Ubuntu has some problems associated with it but there isn't any problem which can't be solved.The configuration files are really easy to edit and can be edited by just using a simple text editor.This is something I like about Linux.

I recently installed Ubuntu 7.10(Gutsy Gibbon) on my PC and faced a problem which is quite widespread and probably will be faced by many of you.While booting up and during shut-down the screen resolution was too high for my Compaq MV540 monitor which does not support 1280 X 1024 resolution.The monitor displayed an 'Out of frequency range' error.Don't worry if you have the same problem with your Monitor.

There is a simple 3 step process to solve this problem-

1. Type 'sudo gedit /etc/usplash.conf' or 'sudo nano /etc/usplash.conf' to edit the file-'usplash.conf'.It will look like this-
   

   # Usplash configuration file
   xres=1280
   yres=1024

   You have to change 1280 to 1024 in the x resolution and 1024 to 768 in the y resolution

2. Step 1 should solve the shut-down problem.To solve the start-up problem,you need to follow step2 and step3.Now edit /boot/grub/menu.lst by typing 'sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst' or 'sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst' .In this file reach the line
   

   ## ## End Default Options ##

   By default the next paragraph will have the boot information for the option you choose while booting up.It will say something like-

   title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
   root (hd0,9)
   kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=ebddbc03-0e71-41dd-babd-278109f26a95 ro quiet splash
   initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
   quiet

   At the end of the line next to kernel,next to splash add 'vga=791'.791 is the code for 1024X768 resolution in 16 Bits.What this does is that it changes the screen resolution of all following steps but not of the xserver.You can select any other resolution which your monitor is comfortable with.
   Here are some typical values for some screen resolutions-

Colours   640x400 640x480 800x600 1024x768 1152x864 1280x1024 1600x1200
--------+--------------------------------------------------------------
4 bits  |    ?       ?      770       ?        ?        ?         ?
8 bits  |   768     769     771      773      353      775       796
15 bits |    ?      784     787      790      354      793       797
16 bits |    ?      758     788      791      355      794       798
24 bits |    ?      786     789      792       ?       795       799
32 bits |    ?       ?       ?        ?       356       ?

3. The third step is a copy and paste step.In this step,you need to execute a command to update the settings and generate a new usplash image of the resolution you selected.Execute this command in a terminal window-
   

   sudo update-initramfs -u -k `uname -r`

   You can also try this(it's the same thing written differently but it is applicable only for the default Ubuntu usplash theme)-

   sudo update-usplash-theme usplash-theme-ubuntu

   Reboot your computer now and I'm sure you'll be able to see the orange Startup splash screen without any trouble now.

I hope this post helped you to solve your problems.If your problem still persists,visit a good Linux forum like LQ or Ubuntu Forums.You can also try downloading StartUp-Manager from the synaptic or from here if you don't like editing files manually.

PS-If you update your kernel,you might face the problem again.Visit the part 2 of this problem to prevent this from happening again.