Fix Undefined video mode number in Ubuntu

Posted on | April 1, 2008 | by TK

If you’re getting the error message; "Undefined video mode number - Press Enter to see more or space to continue" when you boot up, I just found a quick fix for it while trying to patch the same problem on my machine. Apparently this will also work with the lilo bootloader (check article comments).

It’s a good idea to make a copy of the original "menu.lst" in case you do something wrong by accident. Type:
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.old

Ubuntu users, open up a Terminal window and type:
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Scroll down the file and you will find something that says vga=791 or some other number. Replace all instances of vga=791 (or whatever it says) to vga=normal

Make sure you change all of them or it may not work.

Save the file and reboot. This should hopefully fix the problem!

Rate this post:

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

Loading ...

Category: Linux, Music, Quick Fixes, Ubuntu

Comments

If you want a picture next to your name when you comment, go to Gravatar.com

4 Responses to “Fix Undefined video mode number in Ubuntu”

jino
April 28th, 2008 @ 4:55 pm

thanks
DragonM15
June 4th, 2008 @ 5:35 am

This fix will also work for lilo, as confirmed by me. If you have the lilo bootloader, it has the same line of code, but just once. Change it to normal and that fixes the problem. Also, with lilo after you edit and save the lilo.conf file you must run lilo via /sbin/lilo otherwise lilo wont pick up the change, with a restart or otherwise.

DragonM15
Cecchi Sandrone
June 16th, 2008 @ 12:40 pm

Thanks for the advice…it works for me!
techniqueal t.
October 9th, 2008 @ 5:32 am

Great fix! It actually worked on my other PC. Thanks a lot ^_^

You have a very resourceful blog. I enjoy reading the entries. Thanks for the exlinks! ^_^

MiniPosts

Remotely access your music and video collection

With Winamp Remote you can view your MP3 and/or Video collection from any computer through a standard web browser. Given your upload speed is appropriate you can stream anything from your music collection, which includes Video clips.

[More...] (0 cmnts)

No more free time...

Fallout 3 has been keeping my blogging time to an extreme minimum. The hour I get to play is definitely not enough though. The visual effects of the game are pretty amazing even with my mid-priced video card.