Member Avatar for ShawnM9913

Hello Everyone, A few months Ago I was introduced to Linux operating system...Ubuntu...Some of you are probably wondering where the hell have I been...Let's just say I was stuck in a Window....Needless to say I love The change....Unfortunately for me I didn't know what I was up against....After updating Ubuntu 12.04 And restarting my system ...I am greeted with an error That says the system is running in low graphics mode :your screen , graphics card and input device settings could not Be detected Correctly.You will need to configure these yourself..Nothing I try works...Needless to say I am lost as I am very new to Linux operating systems..Thanks in advance for those who have patience with a novice...Can I undo update..Is all my work lost....Help..:/

Edited by ShawnM9913 because: More to say
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Dani AI

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Short primer and context: that “The system is running in low-graphics mode” message is a symptom, not a single bug — it commonly appears after an update when X (the display server) can’t load the right driver or when the root or /boot partition is full. ’s follow-up (freeing space) is a classic fix; pointing to community threads and asking “which GPU?” were both the right directions. (Ask Ubuntu: low-graphics troubleshooting). (askubuntu.com)

Fast checklist to run from a recovery shell or a virtual console (Ctrl+Alt+F1). Look for a full filesystem and X errors, and identify the GPU:

df -h
df -h /boot
sudo du -xh / | sort -rh | head -n 40
sudo tail -n 200 /var/log/Xorg.0.log
lspci -nnk | grep -EA3 'VGA|3D'

The Xorg log will usually show why the X server failed; if / or /boot are 100% used, free space first. (See Ubuntu X troubleshooting). (wiki.ubuntu.com)

If disk space is the issue, free it safely: run sudo apt-get clean / sudo apt-get autoclean and sudo apt-get autoremove --purge. Use ncdu or du to find large folders, and be cautious when removing kernels — use the official guidance to remove old kernels or enable unattended cleanup. Back up /home before deleting things. (RemoveOldKernels — Ubuntu Community Wiki). (help.ubuntu.com)

When freeing space didn’t help: check for read-only mounts (remount rw and run fsck), reinstall or roll back the video driver, or try an older kernel from GRUB. Useful recovery commands include mount -o remount,rw / and sudo dpkg --configure -a before attempting package fixes. If the problem followed a driver update, identify the hardware with lspci and reinstall the appropriate driver package. Note: Ubuntu 12.04 is end-of-life (April 28, 2017), so upgrading to a supported release is strongly recommended for security and driver updates. (unix.stackexchange.com)

If further detail is needed for any of the checklist items (safe kernel removal, reading Xorg logs, or specific GPU driver steps) consult the linked resources above; they cover step-by-step commands and precautions for those scenarios.

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Member Avatar for Gribouillis

Did you try googling for similar issues in ubuntu forums ? Start by reading threads such as this one , where you can find solutions that worked for others.

Member Avatar for rubberman

What kind of graphics card does your system use?

Member Avatar for ShawnM9913

hello all, well sometimes we just need to be shown the path...problem with Ubuntu 12.04 error "low graphics mode",seems to be my own doing...prior to updating system was low on memory! which is y the next time i booted up system went straight to "low graphics mode"..
after reading some of the articles Gribouillis suggested i quickly realized which fit my situation...so heres what i did:1) hold down "shift" at boot up to enter boot option 2) select recovery mode. 3) then select file system clean up
and well thats all i had to do...system then booted up,after clean up..but i had to reboot again for extra moniter to be detected*.hope this helps u aviod the same mistake.thanks for your lead G..

commented: thanks for the feedback +14
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