My thanks to Denes Kiss and others for the suggestions above. After many, many failed attempts to install Ubuntu the simple act of changing the Bios AGP speed to 4 from 8 allowed the boot to proceed beyond the black screen stage. I am grateful and happy for the chance to see what all the fuss is about. Thank you.
System Asus K8V SE AMD 3200 64 ATI All in Wonder 9800 Pro I hope this helps someone else. Tom -- [edgy][regression][rv280] black screen and console freeze when X starts - drm lockup https://launchpad.net/bugs/67487 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs