Ubuntu on Gateway MX8711

I am outlining here my attempt to run Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft on a brand new Gateway mx8711 laptop. The conclusion of my trials was a failure at starting X11. I'm posting my notes here so the next guy(maybe you?) doesn't have to repeat my work or can maybe get some ideas on whatever problem they're actually working on.

I'm using Edgy Eft as a live cd only, I didn't install it on the local hard drive.

First boot: X would not start and I got the error "Failed to start the xserver..." By looking at the detailed error info and scrolling down(which isn't apparent when the scroll bars are all this random screwed up looking character) I saw somethinng like "screens found but none have a useable configuration."

Second boot: This time I hit F4 at the boot options to try the 1024x768x32 video mode. Same result.

Third boot: Used boot option vga=771. This made the bootup sequence look a little different but I got the same result as above.

Fourth boot: At this point, I decided to try Dapper Drake or 6.06 LTS. It still didn't work but I was able to get to a command line with the live cd so more work is possible(as always).

And that's about all the time I had to try out thelivecd on this laptop. If you're in the same boat, I wish you better luck. Let me know if it works for you!