[PLUG] problems w/ desktop ubuntu 14.04 machine

[Denis Heidtmann]

The machine booted with a blank screen--no signal. Then I forced a restart
with the power button.  That produced the "error attempt to read or write
outside of disk 'hd0'.." message.  I ran memtest for a while why I did some
googling.  Then I rebooted into recovery.  I selected mounting all file
systems (mistake 1), then attempted to repair grub.  That required a reboot
to get back to file systems mounted read-only.

On reboot the machine came up looking OK except the display showed wider
than normal icons.  Now I fiddled with the display.

Using the buttons on the display I chose HDMI. (mistake 2).  Now I am back
to a blank screen--no signal.

Now I can no longer get a menu with the display buttons.  The display is an
ASUS VE228. My guess at this time is a failure of the display card: a
radeon hd5450 or maybe the cable, but since nothing was moved around the
desk, I expect the former is the answer.

Question at this point is how to get the monitor back to looking at the
vga?  Is going through the recovery process the only option?

Thanks,

-Denis