Onboard video causing lock up during boot on Dell Optiplex GX260

[yoyoma]

Hello, I'm new to the Linux world trying to make a usable general purpose machine. Now that we're no longer getting the student discount on MS software and Vista seems to generally suck anyway, I'm to get the wife to move over to Linux.

After trying a few distributions I've settled on Ubuntu due to the overall finish and easy setup. I've found I prefer KDE to Gnome, so Kubuntu it is.

Here's my problem: My Optiplex GX260 has onboard video. I have a GeForce 5200 card I'd rather use. There is no jumper on the motherboard to disable the onboard video. The bios gives me two options for Default Display Adapter (Onboard, and Auto). If I set it to "Auto", Kubuntu freezes when the blue progress bar (the one with the black background, well before KDE loads) both on the LiveCD and after an install. If I set it to "Onboard", it boots and I can go ahead and set my Geforce as the primary adapter within KDE. This means my BIOS still uses the onboard as primary but my OS uses the Geforce as primary. When my machine boots, I don't see the POST or Grub and lose out on dual boot capabilities.

So, I'm looking for help on how to get Kubuntu to boot and use my Geforce card all the way along, when the bios setting for Primary Display Adapter is "auto". If anyone has an suggestions, I'd appreciate them.

Thanks,

A

[toad]

Re: Onboard video causing lock up during boot on Dell Optiplex GX260

Sounds weird. Have you tried the basics like change the BIOS, switch off computer, unplug (if you are really careful), wait ten seconds and then try again? It has helped me before