I have just now got my graphics going in hi res. on my Geforce FX 5200 AGP card. I used some program months ago to configure 8.04 but I can’t remember it . . . Anyway today I activated the nvidia driver #173 in the “restricted drivers” manager and then rebooted, but that didn’t do the trick. I was still stuck in ol’ 640×480. I replaced xorg.conf with my old xorg.conf that was created by that unremembered program. That did it. Now it’s pretty and I do have 3d . . .
Here is my xorg.conf . . . you can try using it, or part of it. I remember I had the hardest time getting my fx 5200 to work the first time. This time I’m documenting it here. (edit) By the way, we have a report below that this technique worked in Karmic Koala.
One way you can try this is in a terminal. First copy your existing xorg.conf:
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup01
Then do this to open the xorg.conf file in a text editor
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
What I did is I replaced all of the text in the file with the following:
# 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 "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "nvidia"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Screen 0
EndSection
#
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
Vendorname "Dell"
Modelname "Dell E196FP"
Horizsync 31.0-83.0
Vertrefresh 56.0-76.0
modeline "640x480@60" 25.2 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -vsync -hsync
modeline "640x480@72" 31.5 640 664 704 832 480 489 491 520 -vsync -hsync
modeline "640x480@75" 31.5 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 -vsync -hsync
modeline "800x600@56" 36.0 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
modeline "800x600@72" 50.0 800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync
modeline "800x600@75" 49.5 800 816 896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync
modeline "800x600@60" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
modeline "832x624@75" 57.284 832 864 928 1152 624 625 628 667 -vsync -hsync
modeline "1024x768@75" 78.8 1024 1040 1136 1312 768 769 772 800 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1024x768@70" 75.0 1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -vsync -hsync
modeline "1024x768@60" 65.0 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -vsync -hsync
modeline "1152x864@75" 108.0 1152 1216 1344 1600 864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x1024@75" 135.0 1280 1296 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x960@60" 102.1 1280 1360 1496 1712 960 961 964 994 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x1024@60" 108.0 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x960@75" 129.86 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1002 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1400x1050@60" 122.61 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1400x1050@75" 155.85 1400 1496 1648 1896 1050 1051 1054 1096 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1600x1200@65" 175.5 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1600x1200@60" 162.0 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1792x1344@60" 204.8 1792 1920 2120 2448 1344 1345 1348 1394 -hsync +vsync
Gamma 1.0
EndSection
#
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1792 1344
Modes "1280x1024@60" "1280x960@75" "1280x960@60" "1400x1050@60" "1280x1024@75" "1400x1050@75" "1152x864@75" "1600x1200@65" "1024x768@60" "1600x1200@60" "1024x768@70" "1792x1344@60" "1024x768@75" "832x624@75" "800x600@60" "800x600@75" "800x600@72" "800x600@56" "640x480@75" "640x480@72" "640x480@60"
EndSubSection
EndSection
#
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "v4l"
EndSection
Section "device" #
Identifier "device1"
Boardname "nvidia"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "screen" #
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Defaultdepth 24
Monitor "monitor1"
EndSection
Section "monitor" #
Identifier "monitor1"
Gamma 1.0
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
Then save the file and close gedit and then cross your fingers and reboot!
Hej,
I had the same problem but thanks to your foresight you have saved me a lot of time sweat and tears,
Thanks again
John Sjölin
You are a lifesaver.
I’ve been fighting with the 5200 in my Ubuntu box all night.
I’ve tried the official, the unofficial, and the totally left-field ways of making this work, all for nothing.
And then, with one magical xorg.conf file, you fix everything.
Bless you! A thousand times, Bless you!
you got it ! Thank’s alot ! Two days of work without results and finally finding your solution ! Working Fine
Can’t thank you enough! gave up with getting the card to work right the way thru from gutsy. Finally installed Jaunty, gave it another go and your how to worked the treat!
Thank you so much. I was up till 3AM trying to get more than 640×480 out of my new Karmic Koala installation to no avail.
I knew this card was good as it had been working fine at 1024×768 on the same box running an ancient install of NetBSD 2.02 (now supplanted by Ubuntu).
Thanks for your feedback. I’m glad to hear that this helped you. Did you simply use the entire xorg.conf file I posted, or was there any trick involved?