Know what guys? i have tried everything.. absolutely everything to install ubuntu on my laprop (compaq presario f733au – minus all that i could not understand – am new to linux), but the closest i have come to installing it is using the safe graphics mode. but the laptop has a dedicated nvidia graphics card. Ubuntu in safe graphics mode boots to the live CD and i get up to the map (choose location thing). but no further. the screen resolution remains 800 x 600 and the ‘forward button’ lies somewhere beyond the screen. hitting enter, tab-enter doesn’t help. i have enabled restricted drivers and downloaded them, installed them…only to realise that to actually make them work, i have to restart the comp… meaning all labour lost. phew! any suggestions?
Some laptops require kernel boot parameters to be provided…
At the Live CD boot screen try pressing F6 then at the end of the long line that appears add “noapic” and press enter to boot, see if you can do the normal (not safe) install then… I need to do this for my HP Pavilion tablet PC…
If that works, then after installation again you will need to edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file to include the “noapic” option in the kernel parameters line… but thats only after you have made some progress…
Worst case, try an openSUSE 10.3 Live CD installation, that has worked for me without the need to do this kernel parameter stuff…
I am not sure I understood, did you update the nvidia drivers ?
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yes i updated the nvidia drivers.
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live CD open suse works? really? in that case i’ll get that. but tell me, i always thought that you could not install the suse live cd, only run it from the cd itself. what’s the difference then b/w the live CD and the suse DVD?
I think he is trying to install nvidia drivers when the live cd is running (not installed anywhere but mem). I dont think its possible as the op said.
If you want to try out linux, try it on vmware and once you feel comfortable, you can install it on a partition.
yes, i am trying to install the drivers when the live cd is running. i’ll give suse live cd a try and see if that helps. If only i can reach the ‘forward/Next’ button, i can install ubuntu.
Use Mandriva rather Open SUSE sucks big time only it looks good the core arch. is big no 
Also Ubuntu takes some time in its installation so have patience:)
Do one thing , shrink a partition a bit from within windows , make some free space like 4-5 GB , boot from live cd and install Ubuntu on that partition . Once you have installed it boot in it and then install restricted drivers . you won’t have any luck really even with suse if you want Nvidia working in live cd environment .
Download Kororaa linux live cd, its available on torrents and have Nvidia drivers within live cd so you dont need to reboot .
Best i would suggest is install ubuntu on hard disk and put nvidia driver on it , it will run much better and much easier to use in future ( huge community and repositories of softwares ) .
ok take a look at the pic below. this is what i can see in the 800 x 600 res. i can’t access the forward button. so i can’t install it.and i cannot resize the window either.
Change the reso,.., from System → Preference → Screens and Monitor 
You are done buddy there are only 2 more steps 
,everything is fine no driver problem .. Its because of low resolution I guess so
@Darky, that resolution option doesn’t work sometimes.
This resolution problem really sucks. One option is to press tab and try guessing the buttons and proceed with the installation.
Maybe, i think u can provide resolution as a parameter to the kernel while booting. Try these links:
ubuntu installation resolution problems - Ubuntu Forums
before going to the above links, if darkstar’s method doesn’t work, try this command:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
You will get a plethora of configuration options in this command, so just choose the default settings for most of the options. Choose either “vesa” or “nvidia” in graphics option. Also choose the correct resolution. Type exit to get your newly configured desktop.
people say Linux is user friendly
Hi all,
First of all please stop saying ‘vmware’ atleast in the open source section guys. Has anybody tried atleast ‘virtualbox’ VirtualBox , that’s been good to me atleast.
Secondly, lot of people are going to get goodies happening soon as & when 8.04 hits the floor. Less than a month, its cool
Ya it is user friendly ,
and if you don’t even have presence of mind then nobody can do anything for you..:@ That thing was simple he made a mess by himself.. 
well… it seems quite a lot of ppl face the same rez prob. thanks for ya suggestions. will try it ans see what happens.
Do you think the regular download of virtualbox is licensed under open source?
There are other ‘OSS’ virtulization software available but vmware is pretty easy for a starter.
OSS or not, vmware does a pretty good job. I couldnt get a 64bit os running on virtualbox (~6months back).
Back to business -
Usually HOWTOs in most distros are noob friendly. And for a distro like ubuntu the forum is the place to look for help.
That thing was simple he made a mess by himself.
making a mess means DOING something – in this case much more than just loading the CD and selecting ‘start ubuntu in safe graphics mode’.
i tried configuring the xserver
alternatively i tried pressing f4 and selecting the rez before beginning installation.
neither worked.
I think i’m missing something. but thanx guys for all the help/advise. 
i’ll keep reading and see if i can get around the problem. linux has a lot to do still. a first would be to make the installation so seamless that a person does not have to run to help forums. and #2 would be to convince hardware vendors that linux is the way to go. three cheers for linux. i really mean it!
^^Haven;t you changed the resolution after booting to desktop.. It should be System → Preferences → Monitor ? I am not using Ubuntu so I cannot be precise on the path