:nvidia_current <---to install the driver.

then: sudo nvidia-xconfig ...to write a new xorg.conf file. Reboot.

I hope that works. The FX-5200 is long in the tooth, but it is a very
reliable card. I used one for ages. Ric




My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
http://linuxcounter.net/user/44256.html

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On May 16, 2012 8:27 AM, "Ric Moore" <wayward4now@gmail.com> wrote:

>

> On 05/15/2012 10:42 PM, John Schroer wrote:

>>

>> I have a Pentium 4 system with 1 gb RAM,, EVGA GEFroce FX-5200 video,

>> 400 gb SATA Drive, Samsung 21.6" Syncmaster flat screen.

>> It has been running 11.10 Ubuntui with no problem, until I did a

>> software update. *Now all I get is a white screen with strange ascii

>> characters on it. * I have tried goiong to previous versions of Ubuntu

>> on the GRUB, but to no avail.

>> Thanks for any help you can provide.

>

>

> Can you switch into text mode? ctrl-alt-f1? Can you login there successfully? ctrl-alt-f7 will put you back into graphics mode.

>

> If you can use text mode, and it appears you have a working system, other than the graphics, then you have a good chance to repair it.

> If you can get to the web on another machine this page should get you rolling:

> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia

>

> Basically, you will use jockey-text while in text mode.

> jockey-text --help * * <---so you can see the options

> jockey-text -l * * * * <---list what the machine sees installed

> jockey-text -e xorg:nvidia_current *<---to install the driver.

>

> then: sudo nvidia-xconfig * *...to write a new xorg.conf file. Reboot.

>

> I hope that works. The FX-5200 is long in the tooth, but it is a very reliable card. I used one for ages. Ric

>

>

>

> My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:

> "There are two Great Sins in the world...

> ..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.

> Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.

> http://linuxcounter.net/user/44256.html

>

> --

> ubuntu-users mailing list

> ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com

> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users



Hi, sorry if I'm not posting according to all mailing list rules. Gmail on Android doesn't give you much to configure.


Had a similar situation on squeeze, while I was trying to configure nouveau (if I'm not mistaking). Tried to enter text mode but all I had was one blinking dot (cursor -- which wad not clear as the monitor kept making sounds as if it was trying to switch resolutions endlessly).



My solution was to ssh into my computer, stop X, and then install the proprietary nVidia drivers.

Hope it helps (that is if you're experiencing the same problem and have ssh configured)


Good luck!

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I was able to boot up and Ubuntu appeared to act normally.
* I left the system as was.
Then I tried to boot Ubuntu after going to the Dayton Hamvention last weekend, and I got the white background and strange characters,

I can not get into text mode (Ctrl-Alt-F1)* Do I try to keep rebooting Ubuntu until I succeed, then attempt to fix the problem with jockey text, or do you have another suggestion.* I am writing this email on the Windows XP side of this system.

Sincerely, John


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