Stupid mistake while updating NVIDIA drivers

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GwynO

Stupid mistake while updating NVIDIA drivers

Post by GwynO »

I changed over to LMDE 32 Bit Cinnamon and MATE from the main edition some time ago and just made somewhat of an idiotic mistake. I'm afraid I'm far from being familiar with the terminology in use, so I will likely struggle to name certain things exactly, I will try to be as descriptive as I can and I hope someone will be able to understand what I'm referring to, and possibly guide me in the right direction.

I noticed recently that my laptop's fan was making more noise than it used to, as in it seems the computer is running hotter, and one suggestion I read elsewhere on the forum was about gpu scaling. I recalled setting the power management for the gpu from an NVIDIA control panel in the main edition, so I searched through the software manager (the one with the yellow star, I think it is, from the main menu) for NVIDIA and installed the top result which gave me a menu entry just like the one I'd used previously to change the power consumption settings for the gpu. However, it didn't work, giving an error about missing X config.

After rebooting now, the boot process does not complete, giving an error about a missing X-config. I looked back through my notes, which I wish I'd done earlier, and I remembered a step which I hadn't taken care to proceed with first this time... actually downloading and installing the NVIDIA drivers!

I booted in with the live DVD and downloaded NVIDIA-Linux-x86-310.32.run from the NVIDIA website and copied it to the actual home desktop on the hard drive. I rebooted out of the DVD and tried the following:

cd ~/Desktop
chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86-310.32.run
sudo sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-310.32.run

After the installer unpacks and tabbing to 'accept', the installer starts but gives an error message straight away saying that the Debian version must be uninstalled first and that it is exiting after a brief number of seconds, which it does.

I wasn't sure, so just in case the installer had actually worked, I tried:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

(because from my notes of how I did it last time, that was to be followed by:
sudo /etc/init.d/go start
alt ctrl f7)

but, it gives an error along the lines of no such command exists (etc/init.d/gdm)


I am reading of different ways to update the NVIDIA drivers now, e.g.
"Re: How to install nvidia driver on LMDE?

Postby hns on Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:59 am
I installed with synaptic: nvidia-kernel-dkms. This one took the rest for nvidia as dependecies.
Also i installed: nvidia-settings and nvidia-xconfig

After install i ran as root nvidia-xconfig.

Rebooted and working.

From memory and experience this can only be done with Debian stable.
With testing it will give missing dependecies, which are in unstable/experimental or nat available at all
As testing is frozen, it works in testing.

When LMDE is using the new upcoming Debian-testing this wil change.
"

I would try that if I could, but I'm afraid I'm rather feckless in the root display.. without the gui, I have no clue how I'd even get to a synaptic menu to even begin trying to fix the mess I've made.


Edit: Please feel free to mark this thread as resolved.

If any users encounter a similar problem, I found the following page useful: http://livelinux.altervista.org/Guida_L ... river.html

The error message from the NVIDIA installer indicated that only one version at a time could be installed and so the default Debian driver should be removed first. I assumed, wrongly, that the following line would do the trick and then it would install properly using the previous method I posted earlier:
sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

That did not work on my system. However, the alternative method outlined in the link at the top resulted in me being able to post this from shiny, brilliant, wonderful LMDE once again without resorting to Windows 7 (insert puke smiley). The only thing I had to do differently is add sudo in front of the last four entries as I was not logged in as root:

sudo apt-get install module-assistant

sudo apt-get install nvidia-kernel-common

sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx

sudo apt-get install nvidia-kernel-source

sudo apt-get install nvidia-xconfig

m-a prepare

m-a a-i nvidia

modprobe nvidia

nvidia-xconfig



I hope this helps someone else, not that I would wish anyone to have the same problem, but you know what I mean I hope! :D
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
bigj231

Re: Stupid mistake while updating NVIDIA drivers

Post by bigj231 »

You won't get a synaptic menu without a GUI. Aptitude is your best bet. Follow the instructions to remove the drivers you installed and the open source drivers. You'l have to search for instructions for that.
If you can't figure out how to do this, backup your important data and reinstall. Just copy your home folder to a safe location and restore it when you are done.

EDIT: I just thought of something else. you can install the Open Source drivers using aptitude or apt-get and then get your GUI back. Next time, make a system image or decent backup before you do major stuff like this. You also need to learn the command line.
GwynO

Re: Stupid mistake while updating NVIDIA drivers

Post by GwynO »

Thank you for your reply, Bigj231. I'm afraid I'm rather reckless at times, only vaguely understanding many of the concepts involved in the instructions I'm trying to follow - your recommendation to make a backup before major system changes and to learn the command line properly are brought home by the thought of how long it would have taken to try and remember all the various tweeks I've followed over the past few months. The really stupid thing is I've been down that path before, twice! Twice I've copied the home folder and reinstalled and reupdated and neither time could I get everything to work properly as it used to before I futzed something up :oops: Since moving to LMDE, I've been treading a little more carefully, only changing things I'm reasonably confident that I know how they work, in theory at least. Obviously on this occasion I needed to exercise a bit more common sense than to plow ahead without first checking my notes from sometime last year in the main edition and then checking to see if they would still be valid for LMDE in 2013 :mrgreen:
bigj231

Re: Stupid mistake while updating NVIDIA drivers

Post by bigj231 »

To be honest, I learned by breaking my system. After you fix it a few times, you get to know your way around the command line. Remember, Google, apropos, and man are your friends. If you start updating your system from the command line and doing other mundane tasks with it, you'll get a lot more comfortable.

Most of your notes are still valid. Again, you will might still want to learn your way around aptitude. It's easier & safer to use than apt-get, and is available without a GUI. If it's not installed, it really should be. I believe you can still recover your system if you want to keep trying. I've dealt with broken graphics drivers before, and while extremely frustrating, it's not that difficult (relatively speaking). Good luck, and enjoy learning your way around. It's really quite rewarding to be able to run your system from a command line. Especially when you get comfortable enough to start scripting and automating tasks.
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