This moment reminds me of my first WordPress post (previously justinsomnia was a Blogger blog) where I was doing something familiar (blogging) from an unfamiliar, though functionally similar place.

In this case, I finally got Ubuntu installed on my VIA EPIA ME6000 system, and I’m using it (and the load of free software it came with) to write this blog post.

But first, the requisite screenshot, taken with Ubuntu’s Dapper Drake (or should I say GNOME, or should I say GNU/Linux? All of the above?) resized with the GIMP, uploaded with Firefox.

This afternoon I thought I’d switch out the CD-ROM drive with the one from my ThinkPad (in case that was the issue), but it turns out they have slightly different connectors *errr*. Then I plugged everything all back together, and decided to try running the install using the graphics safe-mode option—the only option I hadn’t tried yet, because I didn’t think I needed to (given that the desktop looked fine previously).

Of course in safe mode, the desktop was stretched out too wide and cropped at the bottom, but there was still enough room to see the installation screens, which loaded without locking up. Hallelujah. Was it safe mode that made the difference? Was it that I pulled apart and then reassembled the CD-ROM drive? We may never know.

Once the installation was complete and it booted off the hard drive for the first time (gloriously faster than off the CD-ROM), the desktop display was still whacked out *errr*. Here’s where my lack of day-to-day Linux experience showed.

Nothing under the System menu offered any display adapter settings (that I could tell), so I started Googling around for answers: optiquest q7 linux, via epia linux, ubuntu display via epia, ubuntu linux display problems, troubleshoot display problems via epia, via epia ubuntu display configuration, ubuntu video driver. It was one of those rare moments with Google where I kept shooting blanks.

However, I did stumble upon an unofficial Ubuntu wiki, which led me to the Ubuntu IRC channel (I’ve been making a concerted effort to start using IRC lately) and the IRC preamble message led me to the Ubuntu wiki FAQ, which led me to a Fix Video Resolution Howto page with the following helpful advice:

I’m not sure that this is the solution that works for the most people actually, but it most certainly is the quickest and easiest one. All we’re doing is running the same script that tried to detect your video hardware when you initially installed. Sometimes this does help. Run the following command.

For Dapper 6.06:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom
sudo sh -c 'md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf > /var/lib/x11/xorg.conf.md5sum'
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

After completion, close any open windows or programs you have running on your desktop and press CTRL-ALT-Backspace to restart X. You will be asked to log into your GNOME session again and hopefully everything will be fixed.

That did just the trick. Autodetected everything, including my monitor, stepped me through a handful of settings, CTRL-ALT-Backspace, and I was off to the races. Yay!

My 5th post in a series about running Ubuntu on a Mini-ITX.

Part 1: Installing Ubuntu on a Mini-ITX VIA EPIA ME6000
Part 2: Giving Ubuntu another go with Dapper Drake
Part 3: Ubuntu on a Mini-ITX, take 3
Part 4: Slowly chipping away at unknowns
Part 5: Ubuntu up and running!