I'm thinking about buying a new graphic card. What should I do before removing the old one, other than removing proprietary drivers?
Asked
Active
Viewed 1.8k times
2 Answers
19
Have a cup of tea.
But seriously, that's about all you want to do and you don't even need to do that before you rip it out.
Any old-config issues can be resolved fairly swiftly when the new graphics card is in. If you have issues,
- Get to a terminal any way you can (login if it boots to terminal, or try a TTY via ControlAltF1, or if all else fails, hold shift on reboot and enter the recovery console.
- Remove old driver packages
- Nuke
/etc/X11/xorg.conffrom lower orbit.
These are things you can do before changing but it makes very little difference.
-
Oh ok, so I should not worry too much right? – psylockeer Dec 22 '11 at 14:32
-
2Nope. You need not to worry. This is one of the things Linux does a hell of a lot better than Windows ;) – Rinzwind Dec 22 '11 at 14:35
-
4I don't think so. I'd even say postponing the changes might be better. If your new card is DOA (happens sometimes) you won't have lost your old configuration. – Oli Dec 22 '11 at 14:37
-
+1 - I agree. Do as little as possible in case the new card is DOA. It happens when you least expect it! – Mat Nadrofsky Dec 22 '11 at 14:45
-
sorry what DOA means? – psylockeer Dec 22 '11 at 14:48
-
3Dead On Arrival. A card that needs sending back instantly because it's broken when you get it. – Oli Dec 22 '11 at 15:14
-
@psylockeer: Dead on arrival – Scott Severance Dec 22 '11 at 15:14
-
Oh...that would suck...happened with a motherboard once... – psylockeer Dec 22 '11 at 15:21
6
I like Oli's answer. :)
The only thing I might add if your paranoid about picking a new card and want to be extra cautious would be to check the Ubuntu hardware catalog for video compatibility with your specific card choice.
Mat Nadrofsky
- 822
- 1
- 6
- 23