Re: [tlug] Newbie buying a computer and installing Linux on it -- screen resolution on PowerBook G4

[Joseph Essertier <essertier@example.com>]

Thanks to everyone's help, i was able to install Ubuntu on another 
computer in my office i was forgetting about--my PowerBook G4.  It's 
really nice!

I have only one major problem that i need to fix before i can actually 
start using the applications in Ubuntu Linux.  The screen resolution is 
not right for my screen.  Normally in OS10 it's 1152 X 768.  (It's a 
wide display, 15 inches).  In Ubuntu it's something like 640 X 480, and 
that's the only option i have.  So the screen is too big for the 
display?  I don't know what the correct terms are to describe the 
problem, but one negative effect is that i cannot click on many buttons 
because they are "below" the display.  I cannot see or click on certain 
things on the left and right sides either.

I searched the Ubuntu site and it looks like some other G4 users have 
had this problem, but i cannot understand the solutions presented 
there.  I need to reconfigure the "X server"?  I found a definition for 
the term "X server," but don't know how to access it.  Is there a very 
basic sort of manual for Debian or Ubuntu that i should read in order 
to learn how to reconfigure this, or install another display driver?  
This kind of problem has to be fixed by typing in some commands in the 
command line?  The manuals i found for Debian and Ubuntu are either too 
technical and detailed, or too basic, mostly the former.

I didn't even think of installing Linux on the G4 until i noticed a 
message either here or at the Ubuntu site by someone saying that 
installing Ubuntu on a G4 was easy.  (I started to do it on the Old 
World G3 and will probably finish doing that later, but the process was 
easier for the New World G3).  The G4 i use only at work for 
presentations so i had rigidly categorized it in my mind as a 
"presentation computer."

The G4 still does not fulfill my need for a computer with OpenOffice on 
it at home.  I don't want to have to lug the G4 to and from work 
everyday and i'd like to have a "home computer" that's ready to use for 
writing any time.

So now a used Dell desktop with W2K and Linux on it, as Lyle among 
others have helpfully recommended, sounds like the way to go.  I can go 
get the G4 from my office before going on trips, and use that for 
writing on the road.  Then use the Dell at home.

But my next task is to get this screen problem fixed so that i can 
start using Ubuntu.  I can use OpenOffice right now even with the 
screen problem, but...

Once again, thanks for all your help!
Joe