Linux: problem with display drivers (I think)

[Xiahou]

There's no victory like a hard-fought victory eh?

[caravel]

Ubuntu or even Xubuntu might have been the better choice with only 256 MB of RAM. KDE is a bit of a hog, but I prefer it to gnome. As to your graphics problem, you may want to do sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and reconfigure it. It may be to do with your monitor in which case sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and set your monitor's vertical and horizontal scan frequencies manually. I've found this to be necessary whatever the distribution.

Also don't lose faith with Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu and switch to another distro. With an Nvidia graphics card and not an ATI card (like me) which makes all the difference.

Good luck, and if you need any help post here or drop me a pm.