Since I loaded Hardy into my system a month ago, it has been my routine job to fix xserver after nearly every updates. After many desperate attempts to fix the things, I’ve found a way to fix it. I don’t claim that whatever I’ve done should work for others but it is better to give it a try once rather than ending up with reinstalling Ubuntu. Here is what I do:

1. I always backup my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to something like /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bckup
2. When something is broken, I often find that my xorg.conf file has been modified. To find out whether there is any modification, I issue:
   stat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
3. If there is any, I list the changes:
   diff /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bckup -y –suppress-common-lines
4. I then undo the modifications. Those who aren’t comfortable with command lines can try meld. It is a graphical frontend for diff command. It couldn’t be more easier to merge/remove changes in two versions of same file. It is in the Universe repository so you should get it by issuing:
   sudo apt-get install meld
5. After the modifications have been undone, I restart Hardy. Most of the time I get my xserver fixed with everything working fine - color depth, screen resolution etc.
6. If restarting the system does nothing other than greeting with that dialog box - Ubuntu is running in low graphics mode, then i try to reconfigure xserver by issuing:
   sudo dpkg reconfigure xserver-org
   It will ask you a couple of questions, clicking on default option will be OK
7. After it gives a ’successful’ message, time to restart. I can see the changes immediately - login screen spanning to my whole screen.
8. I need to enable the drivers for my card by going to System>Administration>Hardware Drivers
9. Finally, enabling my nvidia card, restarting once again and going to System>Preference>Screen Resolution to set the correct resolution, gives my pretty looking xserver back again.
10. The next important task is to create the backup of my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file again.

Related posts:

1. Disable Accidental Touchpad Tapping While Typing
2. Fixing your microphones to work in Ubuntu
3. Customizing Your GRUB Screen
4. Unfreezing Your Linux Desktop

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