What happens when you unplug it and put it back in? It should show in Places |
Removable Media on the menu bar. I use usb devices constantly with Ubuntu 8.04,
8.10 using both 32 and 64 bit and it just works. It may not give a desktop icon,
but it should mount it automatically.

> 2. I can't use the proprietary driver that linux wants
> to provide me
> for my NVIDIA video card because whenever I install it on
> ANY & ALL
> DISTRO VERSIONS of linux that I've tried have blown up
> in my face. So,
> what I want to know is, how do I set the resolution of the
> generic
> drivers' installation from 1280x960 to 1280x1024? The
> ´Preferences/Screen Resolution' maxes out at 1280x960.

I have an Nvidia card and Nvidia is well supported in Linux. I have 11 distros
installed on this computer and all use the Nvidia proprietary driver.

In Ubuntu, the best way to get an Nvidia driver is to go the System |
Administration | Hardware Drivers. It will say that there are proprietary
drivers available and in use or not in use. If you change it to in use from not
in use it will prompt you download them. Once installed you can re-boot and it
should show as in use when you go back to Hardware drivers.

Another option is to use Envy which will build a driver that matches your
graphics card with your kernel.See:
http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1..html It should be available in the
repositories.

If you cannot get it working at the proper resolution after this check you
monitor settings. A generic monitor may be the problem and not the graphics card
driver.

If you want more specific help you will have to provide information about your
graphics card and monitor with models numbers and about your computer model.