[SOLVED] Lenovo Legion 5 17ACH6H Laptop: Black screen when you install NVidia Drivers in Linux Mint 20.2

[snarf216]

[SOLVED]

[See last update at the bottom of this post!]

I had a very difficult time troubleshooting and fixing this problem so I figured I would post the solution here to make the next person’s life a little easier.

I installed Linux Mint version 20.2 (newest version ATM) on my Lenovo Legion 5 17ACH6H laptop along side Windows 10. I was able to get everything working except when I installed the Nvidia display drivers through the Linux Mint driver update prompt, I rebooted into a black screen. I later found out that the back HDMI port still worked and was able to work with my laptop still on my external HDMI monitor. After extensive trial and error, I found out why it wasn’t working. The video drivers that was suggested by Linux Mint driver manager were not compatible with this laptop.

You need to manually install the Nvidia Driver version 465.31. This is the correct driver for the Lenovo Legion 5 17ACH6H laptop with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 video card. This may or may not work with other models or video cards.

You will first need to uninstall any previously installed Nvidia drivers and revert back to the Nouveau driver. Go to Nvidia’s download page and download the driver version 465.31, currently at https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverR ... 9599/en-us.

To manually install these drivers, follow the directions at this website: https://www.if-not-true-then-false.com/ ... dia-guide/. The guide will take you through the steps to deactivate the Nouveau driver then install the Nvidia drivers. You will need to change the commands throughout the walk-through depending on your case (such as changing to your download file path). There is one step (1.2) that tells you what to do for Optimus Technology. I skipped this step and had no issues. Also, for this walkthrough, you will need to boot your computer into a command line so make sure you are comfortable with the risk of disabling your GUI. If you are afraid of breaking your Linux Mint OS, use Timeshift to backup your OS before you make any changes. If you get to a point where you can’t get Linux to boot properly, just boot from your Linux Mint Live USB/media and restore your system with Timeshift restore.

Hope this was helpful. Good luck.

Update: September 15th, 2021

I forgot to add that in order for this method to work you will need to boot into your bios menu and make sure that your graphics setting is set to discrete graphics. If you try to boot with the switchable graphics setting, your screen will still be black.

Update: Septmber 19th, 2021

So it turns out that the video drivers were not the main culprit. I updated the Linux kernel to version 5.11.0-34-generic x86_64 and was able to use the Linux Mint driver manager to install the Nvidia driver version 470.63.01 with no problems. This fixed the black screen in suspend mode as well.

With the new kernel, my WIFI drivers were not working but I went to Github and downloaded and installed the rtw89 v5 drivers for the Realtek 8852AE network adaptor and it restored my WIFI and bluetooth to working order.

Special thanks to SMG for the help.

[SMG]

Welcome to the forum, snarf216.

I notice while you were willing to create an account to post this, you did not first ask for help here with your issue. There are other places to obtain drivers which do not necessitate downloading them from the Nvidia website (which is the last option we tell people to consider). You will now have to manually check the Nvidia website regularly for driver updates as your system will not install them automatically.

You also did not provide output so we can see if your system is actually using the Nvidia driver. (The lack of a black screen does not necessarily mean Nvidia is being used. You could be rendering with AMD.)

I installed Linux Mint version 20.2 (newest version ATM) on my Lenovo Legion 5 17ACH6H laptop along side Windows 10. I was able to get everything working except when I installed the Nvidia display drivers through the Linux Mint driver update prompt, I rebooted into a black screen. I later found out that the back HDMI port still worked and was able to work with my laptop still on my external HDMI monitor.

This sounds like you are saying while the laptop screen did not work, the HDMI port graphics screen did work. That seems to contradicts your statement that the driver did not work.

Go to Nvidia’s download page and download the driver version 465.31, currently at https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverR ... 9599/en-us.

That link currently goes to the Nvidia-470 driver which is the one currently recommended by Nvidia and probably also the one in Driver Manager. However, we do not know what Driver Manager offered you because you did not tell us.

Glad to hear your computer is working to your satisfaction, but I would encourage others with issues to post in the Graphics Cards & Monitors section of the forum.

[snarf216]

Welcome to the forum, snarf216.

I notice while you were willing to create an account to post this, you did not first ask for help here with your issue. There are other places to obtain drivers which do not necessitate downloading them from the Nvidia website (which is the last option we tell people to consider). You will now have to manually check the Nvidia website regularly for driver updates as your system will not install them automatically.

You also did not provide output so we can see if your system is actually using the Nvidia driver. (The lack of a black screen does not necessarily mean Nvidia is being used. You could be rendering with AMD.)

I installed Linux Mint version 20.2 (newest version ATM) on my Lenovo Legion 5 17ACH6H laptop along side Windows 10. I was able to get everything working except when I installed the Nvidia display drivers through the Linux Mint driver update prompt, I rebooted into a black screen. I later found out that the back HDMI port still worked and was able to work with my laptop still on my external HDMI monitor.

This sounds like you are saying while the laptop screen did not work, the HDMI port graphics screen did work. That seems to contradicts your statement that the driver did not work.

Go to Nvidia’s download page and download the driver version 465.31, currently at https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverR ... 9599/en-us.

That link currently goes to the Nvidia-470 driver which is the one currently recommended by Nvidia and probably also the one in Driver Manager. However, we do not know what Driver Manager offered you because you did not tell us.

Glad to hear your computer is working to your satisfaction, but I would encourage others with issues to post in the Graphics Cards & Monitors section of the forum.

Thank you for the tips. I am new at posting help in forums so I admit this is not professionally written or not made for professionals to read.

I have searched the internet for over 7 hours trying to find a solution to this problem and spent at least 20 hours troubleshooting. I have tried to do my due diligence to find a solution. I do realize that the same drivers can be acquired from package managers and other source but I tried to follow the steps I used to resolve the issue in order to reduce the chance that alternative steps could lead to different results.

Here is a terminal output showing my current version of the Nvidia drivers:
~$ nvidia-smi
Wed Sep 15 22:56:17 2021
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 465.31 Driver Version: 465.31 CUDA Version: 11.3 |
|-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M| Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap| Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|===============================+======================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA GeForce ... Off | 00000000:01:00.0 On | N/A |
| N/A 40C P8 11W / N/A | 336MiB / 5938MiB | 4% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

I have experimented with changing many settings with the version 470 drivers but had no success. I also followed the troubleshooting tips for similar problems and this did not resolve my issue.

I will list the issues in the proper section and generalize the websites that I post in the future.

[snarf216]

Another Update: September 16, 2021

Still having issues with black screen when put into suspend mode. Any feedback or fixes for this issue?

[SMG]

I do realize that the same drivers can be acquired from package managers and other source but I tried to follow the steps I used to resolve the issue in order to reduce the chance that alternative steps could lead to different results.

All of us who use the forum appreciate when people list out the steps they take as that is very helpful to other.

I do want to correct your statement about being able to get the same drivers from several places. The drivers from each place are not exactly the same. There are slight differences. The release notes for the Nvidia driver (when obtained from the Nvidia website) do indicate one should first try to obtain drivers from their distro's package management system before using ones on the website.

The drivers in Driver Manager are packaged to work specifically with Mint's other files. That makes updates easier and it makes sure the other packages, such as nvidia-prime-applet, work properly.

I have experimented with changing many settings with the version 470 drivers but had no success.

Are you using the Timeshift app to roll back changes? I strongly recommend taking snapshots before changing Nvidia driver versions (even smaller updates) as it makes rolling back to your previous working system so much easier should you run into any problems.

The Nvidia driver naming convention is that long-term support branch drivers end in a 0 while short-term experimental branch drivers end in 5. So theoretically, the Nvidia-470 should work better than Nvidia-465. Theoretically, Nvidia-465 may have improvements that Nvidia-460 does not have, but Nvidia-460 should be more stable than Nvidia-465. I say theoretically because everyone's hardware is not exactly the same.

Still having issues with black screen when put into suspend mode. Any feedback or fixes for this issue?

Please give us information about your install by entering this command in a terminal: inxi -Fxxxrz
Click </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply and then place your cursor between the code markers and paste the results of the command between the code markers [code]Results[/code]. This will let us know how Mint sees your hardware and can give us ideas of what might be best to try next.

[snarf216]

Once again, thanks for the tips. Here is the output of the "inxi -Fxxxrz" command. Anything that can be done to help get solid fixes for these issues are appreciated.

Code: Select all

~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-81-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.5 wm: muffin 5.0.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 82JY v: Legion 5 17ACH6H 
  serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 v: Legion 5 17ACH6H serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0R32862 WIN serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: LENOVO v: GKCN40WW date: 07/18/2021 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 13.3 Wh condition: 82.9/80.0 Wh (104%) volts: 15.7/15.4 
  model: Celxpert L20C4PC2 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: Charging 
  cycles: 14 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 
  type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 102208 
  Speed: 1135 MHz min/max: 1200/3200 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1135 2: 1135 3: 1297 4: 1297 5: 1135 6: 1135 7: 1134 8: 1135 9: 1135 
  10: 1135 11: 1135 12: 1134 13: 1297 14: 1297 15: 1297 16: 1297 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: Lenovo driver: nvidia v: 465.31 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  chip ID: 10de:2560 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: nvidia 
  resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 465.31 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  chip ID: 10de:228e 
  Device-2: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A bus ID: 05:00.5 chip ID: 1022:15e2 
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 05:00.6 chip ID: 1022:15e3 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-81-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek vendor: Lenovo driver: rtw89_pci v: N/A port: 1000 
  bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8852 
  IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 86.05 GiB (9.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLB1T0HBLR-000L2 
  size: 953.87 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> rev: 3L1QEXF7 
  scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 365.23 GiB used: 86.01 GiB (23.6%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 
Sensors:
  Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured? 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
  1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ettusresearch-uhd-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ettusresearch/uhd/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lutris-team-lutris-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/lutris-team/lutris/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb https://plug-mirror.rcac.purdue.edu/mint uma main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://mirrors.gigenet.com/ubuntuarchive focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://mirrors.gigenet.com/ubuntuarchive focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://mirrors.gigenet.com/ubuntuarchive focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
  2: deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
Info:
  Processes: 349 Uptime: 3m Memory: 15.55 GiB used: 1.75 GiB (11.2%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 target: graphical.target Compilers: 
  gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: terminator 
  inxi: 3.0.38 

Also, I have been using Timeshift between installs of NVidia drivers. I did not use Timeshift for minor tweaks of the settings as they were changed back with no problem once I realized that they didn't fix anything.

[SMG]

Anything that can be done to help get solid fixes for these issues are appreciated.

With a 5th-gen Ryzen, you need to be using a newer kernel than the 5.4. In fact, for hardware that new, we recommend using the Linux Mint 20.2 "Uma" - Cinnamon (Edge, 64-bit) ISO which has the 5.11 kernel.

To get that kernel, open Update Manager. Select View > Linux Kernels and click Continue. Make sure 5.11 is selected on the left panel and then click the top-most option on the right panel. An "Install" button will appear. Install the kernel and then reboot for it to become active.

With an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, I expect your computer has dual graphics. The AMD graphics drivers will be in the 5.11 kernel, but they are not in the 5.4 kernel. Those drivers not being available might be part of the black screen after suspend issue even though you are not using the AMD graphics.

The fact the inxi output only shows one graphics device may be because of either a setting in BIOS/UEFI or the Nvidia driver installing a file (because you installed from the Nvidia website file) which assumes only Nvidia is being used. Or maybe both reasons.

Code: Select all

Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: Lenovo driver: nvidia v: 465.31 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  chip ID: 10de:2560 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: nvidia 
  resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 465.31 direct render: Yes 

Try the newer kernel and see if that helps. Also let us know if there are any BIOS/UEFI settings to determine which GPU is being used. Some computers have a setting while others do not, so it is possible there is no such a setting.

Good job in using Timeshift. Always make sure to take a snapshot before upgrading Nvidia drivers as rolling back to a snapshot is the best way to go back to an older version should a newer one cause issues.

[snarf216]

I updated to the latest Linux kernel version and that did fix the issue. It disabled my WIFI but I was able to download the latest drivers for the Realtek 8852AE network adaptor (I found the Linux compatible version of the driver called rtw89 v5 on GitHub) and installed it and my WIFI was working again. Thanks for the help

Output:

Code: Select all

~$ uname -srm
Linux 5.11.0-34-generic x86_64

[SMG]

I updated to the latest Linux kernel version and that did fix the issue.

You're welcome. Glad that is now working for you.

Please go to your first post in this thread, click the pencil icon, and add [SOLVED] to the beginning of the title so others with the same computer will know there is helpful information for them in this thread.

[snarf216]

I actually decided to attempt to install the Linux Mint version of the NVidia-driver-470 (470.63.01-0Ubuntu0.20.04.2) and the driver is now working. I will update this in my original post as well. Thank you.

Output:

Code: Select all

~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.11.0-34-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.5 wm: muffin 5.0.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 82JY v: Legion 5 17ACH6H 
  serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 v: Legion 5 17ACH6H serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0R32862 WIN serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: LENOVO v: GKCN40WW date: 07/18/2021 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 82.8 Wh condition: 82.8/80.0 Wh (104%) volts: 17.5/15.4 
  model: Celxpert L20C4PC2 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: Full 
  cycles: 15 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 
  type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 102206 
  Speed: 1203 MHz min/max: 1200/3200 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1198 2: 1296 3: 1297 4: 1297 5: 1285 6: 1228 7: 1297 8: 1297 9: 1641 
  10: 1297 11: 1297 12: 1969 13: 3519 14: 3500 15: 3500 16: 1556 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: Lenovo driver: nvidia v: 470.63.01 
  bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:2560 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: nvidia 
  resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.63.01 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  chip ID: 10de:228e 
  Device-2: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A bus ID: 05:00.5 chip ID: 1022:15e2 
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 05:00.6 chip ID: 1022:15e3 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-34-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek vendor: Lenovo driver: rtw89_pci v: N/A port: 1000 
  bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8852 
  IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter>