Installing new video card w/ Linux - possible?

I recently installed Ubuntu on my cruddy old desktop and I love it, but occasionally my screen will freeze up and go into a series of lines. I'm 99.9% sure this is a GPU-related problem because it did it when I was running XP on the same computer.

I bought a new video card, but I'm scared to try and install it while running Ubuntu. Is there a way for me to uninstall the video drivers of my old card? Do I really need to? And how would I go about setting up the new card when I get it installed in my PC? I doubt Ubuntu would let me set up the new drivers, so what should I do?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

I would put the new card in the run Ubuntu Live and see how it works, I'm not sure how to install new drivers that way either. You may just have to reinstall Ubuntu.

That problem definitely is a GPU problem you are right.

 

Ubuntu should adjust if its a card from the same company. If not, or if its a card from the opposing company, you'll just have to reconfigure your xorg. It may be wise just to reconfigure xorg anyway.

 

Thing is, I'm scared that if something goes wrong, like the GPU not being recognized, not being able to install/uninstall the drivers that the damage may be irreparable.

I really can't remember what kind of video card I have in there right now, but whatever it is, it's beyond ancient. It might even be integrated into the motherboard.

And excuse my ignorance (I'm new to Linux) but how do I go about reconfiguring my xorg? And what would that accomplish? Thanks again.

 

It would help a little if we knew. But what card are you going to get?

The command to reconfigure your xserver is

Code:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

 

You will be able to get to a text login prompt if x doesn't start as normal. Then if you use the command that TwilightVampire provided, it will reconfigure your machine to use the new card. You shouldn't need to worry about any drivers (they're all included in the kernel, and it automatically detects what hardware drivers to load). If you know what the old card is, and what the new one is, you could also theoretically manually update the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file with the correct information before you shut down to install the new hardware.

 

Or, easier, if you are using an ATI or NVIDIA card, you can use the Envy script (Albert Milone's work - separate download) to deal with video drivers. It's nicer because whenever X breaks due to a video card issue...you can simply

Code:

 sudo envy 

Then press "1" and "Enter" to reinstall your driver.

 

I think new versions of envy are by default using a simple GUI now. "envy -t" is the text-mode version, check Milone's blog for more infos.