Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

[pinto]

I have a dualboot system with Kubuntu 9.04 and WinVista. On Kubuntu boot (default) I have this inter,ittent problem of limited display resolution (800X600) fixed (with fixed refresh rate). Sometimes startup works fine with maximum resolution but intermittently I cant get past the above mentioned resolution even on repeated reboot.
I have a Geforce 5200 FX graphics card. Is that the problem? Im sure its not, otherwise how do I get the correct resolution?
How do I correct this intermittent glitch?

[lmilano]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

Try in the menu, look for Hardware Drivers, there is a module that installs for you the NVIDIA binary only driver ... that should fix it.

[pinto]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

I tried; the module offered to activate NVIDIA accelerator 173 or 93. I chose 173 (recommended version) and after searching for the driver it tried to download the driver it failed and replied - the jockey backend crashed. On second try it failed at driver search level and replied the jockey backend crash error 11. The detailed bugcrush report is as follows:
Application: Jockey (), signal SIGSEGV

Thread 1 (Thread 0xb7d676c0 (LWP 4123)):
[KCrash Handler]
#6 0xb67f8f7a in QWidget::metric () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#7 0xb698a029 in QFont::QFont () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#8 0xb67b7f67 in QWidgetPrivate::updateFont () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#9 0xb67b7e98 in QWidgetPrivate::resolveFont () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#10 0xb67c3a0b in QWidget::setParent () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#11 0xb67c3e7e in QWidget::setParent () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#12 0xb67c9d16 in QWidgetAction::releaseWidget () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#13 0xb6bde75a in QMenu::~QMenu () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#14 0xb52e043f in KMenu::~KMenu () from /usr/lib/libkdeui.so.5
#15 0xb5284a2d in KSystemTrayIcon::~KSystemTrayIcon () from /usr/lib/libkdeui.so.5
#16 0xb5717e81 in sipKSystemTrayIcon::~sipKSystemTrayIcon () from /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/PyKDE4/kdeui.so
#17 0xb79c4e3f in QObjectPrivate::deleteChildren () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#18 0xb67ba66b in QWidget::~QWidget () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#19 0xb6c82776 in QDialog::~QDialog () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#20 0xb748ecb5 in ?? () from /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/PyQt4/QtGui.so
#21 0xb7432f8c in ?? () from /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/PyQt4/QtGui.so
#22 0xb7432fce in ?? () from /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/PyQt4/QtGui.so
#23 0xb7f325a3 in ?? () from /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/sip.so
#24 0x080a90d5 in ?? ()
#25 0x0808e184 in ?? ()
#26 0x080a915b in ?? ()
#27 0x0808cb61 in ?? ()
#28 0x0808ee69 in PyDict_SetItem ()
#29 0x080909c1 in _PyModule_Clear ()
#30 0x080f17a2 in PyImport_Cleanup ()
#31 0x080fd90d in Py_Finalize ()
#32 0x0805c129 in Py_Main ()
#33 0x0805b972 in main ()

What do I do next?

[lmilano]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

I would try a couple times. If it keeps failing, I would try envy-ng (unofficial, but very nice tool to install binary drivers, so it's a nice plan B)

[dibl]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

If the System>Hardware Drivers (aka jockey-kde) won't work, then you'll have to install the driver manually.

Envy-NG, as suggested by lmilano may work, but that excellent package is no longer supported by its developer, so no guarantees, unfortunately.

To download and install the driver yourself, the basic process is:

(a) ID the correct driver for your nVidia chip on nVidia's site:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us


(b) Install the build-essential and linux-headers-`uname -r` packages for your system, and remove the nvidia-glx package and related files, if necessary:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=72490


(c) Download the appropriate driver/installer from the nVidia link above or nvnews.net:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122606


(d) Copy the downloaded installer out of your user /home directory to someplace like /tmp and run the installer, with "sudo". If you don't have an existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf file that was created by a proprietary nVidia driver, then you choose "YES" on the last installer question, regarding creation of the file. You can also, at any later time, use

sudo nvidia-xconfig

to write a new xorg.conf file:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...4892#msg164892


(e) Use nvidia-settings to make any needed adjustments to the screen resolution, or to detect the monitor. At first use, to set defaults, run it with Alt-F2 as kdesudo nvidia-settings.


As mentioned by lmilano, if you install a new kernel, then it will be necessary to re-install the proprietary driver on the new kernel (after getting the new kernel-headers package, etc.).

Hope this helps.

[lmilano]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

Yes, keep in mind that if you install it manually, unless things changed recently, you will lose your display every time you upgrade the kernel. If you install from Kubuntu or you use envy, the display driver will be rebuilr automatically (via dkms) every time there is a new kernel release. For details see here:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EnvyNG

[pinto]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

I tried several times with no result. So finally I installed it manually. After running the nvidia-xconfig , I now have the correct display.
But how do I ensure that the display works correctly everytime? If you remember, my initial problem was I lost the correct display intermittently. Should I save the X Server configuration to an X configuration file as suggested in NVIDIA Server settings GUI window?

[lmilano]

Re: Display problem with Kubuntu 9.04

I would recommend two things:

1. Don't update the kernel (packages starting with names with "linux-"), unless you are running a web-server or something like that. A kernel upgrade will break the display.

2. Stay away from "Desktop Effects"

I am not sure about this suggestion from the NVIDIA window. I switched to ATI because they support open source drivers, which means hopefully soon I won't have to go through all the mess that binary drivers mean (not just in Linux).

Hope this helps!