Scrambled Video

[Midnight0666]

I have a 2004 Gateway laptop with ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 on-board video. I recently installed Ubuntu linux and now the video is scrambled. Even the POST screen and Gateway logo have scrambled display. Problem is, I am not sure how to change it, since the screen is basically unusable even booting in DOS mode (I loose the bottom half of the screen).

I've considered flashing the BIOS, but it does not have a floppy drive, and doesn't seem to want to boot from a USB thumbdrive.

Any way to just reset this thing all the way back to original factory settings? I'm not worried about data loss, the HD can be wiped.

Any suggestions would be appreciated (I am almost ready to use this thing as a boat anchor.

Specs:
AMD Athlon 64 Processor (2000 mhz)
512 MB RAM
ATI Mobility Radio 9600
80 Gig HD
DVD Burner

 

[zalittle]

Unfortunately you will have to reset the CMOS. Of course on a desktop it is easy but to do this on a lappy you will need to disassemble it.