Ubuntu

can't start the xserver

Asked by Khaled AlHussaini on 2007-05-16

Hi .....

Can anyone help me Please I am in a DEEP PROBELM .....

after installing the nvidia legacy driver I was unabe to run my ubuntu again because the xserver fails to run .

I am using ubutu for about six months now but I don't know what type of drivers my computer was running on .

I am not that familier with the root commands so PLEASE be esay as much as you can ...

thank you ...

Question information

Language:: English Edit question

Status:: Solved

For:: Ubuntu Edit question

Assignee:: No assignee Edit question

Solved by:: Khaled AlHussaini

Solved:: 2007-05-17

Last query:: 2007-05-17

Last reply:: 2007-05-17

Link existing bug

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Khaled AlHussaini (dr-fagshah) said on 2007-05-16:

I forgot to tell you ...

my computer is Dell inspiron 2650

intel pentium 4 mobile 2.0
512 MB ram
nvidia eforce 2 go

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Sam Cater (wraund-deactivatedaccount) said on 2007-05-16:

please run the command 'lspci | grep nvidia' in a terminal

and paste the output

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Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey) said on 2007-05-17:

The command Sam pasted will likely return no output because it doesn't take into account that the word "nvidia" may be capitalised". Try this instead:-

Logon to the console (the text based screen you get when you boot up).
Type the following command:-

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

You should be asked for your password. Once nano (a text editor) opens you will see a file called xorg.conf.
The line you want to change is the one that says:-

Driver "nvidia"

Change it to:-

Driver "nv"

Save the file with CTRL+X. This will mean you will be using the open source nv driver which will enable x to start. You wont have 3d acceleration, but that can be fixed :)

You should then restart the xserver with this command:-

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

Logon then follow this guide for installing the right driver for your nvidia card:-

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