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A real newbie here - beginning level on Linux, total newbie on Ubuntu and to this forum. 1st post, hoping someone can help.

I was asked by a friend to upgrade 4 older notebooks from Windows, for use in an office environment. I asked around and everyone recommended Ubuntu Desktop. I downloaded both the 32 bit and 64 bit packages and put them on bootable USB sticks with Rufus. Three of the installs (I went whole hog and reformatted the drives) went perfectly. The Acer Aspire 4520 however, is proving to be a challenge.

The issue is the video card. When the screen comes up in the graphical environment, it displays with lots of horizontal overscans - such that I see three or four of everything on the screen. The 4520 has a NVIDIA GeForce 7000M graphics chipset. I tried the various command line options in the run from USB test process, but none of them resolve the problem.

I believe I may have to include some sort of fine tuning to load the correct graphics driver for the NVIDIA chip, but I have no idea how to do that. Can any of you folks help?

Pilot6
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Chuck Kelly
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  • There's a lot of answers on this site around NVIDIA drivers, there's a pretty comprehensive guide here http://askubuntu.com/a/61433/320386 – Arronical Jul 07 '15 at 15:04
  • Thank you for your help, but I have to ask, if I'm using a live USB, how do I get a new driver to install? Is there a setup file I have to modify on the USB stick? – Chuck Kelly Jul 07 '15 at 15:24
  • I don't think you'll need to do that. You can install them from the command line. Does the installation complete properly, and the errors only occur once the graphical desktop starts? – Arronical Jul 07 '15 at 15:31
  • No - once I get beyond the stage of selecting the language and the test run selection, both the text and graphical views are not easily read. I could add text to the string under the F6 Options - but not sure what to put there. I assume I have to download some new NVIDIA driver and put it on the USB install stick? – Chuck Kelly Jul 07 '15 at 15:34
  • It sounds like a good solution, although above my skill level! There will definitely be someone on here that can help though! – Arronical Jul 07 '15 at 15:40
  • Thank you for your help. Does anyone else know how to install a different video driver on a USB install drive? I have downloaded the "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.125.run" file from the NVIDIA website, which apparently supports the 7000M chipset in 32 bit Linux systems. I just don't know what to do next. Thanks in advance for any advice. – Chuck Kelly Jul 07 '15 at 15:49
  • Just follow the extensive advice in the link above! ;-) – Fabby Jul 07 '15 at 16:26
  • possible duplicate of How do I install the Nvidia drivers? – Fabby Jul 07 '15 at 16:27
  • Thanks, Fabby. I did read the linked information, but it seems focused on a working system. I'm trying to install a new system through a USB stick, and I can't see anything to actually get to a command prompt. – Chuck Kelly Jul 07 '15 at 16:58

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This is so old but I hope my solution will help someone:

All you have to do is boot an install disk/USB with the "Try Ubuntu" option and once you get the screwie Desktop, Hold Fn and Tap F5 (the display key).....This drove me nuts for a while! Then you can install and do the same thing...

Enjoy if you find yourself here! :-)

user1669988
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  • I am intrigued by the key sequence but your answer is not very clear: still installing 14.04.2? or recent Ubuntu. Maybe add a couple screenshots. And do what "same thing"? – Frobozz Feb 03 '23 at 19:26
  • Sorry; yes, the end wasn't very clear. "do the same thing" means to hold Fn and Tap F5 (this is the key function that switches the Display mode from Single, Multi, Extended). The reason you have to do the Try Ubuntu First as opposed to doing the Install Ubuntu the first time is because the Key Sequence won't work unless you do that first. I will post screenshots when I can but essentially I was getting 4 or 5 "ghosted" Desktops on the Laptop Display with lots of static and lines. I would also suggest that connecting an external monitor may work as well, but I haven't tried that. Thanks... – user1669988 Feb 04 '23 at 18:30