I cannot enable desktop effects from system>preferences>appearance. There also seems to be a big problem with my graphics in general, because many times I get a blank screen on booting. I have to reboot in recovery mode, and choose the "run in failsafe graphic mode" or "resume normal boot" and do my work in a simple CLI interface.
My machine has these specs, with a Windows 7/Ubuntu 10.04 dual boot. I was waiting for Oneric hoping that it'll have updated compatibility with my hardware. However, seeing the beta1 preview I have chosen to stick with the LTS for the same reasons I downgraded from 11.04. I have all the basic functionality that I need for work, but graphics is a big issue (black screen on bootup, no desktop effects) to make it my stable primary OS.
As you can realize from my post, I am a Linux n00b. How can I fix my graphics issues? On a sidenote, sometimes even when idle, my laptop begins to make a lot of noise and then subsides. Is this related to my graphics problem, as this doesn't happen on my Windows boot. If so, I really need to fix it. I don't play any games or run Blu-ray or heavy video, etc. (Please tolerate my ignorance as I came to Ubuntu from a Mac background) I did some searching but I can't troubleshoot my problem.
I guess the following output is relevant
lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Device 0116 (rev 09)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0dcd (rev a1)
You seem to have a nVidia GT 555M graphics card. This is an Optimus laptop which is not supported by Linux systems (to be precise, only Windows 7 supports it, so Vista and before won't be able to use it too).
Your black screen is related to the nvidia driver which does not support Optimus laptops. The noise may be your fan, the crash is likely overheating.
See also Is a NVIDIA GeForce with Optimus Technology supported by Ubuntu? for a way to use your nvidia card anyway (Bumblebee). After installing it following the instructions in Is a NVIDIA GeForce with Optimus Technology supported by Ubuntu?, you should get back your graphics. If you do not want to install Bumblebee, you've to run the next command to set your default GL driver back to Mesa: