Nvidia drivers run cinnamon in fallback mode LM 17.1

[metzen]

Hello,
I recently did a fresh install of linux mint 17.1 and I'm trying to set the nvidia propietary drivers to work with the quadro FX 880M
So far I've set them with driver-manager with versions 304, 331 and 340, and them all crash and run cinnamon to fallback mode.
I've tried other versions manually too with the same error.

My notebook is a Thinkpad w510 with intel i7 720QM.
I have to say that messing around with kernels I installed new firmware which I don't really know how it may have affected the system as far as now the fan is spinning louder all the time whereas before it was a surprisingly quiet notebook.

Have you, dear ones, got any clue on what might be the solution?

[Hoser Rob]

What do you mean by "messing around with kernels"? What did you do?

[metzen]

What do you mean by "messing around with kernels"? What did you do?

hello Hoser, no big deal, I installed manually the 3.16 kernel and the firmware upgrades available in the LM 17.1 repos...

[Pjotr]

Please generate an overview of your system like this:
- launch a terminal window and make it full screen, to avoid chopped lines;
- copy/paste this command into the terminal:

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inxi -Fxz

(if you type: the letter F is a capital letter)

Press Enter.

Copy/paste the output in your next message.

[metzen]

ok there you have it

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~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: pc Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   System: LENOVO (portable) product: 4389AB8 version: ThinkPad W510
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 4389AB8 Bios: LENOVO version: 6NET84WW (1.45 ) date: 10/03/2012
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7 CPU Q 720 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 12768 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 933.00 MHz 2: 933.00 MHz 3: 933.00 MHz 4: 1600.00 MHz 5: 933.00 MHz 6: 933.00 MHz 7: 933.00 MHz 8: 933.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GT216GLM [Quadro FX 880M] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau) Resolution: 1600x900@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Quadro FX 880M/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 331.113 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2: NVIDIA GT216 HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi ver: in-tree: bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e ver: 2.3.2-k port: 1820 bus-ID: 00:19.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 659.6GB (4.0% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_THNS128G size: 128.0GB 
           2: id: /dev/sdb model: ST9500325AS size: 500.1GB 3: USB id: /dev/sdc model: DataTraveler_3.0 size: 31.5GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 9.5G used: 4.7G (53%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 38G used: 20G (56%) fs: ext4 
           ID: swap-1 size: 3.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 66.0C mobo: 0.0C gpu: 0.0:56C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 3600 
Info:      Processes: 222 Uptime: 1 min Memory: 850.8/7916.6MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

Actually, I just reinstalled LM17.1 in compatibility mode and tried to install the 331 driver, it gave me the fallback mode right after a logout, but after a forceful shut down and a start up, it seems to be dealing well with the driver, no more fallback mode... I don't have a clue what was happening... do you?

[metzen]

This is kind of weird, I suspect that the nvidia driver is not being used.
there's a /etc/X11/xorg.conf.060822015 file with the following in it:

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Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
	Driver		"vesa"
Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
EndSection

I edited the Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1" line as the brightness is not working, a typical nvidia driver installation bug, but whereas before adding this line solved the problem, now it doesn't which makes me believe the driver is not properly installed.
What to do?

[Pjotr]

The filename /etc/X11/xorg.conf.060822015 indicates that it's not in use (because of the numbers at the end), so you can disregard that.

If you don't trust the (always accurate!) output of inxi, you can double-check like this:

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lsmod | grep nvidia

But I think that maybe another, older version of the nvidia driver will perform better for your video card. So try this:

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sudo apt-get install nvidia-304

Then reboot.

[metzen]

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~ $ lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia              10744943  57 
drm                   303102  2 nvidia

Thank you, it looks like it's in use, but that xorg.conf.weirdo bothers me, I'm installing the 304.125 now, see how it goes, I'll post the results.

[metzen]

installing nvidia-304 from terminal crashed... it gave me a blue screen with X server error. it said something like:(EDIT) API mismatch: the kernel module has version 331 and no screens found... I don't know exactly how to check those logs now that I've reinstalled the 331.311.

[Pjotr]

I'd try a leap ahead then: try the nvidia-340 by means of the mamarley PPA:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... nvidia-PPA
(item 1, left column)

[metzen]

i did the install process from ppa, and now it loads and shuts down much faster! and also works well, no valid xorg.conf yet though... but actually I just need it for the brightness with fn keys workaround... any alternative fix for that?
thanks a lot!

[Pjotr]

First I'd send the useless and inactive xorg.conf.060822015 to the depths of Gehenna:

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sudo rm -v /etc/X11/xorg.conf.060822015

....now that's out of the way for good, I advise to use nvidia-settings for tweaking the nvidia driver. For ephemeral changes:

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nvidia-settings

For permanent changes:

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gksudo nvidia-settings

Other things that may help for the Fn keys brightness issue:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... adjustable
(item 6 and further, left column)

[metzen]

Hello, I reopen this topic, as after (another) fresh install of linux mint 17.1 cinnamon, I can't use the nvidia drivers anymore, and previous solutions of this post don't work this time.

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System:    Host: pc Kernel: 3.19.0-20-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   System: LENOVO product: 4389AB8 version: ThinkPad W510
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 4389AB8 Bios: LENOVO version: 6NET84WW (1.45 ) date: 10/03/2012
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7 CPU Q 720 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 12768.3 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 933.00 MHz 2: 1066.00 MHz 3: 933.00 MHz 4: 1066.00 MHz 5: 1066.00 MHz 6: 933.00 MHz 7: 933.00 MHz 8: 933.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GT216GLM [Quadro FX 880M] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) [b]FAILED[/b]: nouveau Resolution: 1600x900@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on NVA5 GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2: NVIDIA GT216 HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.19.0-20-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi ver: in-tree: bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e ver: 2.3.2-k port: 1820 bus-ID: 00:19.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 628.1GB (3.8% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_THNS128G size: 128.0GB temp: 37C 
           2: id: /dev/sdb model: ST9500325AS size: 500.1GB temp: 0C 
Partition: ID: / size: 13G used: 5.8G (50%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 38G used: 17G (47%) fs: ext4 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0C mobo: 0.0C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 2704 
Info:      Processes: 232 Uptime: 29 min Memory: 830.8/7915.8MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4