"Additional Drivers" Can't Install NVidia; Boots to Shell

[buzzingrobot]

Big problems here immediately after installing Mint 13 MATE. "Additional Drivers" fails repeatedly to install the proprietary Nvidia driver and, in the process, prevents X from launching.

1. My Nvidia card (550ti) requires the use of kernel boot options until the proprietary Nvidia driver is installed. This applies even to the LiveCD. The Nouveau driver used by default in Ubuntu/Mint, combined with the 3.2/3.3 kernels currently in use, crashes the boot. I need to boot with "nouveau.noaccel nomodeset". This is a known kernel issue.

2. My usual drill on any number of distributions has been to add the Nvidia driver immediately after the first post-installation reboot. I've done this several times on Ubuntu 12.04's "Additional Drivers" with no problems. I expected no problems with Mint because, after all, it uses Ubuntu's code.

3. "Additional Drivers" is failing on Mint 13 Mint. The system boots to an error message that the X Server is not configured and then to a shell prompt.

4. A look at xorg.conf shows it was not edited to reflect the installation of an Nvidia driver. I tried to run "nvidia.xconfig", to create a new xorg.conf, but that command had not been installed. It should have been installed and executed by Additional Drivers.

5. I did a "sudo apt-get purge nvidia*", intending to follow with a "sudo apt-get install nvidia*". The purge was successful. The attempted install failed, with complaints about broken packages being held back and invent Nvidia dependencies.

6. I've been through this loop three times, which is especially annoying because triggering the Grub menu at boot seems very problematic in Mint. Several reboots are often needed before I can trigger the menu.

So, obviously: How can I fix this? How can I clean up the mess left behind by the busted Additional Driver installs and correctly install the Nvidia driver so I can actually boot and use Mint 13 Mate?

[steveking]

Just our of curiosity does it work with the nVidia drivers purged? I did this a good few years ago with ubuntu 9.10 and it worked fine! What spec graphics card is it?

[buzzingrobot]

No. Kernels from the 3.2 and 3.3 series *will not boot* with this, and some other, Nvidia cards, and Nouveau. As soon as an attempt is made to load Nouveau, the boot crashes. The workaround is as I described it: Avoid Nouveau until an Nvidia driver is installed. Some LiveCD installs fail because the CD boot does not proceed even far enough to allow editing the Grub menu. I.e., it cannot be booted.

I've handled this many times on Ubuntu and Fedora. Since "Additional Drivers", a shell for Jockey, always succeeds on Ubuntu, I expect it to work on Mint, because it is the same code. It does not.

Purging makes no difference. Both apt-get and aptitude report broken packages held back and unmet and unresolvable dependencies.

As mentioned, the card is a 550ti.

[steveking]

Unfortunately this is beyond my knowledge, if anyone is more experienced in these matters please feel free to jump in!

[buzzingrobot]

Ok, I pulled down Nvidia's install package, the "run" archive. I expanded it, rather than executing it. I removed and ran "nvidia-xconfig". That created the correct xorg.conf file. I rebooted into X running the Nvidia driver 295.49.

It appears Additional Drivers did successfully install the appropriate Nvidia packages but those packages did not contain nvidia-xconfig, which is executed to create the correct xorg.conf.

[steveking]

I'm glad it all worked for you! That is the only downside to Linux! Graphical drivers are a beast to sort out at times! But as much of a problem they are I actually used Linux to fix graphical drivers on an old laptop of mine as windows couldnt!

[AlbertP]

It happens sometimes that nvidia-xconfig is not run when installing from Additional Drivers indeed. If you get dropped to a shell you can run sudo nvidia-xconfig yourself.

[dfolk]

Buzzing robot- Nvidia driver issue Mint 13
I am having exactly this problem, but I am a neeb and do not fully understand how you fixed this.

You said:
Ok, I pulled down Nvidia's install package, the "run" archive.

Pulled down the Nvidia package from where? What is a "run" archive?

How does one "expand it"- whatever that means

Whats does it mean to " ran "nvidia-xconfig" "

How does one "I rebooted into X running the Nvidia driver 295.49."

Please pardon my lack of knowledge, I will be very grateful if you have the time to reply

I expanded it, rather than executing it. I removed and ran "nvidia-xconfig". That created the correct xorg.conf file. I rebooted into X running the Nvidia driver 295.49.

It appears Additional Drivers did successfully install the appropriate Nvidia packages but those packages did not contain nvidia-xconfig, which is executed to create the correct xorg.conf.

[buzzingrobot]

Buzzing robot- Nvidia driver issue Mint 13
I am having exactly this problem, but I am a neeb and do not fully understand how you fixed this.

You said:
Ok, I pulled down Nvidia's install package, the "run" archive.

Pulled down the Nvidia package from where? What is a "run" archive?

How does one "expand it"- whatever that means

Whats does it mean to " ran "nvidia-xconfig" "

How does one "I rebooted into X running the Nvidia driver 295.49."

Please pardon my lack of knowledge, I will be very grateful if you have the time to reply

I expanded it, rather than executing it. I removed and ran "nvidia-xconfig". That created the correct xorg.conf file. I rebooted into X running the Nvidia driver 295.49.

It appears Additional Drivers did successfully install the appropriate Nvidia packages but those packages did not contain nvidia-xconfig, which is executed to create the correct xorg.conf.

Nvidia's proprietary drivers are available at their site, nvidia.com. Which driver you should install depends on which Nvidia video card is in your machine. Their site is pretty good at guiding people through that.

The driver is packaged in a file that contains several other support files. All the files are batched together, and compressed, in one single file. To use those files, you need to expand them. In the normal course of events, you do not need to do what I did to extract an individual file from that archive.

I called it a "run" file because the name of Nvidia's driver packages always ends with ".run".

"X", or "X Windows", is the software package that creates the graphical display. Gnome, Unity, Cinnamaon, etc., all ride on top.

nvidia-xconfig is a program Nvidia includes in their driver package that creates the configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf) that tells X to use the Nvidia driver. In my case, it was either not there, or it as there and wasn't executed. So, I ran it manually.

My advice to you is this: Perhaps Additional Driver installed nvidia-xconfig, but failed to run it. So, open a terminal window and enter "sudo nvidia-xconfig". If it works, you will see a series a messages on the screen about xorg.conf.

If that does not work, i.e., if the system says it can't find nvidia-xconfig, I recommend you visit the Nvidia site and download the appropriate driver package, But -- this is important -- don't install it until you have read and understood Nvidia's directions. And, it wouldn't hurt to search for some other sources on installing Nvidia's proprietary drivers on Mint or Ubuntu. I say that because installing them amounts to altering your systems kernel. You need to do it right. (It's not difficult, you just need to understand what's going on.)

[dfolk]

@buzzing robot

Thank you very much for your response, but so far it has not worked, but I am still working the problem. You suggest I carefully read and understand Nvidias instructions on installation.
So far I have not been able to find them
But I am still looking. I am googling for info on this and what i found so far is very daunting

I am very interested in how the following works
"I expanded it, rather than executing it. I removed and ran "nvidia-xconfig"."

I found this instruction
--extract-only
But am not exactly clear (at all) on syntax and execution. Sure sounds possibly much easier than the instructions I am reading on installing the file involving killing the x server first.

This mint install will be dead until I find a solution. Currently planning the keep the system running (possible for days) while I investigate various options and attempt to execute them.

Thanks for your input

[buzzingrobot]

@buzzing robot

Thank you very much for your response, but so far it has not worked, but I am still working the problem. You suggest I carefully read and understand Nvidias instructions on installation.
So far I have not been able to find them
But I am still looking. I am googling for info on this and what i found so far is very daunting

I am very interested in how the following works
"I expanded it, rather than executing it. I removed and ran "nvidia-xconfig"."

I found this instruction
--extract-only
But am not exactly clear (at all) on syntax and execution. Sure sounds possibly much easier than the instructions I am reading on installing the file involving killing the x server first.

This mint install will be dead until I find a solution. Currently planning the keep the system running (possible for days) while I investigate various options and attempt to execute them.

Thanks for your input

You should *not* need to extract files from Nvidia's archive like I did. Normally, you only need to execute the archive in a terminal, e.g. "sh something.something.something. run". That launches the program that guides you through the driver installation.

The biggest difference between installing the driver via Additional Drivers versus using Nvidia's archive happens when your kernel is updated. The Nvidia driver -- from Nvidia or Additional Drivers -- must be updated to match any newly updated kernel. If you use Additional Drivers, it installs code that performs this updating automatically when the updated kernel is installed. You don't need to do anything. That is not the case if you use Nividia's installation method. There, each time the kernel is updated, you need to manually repeat the original installation procedure. That's the primary reason people use Additional Drivers.

It sounds like you have tried using Additional Drivers. Perhaps it installed the files correctly but failed at some point. Try running "sudo nvidia-xconfig" in a terminal. If it isn't there, no harm done and you will know Additional Drivers did not download the files. If it runs, and tells you it created "xorg.conf", your driver has been installed. (xorg.conf is the configuration file that tells X to use the right driver.)

[AlbertP]

It appears Additional Drivers did successfully install the appropriate Nvidia packages but those packages did not contain nvidia-xconfig, which is executed to create the correct xorg.conf.

The installer sometimes does not write a xorg.conf file. Usually Additional Drivers is fine, but sometimes you need to run that command manually to get the driver working.

[dfolk]

@buzzing robot

I found the following instruction set. Do you know what Strg means in the phrase Strg+alt+F1?
Thanks very much for taking the time to respond.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/36911/ho ... -270-41-06

0
down vote
You have to switch to Console-Mode with Strg+Alt+F1. Login and kill the graphics-interface with: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop.

You should also backup your /etc/X11/xorg.conf before installing, if something goes wrong.

Then cd to the file and start the installation with:

sudo sh NVIDIA-yourfilename.run
Follow the installtion instructions.

If the installation finished, start the graphics-interface:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
And go back to it with Strg+Alt+F7

[dfolk]

@AlbertP
Thanks for your input. I did run .

sudo nvidia-xconfig

With the result being, sorry I did not write it down (dumb- I'll write it down next time) - something about not having some file where it wants ,needs it, so aborting the request.
So that did not help but thanks for the idea.

I am on take too many with a fresh install- Do you know what Strg means in Strg+Alt+F1" ? I know what Alt F1 means.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/36911/ho ... -270-41-06
Is what I am proceeding on.

[buzzingrobot]

@buzzing robot

I found the following instruction set. Do you know what Strg means in the phrase Strg+alt+F1?
Thanks very much for taking the time to respond.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/36911/ho ... -270-41-06

0
down vote
You have to switch to Console-Mode with Strg+Alt+F1. Login and kill the graphics-interface with: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop.

You should also backup your /etc/X11/xorg.conf before installing, if something goes wrong.

Then cd to the file and start the installation with:

sudo sh NVIDIA-yourfilename.run
Follow the installtion instructions.

If the installation finished, start the graphics-interface:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
And go back to it with Strg+Alt+F7

I'm not sure what "Strg" is supposed to mean. He's telling you to use some key combination so you can run "sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop". You can do the same thing by opening a terminal window or using alt-f2 to get the little popup used for entering commands.

What will happen is that you lose your graphical interface and will be presented with a simply command prompt. Be sure you know what directory your Nvidia---.run file is in so you can navigate there from that command prompt.

After the driver is installed, you can just reboot if you wish rather then using "sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start". ("sudo reboot" or ctrl-alt-del)

You may or may not already have an xorg.conf file. Backing it up is just a precaution, and not very important in your case since, if you have one, it isn't working.

After the install, you will have a program called "Nvidia X Server Settngs" in your menu, probably in the Administrative area. You don't need to do anything there but it will confirm the driver version.

Good luck.