[SOLVED] Geforce GTX 750 Ti nouveau freezes up computer

[gregoryshock]

On this computer I don't recall ever having this problem in previous versions of linux mint xfce. I'm currently running Linux Mint 20.1 XFCE. After logging into the desktop, the system will run ok for a while but then blocks will appear on the screen and the whole system freezes up cold. Once the Nvidia proprietary driver is installed the system stabilizes. I intend to use the proprietary driver, but you should be able to use the open-source driver without the system freezing up. Another thing I have observed: The Driver Manager recommends Nvidia Driver 460. My video card does not like 460. For some reason the whole desktop gets really slow, and the mouse gets jumpy. In my tests, it appears that I can use Driver 390 or 450. I have no idea which one performs better. I can only tell you that those two work. If you got any ideas why I'm experiencing this, please let me know in the comments.

Specs:

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System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-73-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: Z170M-PLUS v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends 
           v: 3805 date: 05/16/2018 
Battery:   Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M525 charge: 100% (should be ignored) status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-6600K bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Skylake-S rev: 3 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 27999 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/4200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GM107 [GeForce GTX 750 Ti] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia v: 450.119.03 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 750 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 450.119.03 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1f.3 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GM107 High Definition Audio [GeForce 940MX] vendor: eVga.com. driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 01:00.1 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-73-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: f000 bus ID: 00:1f.6 
           IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 62.32 GiB (5.3%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: SV300S37A240G size: 223.57 GiB 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: SanDisk model: SDSSDH3 1T00 size: 931.51 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 204.39 GiB used: 58.79 GiB (28.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 14.90 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 34 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 40% 
Info:      Processes: 225 Uptime: 19m Memory: 15.58 GiB used: 1.54 GiB (9.9%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 
           Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 

[kato181]

My suggestion would be to update the kernel to the latest and see if that works with the nvidia drivers. You can always go back to your original kernel if it doesn't work. I would install the 390 version first and see if that solves your problem, if it does then you need to fully uninstall that version then install the 450 version and see if you get any problem with that version, if not then settle with that. I've not struck any problem of older nvidia cards not accepting later version drivers. You may have a conflict if you have installed both 390 & 450 versions, remove one and see what happens.
I don't use nouveau drivers on any of my nvidia cards. I have two (2) computers using LM20.1 Xfce using latest nvidia drivers, and two (2) LM20.1 Cinnamon also using latest nvidia drivers and have np with any of them.

[gregoryshock]

Just for the record, I am not a fan of nvidia, and I will probably never buy another nvidia card again. If I ever replace this one I might go AMD.

This is how I uninstall the driver using this command.

sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
then Reboot.

My problem is the with the latest 460 driver. It's terrible. I don't know why it's terrible, but for my card but it is. It's so bad that I can not use it at all. Not even for just normal operation. However 390 or the 450 seems to be ok. I got rid of the 450 and went to the 390. I have another install of Linux Mint 20.1 xfce and I might use it a while with the 450 driver just to see if the 450 runs ok for the long haul. But without a shadow of a doubt, FOR ME, the 460 driver is bad.

I could try another install of Linux Mint and then run the 5.8 kernel just to see if that made any difference. I doubt it would. I don't really want to use the 5.8 kernel because it is only supported until August 2021

[gregoryshock]

Yesterday I made a new Linux Mint Install for testing.

I set my bios back to default, and that seemed to fix the nouveau problem.

I am currently installing the 5.8.0-53 kernel. Next I'll try the nvidia 640 driver and see if things run smoothly or not. I will report back later.

[gregoryshock]

I have the latest kernel and nvidia driver 460 installed. Everything seems to be working like that.

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.8.0-53-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: Z170M-PLUS v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends 
           v: 3805 date: 05/16/2018 
Battery:   Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M525 charge: 100% (should be ignored) status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-6600K bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Skylake-S rev: 3 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 bogomips: 27999 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/3900 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GM107 [GeForce GTX 750 Ti] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia v: 460.73.01 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 750 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 460.73.01 direct render: Yes 

Next I am going to try adjusting the bios, and see if that causes a problem or not.

[gregoryshock]

I tried putting the bios back to the settings I normally use. With those settings the 460 nvidia driver makes the system unstable.

[SMG]

I tried putting the bios back to the settings I normally use. With those settings the 640 nvidia driver makes the system unstable.

I think you mean the Nvidia-460 driver?

As the information may help others, can you let us know what BIOS changes you made that are making the system unstable?

[gregoryshock]

I tried putting the bios back to the settings I normally use. With those settings the 460 nvidia driver makes the system unstable.

I think you mean the Nvidia-460 driver?

As the information may help others, can you let us know what BIOS changes you made that are making the system unstable?

I make 3 changes to the bios.
I enable virtualization, auto overclock, and auto fan which slows down the fans. It is important to know that I have ran the system for years on these settings without a problem. It is only when I'm trying to use nouveau or the latest 460 nvidia driver does the system become unstable. For example I'm currently running the system on all those settings using the old nvidia driver, and everything is running perfectly. My best guess is that the auto overclock is pushing the hardware too hard for either of those drivers. I would need to invest more time into testing to determine if my best guess is correct or not.

If I find more time I will reset the bios back to normal, and then enable each setting one at a time to see which one is causing the problem.

One of my current mental issues is, I don't see the point in using the latest nvidia driver. Because I don't know what is supposed to make the latest one "better" then the older ones. I'm not sure I trust nvidia, they are not an opensource company, and now days many companies use planned obsolescence as a way to get you to buy new hardware. I've heard from people on youtube that nvidia does some shady things. When I get time, I might even remove the nvidia card and try the skylake onboard graphics again. Only reason why I have the nvidia card was due to a comparability issue with Linux Mint 18 running simple screen recorder, and VLC. The nvidia card got me around those problems.

[gregoryshock]

I updated the GPU firmware.
I reset the BIOS to all defaults.
I used another Linux Mint 20.1 Xfce install for testing.
I tried the Nvidia 460 driver with the latest 5.4 kernel, and then the latest 5.8 kernel.
I can not get the Nvidia 460 driver to work. As far as I can tell it is unstable for my hardware.
I don't know if there is something wrong with the Nvidia card or not. All I know is the older drivers work better for me. There is just too many variables to test to figure out what is going on, and I don't have the money and time for buying new hardware and testing until I'm blue in the face.

Using the BIOS defaults does seem to fix the nouveau freezes.
Using the 390 or 450 nvidia drivers, whichever you prefer, seems to work perfectly.
As a side note. Running the latest Nvidia 466 drivers in Windows 10 seems to work perfectly

[gregoryshock]

If you want to run the nouveau driver I suggest don't over clock the machine.