I absolutely hate when things don’t work. But then if you are smart you’ll find a way to make things work. I faced a problem with  Jaunty Jackalope (Ubuntu 9.04) not able to install Nvidia graphic driver on my Machine. As a result of which I could not achieve any graphic effects that I enjoy on Linux like the in-famous cube. I run Ubuntu on HP dv6910tx with following configuration:

systemconfig

Following is what I did not make sure I am running the latest version of Nvidia graphic drivers.

1. Went to Nvidia site and downloaded the latest drivers. In my case it was NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.18.14-pkg1.run.

2. Dropped to the terminal by hitting CTRL+ALT+F2 and killed the gdm by hitting:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

3. Started the installation by going to the downloaded directory. In my case it was Desktop:

cd Desktop/

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.18.14-pkg1.run

4. Follow the on screen instructions to install the latest version of Nvidia drivers for Linux.

5. All that is left now is to restart your gdm.

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

This should fix your problems. Have fun with the extra graphic effects and get ready to install the 3D Cube on Ubuntu.