Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

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jackwelch56

Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by jackwelch56 »

I have an Asus UL30VT with a nVidia GT218 [GeForce G210M].

(For UL30VT owners, you can disable the Intel video in BIOS (press the F2 key on startup) and Select: Advanced > IDE Configuration > SATA Operation Mode. Change the configuration from Enhanced to Compatible.)

Step 1: Download the latest Nvidia Driver
Navigate to http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html and download the appropriate driver (The current driver version as of 3/3/2012 is 295.20)

Step 2: Black list the Nouveau driver and reboot
Load Terminal

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# sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf
Enter this code, save and exit

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blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0

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# sudo reboot
Step 3: Stop X server and run the driver install application
To install the driver, you need to exit the GUI temporarily.
Press CTRL-ALT-1 to load your #1 terminal
Login with your login name and password

Execute this command to stop X server

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# sudo service lightdm stop
Run the driver install file you downloaded in step one

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# cd yourdownloaddirectory
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.20.run
And one final reboot

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# sudo reboot
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xenopeek
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by xenopeek »

Moved here by moderator
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kill-o-matic

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by kill-o-matic »

Does this work for older releases as well? I can't get 12 or 11 to install on my laptop at all. When I tried it on Mint 10 it failed on the 3rd step. First it didn't load any GUI at all and started directly with the command line, then it returned "lightdm: unrecognized service" and "Can't open NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-259.20.run" How am I supposed to return to the GUI now?
jackwelch56

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by jackwelch56 »

kill-o-matic wrote:Does this work for older releases as well? I can't get 12 or 11 to install on my laptop at all. When I tried it on Mint 10 it failed on the 3rd step. First it didn't load any GUI at all and started directly with the command line, then it returned "lightdm: unrecognized service" and "Can't open NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-259.20.run" How am I supposed to return to the GUI now?
lightdm replaced gdm in Linux Mint 12;

For previous versions the command is

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sudo service gdm stop
I don't know what specific nVidia driver you downloaded, you might not have the x86_64 file that I needed (32bit versus 64bit versions of the driver)

This command will tell you what architecure your system is

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inxi -F
To return to the GUI you could either try to find your original terminal (Maybe at CTRL-ALT-6 or CTRL-ALT-8 ?) or reboot with

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sudo reboot
surfdev

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by surfdev »

Hi,
I am wondering, did you face an error stating: "The distribution-provided pre-install script failed" during your installation?
I followed all your steps but was faced with this as soon as I pressed the "Accept" button in the Terms page.

Thanks for your help!
AlbertP
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

An easier way to get the latest 295.20 driver is through the X-swat PPA. First make sure you have all updates installed.

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
apt update
Then you can install the nvidia-current package, version 295.20, from package or software manager. Or if 280.13 was already installed, you'll find 295.20 in the updater. This has worked well on both computers here.

295.20 also supports the 3.1 and 3.2 kernels which 280.13 doesn't.
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nomko

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by nomko »

An easier way to get the latest 295.20 driver is through the X-swat PPA. First make sure you have all updates installed.

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
apt update
That's how i always do it! Most easiest way to get the latest drivers!

I believe that during the installation of the latest drivers or by opening the NVIDIA setting control panel, a new .conf file will be created called nvidia.conf in which all the non-required drivers are blacklisted like the nouveau drivers and other drivers.
Last edited by nomko on Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
AlbertP
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

That's true. Nvidia's own installer should do this as well but their way of blacklisting does not work on all distros.
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TerryNation

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by TerryNation »

I was following this instructions and now I only boot to a command line! No gui!

When I run startx it tells me no screens are found!

Edit:

Only way I found that would get me back to a gui was to delete the xorg.conf file: $ sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now I am missing many desktop features and my opengl programs fail to start!
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

Please run:

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sudo nvidia-xconfig
That command will write a proper xorg.conf file for the nvidia driver version you use.
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TerryNation

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by TerryNation »

Yes I already tried that, same result,

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(EE) No devices detected.

Fatal server error:
no screens found
AlbertP
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

@TerryNation: Please post the output of:

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lspci
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TerryNation

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by TerryNation »

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$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b4)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b4)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GF108 [Quadro NVS 4200M] (rev a1)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000
05:00.0 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd MMC/SD Host Controller (rev 07)
0d:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)
AlbertP
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

This is hybrid graphics indeed. You probably need to turn off the Intel card in the BIOS (that's possible on at least Lenovo laptops) before the nvidia one will work on Linux. Or you can use Bumblebee: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee
This way you have intel graphics for basic desktop usage, with nvidia turned off, Intel is fast enough for that. If you want to game you can run your games with "optirun". However the Quadro NVS 4200M is a low-end card and also more for business usage than gaming.
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TerryNation

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by TerryNation »

AlbertP wrote:This is hybrid graphics indeed. You probably need to turn off the Intel card in the BIOS (that's possible on at least Lenovo laptops) before the nvidia one will work on Linux. Or you can use Bumblebee: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee
This way you have intel graphics for basic desktop usage, with nvidia turned off, Intel is fast enough for that. If you want to game you can run your games with "optirun". However the Quadro NVS 4200M is a low-end card and also more for business usage than gaming.
Thanks I'll see what I can figure out.

Actually, what started this whole problem was that I was writing an OpenGL application and it was only detecting the Intel graphics card. I thought maybe I hadn't installed the proper OpenGL drivers yet, so I tried this tutorial. I probably would have been better off just going into the BIOS to begin with and turning off the Intel graphics. I know it's a low-end card too, I dont' need huge performance , just compatibility to write code for a 3.x + OpenGL context. Thanks again for helping.

Edit: Yep that was it :) awesome.
shevaroyan

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by shevaroyan »

I am a nubie. I have managed to get LM12 to load to a graphics screen using nomodeset in grub. Tried then to install the correct NVIDIA graphics driver following the instructions here. When I try to create the file to disable nouveau I get warning messages which I think is telling me I do not have root priviledges and then when I try to install the NVIDIA file I successfully downloaded it fails to run saying I need to be root. What am I doing wrong?
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

Please use the nvidia-current repository package, or the updated one from the Ubuntu-X-Swat PPA (for which I gave the how-to), instead of nvidia's downloads. And you indeed need root/administrator access. In the terminal you can put sudo before a command to get root access. If you want a file manager with root access please run:

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sudo nautilus .
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shevaroyan

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by shevaroyan »

Hi, Well I followed your how-to up to the point "then use package manager to install NVIDIA driver". Hunted around for a bit, found synaptic on LM and searched for NVIDIA. Whole lot of stuff came up and I chose something that had 295 in the title. Seemed to install and wanted to update NVIDIA-Common too so I let it do its stuff. Now on reboot I get the splash screen with no menu button (bottom left) or buttons at the top of the screen. When I boot I still have to go into GRUB and change to nomodeset but even this is difficult because my monitor says settings are out of range and the text is so small it is hard to read what is said, let alone change things! I seem to be getting deeper and deeper into problems here! Help!
shevaroyan

Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by shevaroyan »

urdumania2012 wrote:I think if you use the nvidia-current repository package, or the updated one from the Ubuntu-X-Swat PPA instead of nvidia's downloads.I think that is best for you and you indeed need root/administrator access.
As a newbie, I only think I know what you are saying. After many hours of searching the 'net I have solved the impossible-to-read-grub text by editing and saving grub file. I removed the comment * from the line that had a ref to 640x480.
The bit about being root still confuses me. I am logged in with adm priviledges and when I was trying to follow the loading of the video driver blog even putting 'sudo' in front of everything I still had a heap of messages saying something about "need to be root". Anyhow, unless there is an easy explanation that can be left for now.

I now have a GUI screen with HOME and COMPUTER icons plus the box to enter my password. When I enter the correct password all I get is a few black screens then back to the log-on screen. If I go ALT CTRL F1 I can log in OK (not that it changes the GUI). I got to this point by trying to do what I think you are advising. I used synaptic package manager and searched for NVIDIA and there were several packages to choose from and as I said earlier chose the one with 295 in simply because that seems to come up a lot in the blogs. Am I on the right track? What do I do now?
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Re: Installing Latest Nvidia Driver into Linux Mint 12

Post by AlbertP »

Did you install nvidia-current from synaptic? nvidia-settings alone isn't enough.
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