How do I fix this half screen problem?

Question

I just installed 12.04, and my entire screen is being displayed entirely on the top half of my screen. The bottom half is always black or some technical garbage from the boot up. To interact with the bottom half of the screen I have to move the mouse over the screen to pull part of the bottom half of the screen on top and vice-versa. Does anyone know how to fix this? Also my computer told me, at startup, to go to here: http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware. I'm on a Dell Mini Inspiron1010, it's a fairly standard setup for a 1010(as far as I know). I don't know what model the card graphics card is though.

Answer 1

Looks as if you have the gma500.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsVideoCardsPoulsbo#Live_.28Desktop.29_CD

The problem with 12.04 is that the default kernel included on the desktop CD (all variants) is 3.3.2. This kernel works, but requires some custom boot parameters. Without these parameters you will either get a black screen or distortion.

Switch to a console - Ctrl-Alt-F1 Restart X with 'sudo service lightdm restart'

That should bring you back to a functional graphical desktop, so that you can proceed testing or installing.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsVideoCardsPoulsbo#Post_installation