Ubuntu support for Intel Z68 Chipset ?

Intel make great Linux drivers. Not sure about specific chips. Maybe others can contribute

there are currently some issues with some z68 boards for those using the sandy bridge graphics. see https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38492

If you are confident with linux, you can compile a kernel with a workaround. on my z68 motherboard I also need to use the vendor ethernet driver rather than the in kernel one.

I'm using a Z68 chipset motherboard (Asrock Z68 Pro) with an Intel Sandybridge 2500k. It works fine, with the exception of the kernel bug Jools mentioned.

X11 (the gui) does NOT work using the INTEL graphics driver, which ubuntu defaults to. It doesn't work in 2D and it doesn't work in 3D. After switching to the VESA driver (a generic graphics driver), everything works fine EXCEPT 3D acceleration. This means you either need to use Gnome-Classic or install Unity2D. As an alternative, you can install a PCI or PCIe graphics card. Since I expect Ubuntu 10.10 to include a kernel with a bugfix for this chipset/gpu combination, I'm happy using VESA with Unity2D for now...

To install unity2d:
search "unity 2d" in the Ubuntu Software Center
OR from a terminal
$ sudo apt-get install unity-2d

To enable the VESA driver, boot to recovery mode and save the following as /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier "Monitor"
        VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
        ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection
Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option "ShadowFB" # [<bool>]
        #Option "DefaultRefresh" # [<bool>]
        #Option "ModeSetClearScreen" # [<bool>]
        Identifier "Card"
        Driver "vesa"
        BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen"
        Device "Card"
        Monitor "Monitor"
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport 0 0
                Depth 1
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport 0 0
                Depth 4
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport 0 0
                Depth 8
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport 0 0
                Depth 15
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport 0 0
                Depth 16
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport 0 0
                Depth 24
        EndSubSection
EndSection

I forgot in my post #3... for VESA driver, you also need to disable kernel mode setting by passing the "nomodeset" boot option.

In /etc/default/grub find the line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="splash quiet"
and change it to
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="splash quiet nomodeset"

Then run:
$ sudo update-grub