so I recently had my question deleted and merged into a standard how to for blank screens. I am relatively new to This type of computer work and i don't understand the steps nessary to diagnose my problem well enough to solve it so this help full how to has me feeling helpless

I can use Ctrl + Alt +F1 and log in

So how do I use sudo commands to fix the blank screen on my old dell?

sudo lsoci -nn
tells me my video card is a ATI rage 128 pro ultra tf

/var/log/Xorg.0.log
tells me Permission denied that is all i get

Sudo apt-get install --reinstall unity tried thay also

have also tried Apt-get update and upgrade

Please dont close this question without providing an actual answer or if you think it is an exact duplicate provide a solution that worked for that question. I see a lot of these questions as closed and there is no real answer given I will try any solutions available and report results so that others can also solve problems not be overwhelmed by overly broad troubleshooting guides that do nothing to help solve specific issues

The nomodeset change from quiet splash also yields no results on reboot I still get a blank screen this screen still has contorl alt f1 abilities but that is it contorl alt f8 causes blinking cursor and F7 gets a crazy flash with green and blue then blank screen Contorl alt f1 a log in prompt in text only

when run in recovery mode with failsafe graphics its says the syestem 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 your self

how do i do that?

I got this /var/log/failsafeX-backup-120909200641.tar as the location of my log files but i have no idea how to axcess sounds work in blank screen also screen responds or flashes after log in is typed and password entered really any help is good I don't even know where to start I believe 12.04 is installed and functioning but i don't think I can see it

at the end of the error log it says error setting mtrr (base= oxf0000000, size= 0x01000000, type=1) inappropriate ioctl for device(25)

i have tried to provide as much info as I understand how to provide