How do I configure my Ubuntu installation

[UPDATED for Ubuntu 9.10]

The first time I installed Ubuntu on my PC, I felt like I'm entering a new world.. Back then I didn't know what to do and what not.. and it happens that I formatted my PC so many times just to get my installation right.. and I'm always comparing what I have in my Windows partition with what I have in Ubuntu's..

Now I can use all of my PC potential, so I thought of sharing my way of Ubuntu installation. Maybe someone out there would benefit from it.

Before I start, let me tell you about my PC:
Model: hp pavilion a420.me
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 3000 (2.17GHz)
Memory: 1 GB DDR RAM
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 5500 AGP 256 MB GDDR1/ 128bit
*(I used to have ATI Radeon 9250 Pro with the PC package and I'll explain how to use both)
Monitor: hp pavilion f1723 Maximum resolution is 1280 x 1024
HDD: (1) 40 GB, (2) 250 GB.

[A] Hardware Configuration:
After ordinary installation, (I will not go through the installation process, as there are other tutorials which take care of this best) I take care of my PC hardware, especially the video card driver.

1. nVidia GeForce 5500: How to
I use the proprietary driver for this:
From the menu System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers -> Then I select "NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version 173) [Recommended]"
Then I restart my PC..
After the restart, the driver is successfully installed..

2. Fixing monitor specifications
Some monitors are not modified by the system, so they require some of the user interference through the configuration. So to get to the maximum resolution, you should add some specifications in the xorg.conf file:

Section "Monitor"
   Identifier     "Configured Monitor"
   VendorName     "hp"
   ModelName      "pavilion f1723"
   HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
   VertRefresh     56.0 - 76.0
EndSection

I also add this inside the Screen section

Section "Screen"
   Identifier     "Default Screen"
   Device         "Default Device"
   Monitor        "Configured Monitor"
   DefaultDepth    24
   SubSection     "Display"
       Virtual     1280 1024
       Depth       24
       Modes      "1280x1024@60"
   EndSubSection
EndSection

(By the way, "Virtual" fixes the resolution in the GDM)
and then I restart..

3. Fixing and making permanent resolution
I enter the nVidia settings through this code

sudo nvidia-settings

Then I choose "X Server Display Configuration",


choose "1280x1024", "60 Hz" and then press "Save X Configuration File"



It's perfectly normal that the model is not accurately detected. My monitor is LCD, but here it says CRT.

4. How to fix the resolution of the splash screen
We're talking here about the screen with the Ubuntu logo and progress line.. if you want to fix the resolution of this to match the rest of the resolutions of the other screens (GDM and X), we have to edit usplash.conf file:

gksudo gedit /etc/usplash.conf

here's how my usplash.conf file looks like:

# Usplash configuration file
# These parameters will only apply after running update-initramfs.

xres=1280
yres=1024

after saving the changes we want to apply them by this command:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Now you'll have a full experience of nVidia GeForce 5500 in Ubuntu..

In the next post I'll explain adding Language and codecs..