NVIDIA Drivers not working; black screen

[freerunner]

I have a Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P Laptop which has a 22 gig SSD and 1 Terabyte Hard Drives. This laptop came with Windows 8 originally. I do NOT want to dual boot Windows, as I want to make this a Linux specific computer, so I recently used Gparted to re-partition my two hard drives on my computer to get rid of Windows completely. When going through the install process I installed Linux Mint on my SSD and everything seemed to install perfectly and Linux Mint is up and running great.

However, after restart I go directly into the Driver Manager to see what drivers I should install (as suggested by the Linux Mint install instruction: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... ivers.html ) and I see 3 suggested drivers for my NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M card. The driver that Mint has selected by default is xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, but there are two NVIDIA specific drivers that are available additionally to choose from. The nvidia-384 is (recommended) and the other choice is nvidia-340. After choosing and installing either one of these NVIDIA specific drivers, my system will not load after restart, and I am unable to access Linux Mint. There is just a black empty screen and I have to turn off my laptop and boot from USB to wipe everything out and reinstall Linux Mint.

My questions for you, do I need to use an NVIDIA driver if my laptop is functioning after the Linux Mint install using the nouveau driver? If so, why will my monitor not function after one of the NVIDIA drivers are installed? Is there a way to get these NVIDIA Drivers to work on my system?

FYI, I am fairly new to Linux, so a layman's answer would be appreciated (i.e. step by step instructions)

Thank you for your help and time.

[ClixTrix]

Here's is an old post at Lenovo on the problems involved with that Laptop and Linux:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Disc ... 8#U1215078

Reads like the problems you're encountering. At least a good starting point for discussions and options.

If it's an Optimus dual-GPU system, the discussion on Bumblebee (for Linux) is/was a method to operate both GPUs. Bumblebee is available in the Software Manager.

So I and others can best help, run the following command from Terminal and post back the results:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

[freerunner]

Hi ClixTrix,

Thank you for the reply. I just read through that whole thread you linked too. Definitely a good starting point! I noticed on pages 3 and 4 of the post conversation between daeden and mcloaked were discussing the NVIDIA driver situation, but unfortunately I never saw a true solution to the exact issue I am having as I have not the freezing screen issue within Mint while it was running. Also, I am not exactly sure where to go from here, but here is the response I received from the Terminal. Are there some additional elements I need to install before I try to activate the NVIDIA Drivers, or is the answer in something else? Please advise...

Code: Select all

~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: Mission-Control Kernel: 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.6 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: LENOVO product: 20217 v: Ideapad Y510
           Mobo: LENOVO model: VIQY0Y1 v: 31900003STD
           Bios: LENOVO v: 74CN41WW(V2.07) date: 08/22/2013
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-4700MQ (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 19157
           clock speeds: max: 3400 MHz 1: 799 MHz 2: 800 MHz 3: 825 MHz
           4: 955 MHz 5: 900 MHz 6: 813 MHz 7: 903 MHz 8: 799 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Card-2: NVIDIA GK107M [GeForce GT 750M] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) FAILED: nouveau
           Resolution: 1920x1080@59.91hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Haswell Mobile
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.0.7 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet
           driver: alx port: 3000 bus-ID: 08:00.0
           IF: enp8s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230
           driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 09:00.0
           IF: wlp9s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1024.2GB (1.3% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: LITEONIT_LSS size: 24.0GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: ST1000LM024_HN size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 14G used: 5.5G (43%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 8.30GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 51.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 42.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 241 Uptime: 3:33 Memory: 694.7/7702.9MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

[ClixTrix]

Well, there were two approaches that I'm still not certain where your system falls: 1) nVidia native driver which may have some switching function, 2) the traditional Bumblebee which mimics the support in Windows with Optimus and its switching ability.

If you've just done the install without adding the nVidia driver from Driver Update, try Bumblebee. It's available in Software Manager. Just search Bumblebee and you get it and other Bumblee addons. I'm thinking you just need the base Bumblebee and it might add other needed packages. Let's start there.

I'm out until the morning....

Edit: Been walking that post at Lenovo. The nouveu driver is the open source which automatically installs and apparently works OK for just basic Intel GPU. When you install the proprietary nvidia, it replaces that driver. From the discussion, attempts to implement nvidia driver (alone) didn't work. If the missing element is the switching function, that's done by Optimus/Bumblebee. It's why I'm thinking that's a potential path that's needs trying to get full dual-GPU implementation.

Edit2: Have you investigated BIOS updates for the system?