Help With ATI Display On Dell Inspiron 8000

Oh and to make it more fun I am stuck in I think 800x600 so it is almost impossible to navigate around.

Go to System menu, Administration, Hardware drivers.

If there is an ATI driver there click to enable it.

If it is not there then you may need to follow the guide here

http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Hardy_Installation_Guide

rpm files are not for Debian based distributions like Ubuntu. Also, I think the 8000 model laptop is an older one, which would mean it doesn't use the restricted drivers. Can you please post the output of
lspci | grep VGA

And can you please attach the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf for us to view? You can open it with
gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Remember, case matters in linux, so x != X and vga != VGA

Here's an Ubuntu FAQ

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+faq/17

Tony and Connor thank you for the quick response. Connor here is the results of the commands you asked me to run. I don't know if I did the lspci grep VGA right as I can not find that funny line anywhere. Plus to make it more complicated I can basically only see the 1st 3 letters I type in the screen.

Tony, I tried your recommendations after pulling this. I could not do this command and now the PC will not load at all. I think I might have to reinstall and start at square 1 again: After this, you'll may need to edit Xorg.conf:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
In the device section, if it is not already there add:

File: /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Driver "fglrx"

Connor here is the info from the commands I ran:

From lspci grep VGA:

anubis@ubuntu:~$ lspci grep VGA
Usage: lspci [<switches>]

-v Be verbose
-n Show numeric ID's
-nn Show both textual and numeric ID's (names & numbers)
-b Bus-centric view (PCI addresses and IRQ's instead of those seen by the CPU)
-x Show hex-dump of the standard portion of config space
-xxx Show hex-dump of the whole config space (dangerous; root only)
-xxxx Show hex-dump of the 4096-byte extended config space (root only)
-s [[[[<domain>]:]<bus>]:][<slot>][.[<func>]] Show only devices in selected slots
-d [<vendor>]:[<device>] Show only selected devices
-t Show bus tree
-m Produce machine-readable output
-i <file> Use specified ID database instead of /usr/share/misc/pci.ids.gz
-D Always show domain numbers
-M Enable `bus mapping' mode (dangerous; root only)
-P <dir> Use specified directory instead of /proc/bus/pci
-H <mode> Use direct hardware access (<mode> = 1 or 2)
-F <file> Read configuration data from given file
-G Enable PCI access debugging
anubis@ubuntu:~$

From gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)

#

# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using

# values from the debconf database.

#

# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.

# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)

#

# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*

# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg

# package.

#

# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated

# again, run the following command:

# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "InputDevice"

 Identifier "Generic Keyboard"

 Driver "kbd"

 Option "XkbRules" "xorg"

 Option "XkbModel" "pc105"

 Option "XkbLayout" "us"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

 Identifier "Configured Mouse"

 Driver "mouse"

 Option "CorePointer"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

 Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"

 Driver "synaptics"

 Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"

 Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"

 Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"

 Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"

EndSection

Section "Device"

 Identifier "Configured Video Device"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"

 Identifier "Configured Monitor"

EndSection

Section "Screen"

 Identifier "Default Screen"

 Monitor "Configured Monitor"

 Device "Configured Video Device"

EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"

 Identifier "Default Layout"

 Screen "Default Screen"

 InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"

EndSection

Thanks again for everyone's attempt to help me.

Hi, that | symbol is the same button as \ - right above the Enter key. You can also just copy and paste from this page into terminal.
 lspci | grep VGA
Did you ever try to install restricted drivers for your video card?

Tony, I was wrong I must have "Hibernated" the PC. I was able to pull the power and it did restart. It is just so difficult to figure out what you are doing as I can't see where I am clicking. I followed the FAQs again and this time gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf came up blank so I copied the info here and added the rest of the steps. Now I get asked to pick my driver from a list of providers. I found APT but for some reason none of the options have worked. I wonder if Ubuntu won't work with this older PC. If not have any suggestions on other Linux software I can run?

It sounds like you just didn't open the correct file, you can try reconfiguring X with
 sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg -phigh
then restart X with CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE
We may need to create a bug report from this problem. Can you please post the lscpi command I provided earlier?
 lspci | grep VGA
Thank you.

Tony and Connor, update following both your advice I now at least have the "desktop" viewable on my entire screen. I selected the ATI drivers and when that didn't work I also selected a Dell laptop monitor and it came up. The problem is it is right in the middle of the screen with about a 4 inch border all around it. But good news is I can see what I am doing at least. Some progress thanks to the 2 of you.

Connor this is what I now get:
anubis@ubuntu:~$ lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage Mobility M4 AGP

Hope that helps. Now I probably just need to play around and resize something so the screen now takes up the whole screen and not just in the center with a 4 inch black space all around it.

Essentially, you shouldn't have to select anything specific. I'm not even sure where you are selecting these from, but if prompted, you want the open source "ati" or "radeon" drivers, not the restricted "fgrlx" closed source drivers, and if asked about screens, just a generic laptop screen or generic monitor should do fine.
You can select your screen resolution from System->Preferences->Screen Resolution

Connor yes I know it came up when I rebooted saying "Ubuntu is running in low resolution mode do you want to change" I said yes and it let me go to where I can pick the ATI card and then the monitor. I think choosing the monitor is why now my screen is so tiny. If I go into SYSTEM - PREFRENCES - Monitor Resolution it has a big white box saying UNKNOWN amd then Resolution 640 X 480 or 800 X 600 and Refresh Rate at 61 Hz for 800 by 600 or 60 Hz for 640 X 480. With Rotation normal. If I click Detect Displays nothing happens. ODD

Was it after you reconfigured X that you got asked about the screen and monitor information? Do whatever you did before to get to that point, then select something like LCD Panel <your max resolution>. If this doesn't work, you can try posting on the Ubuntu Forums - Absolute Beginner Talk section at http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=326
Also, we will create a bug report for you then.

Thanks I will end this as both you guys helped me at least be able to see the entire screen. I will play around and search the link above and if can't resolve post for some help. Thanks again for the support I can see why this is such a great service!!