nVidia drivers make X server crash

[hunty6]

Hi! I have recently switched from Kubuntu to Mint, and I ran into this error some users seems to have frequently : X server always crashes. I got to boot in low resolution with nomodeset with the workaround I've been linked to on these forums. Now that everything works, I just need one more thing : install the drivers so I can get a better resolution.

Yet everytime I try installing the drivers trough the Additional Drivers menu, it makes the X server crash again whenever I reboot to finish the driver install. I have tried both current-update and reccomended drivers, none of them will work. I also tried changing the GRUB settings back (so removing the nomodeset and changing it for some other options I've been told to try) but none of them worked (or I might have made a mistake somewhere?).

How can I install the recommended (or most up-to-date, if possible) drivers without my X server crashing? Also, I am not very familiar with tty, but as I understand it, it's a ''virtual machine'' so could I try to install the drivers on there first and see if it crashes?


I am running an AsusG51 with a NVIDIA Corporation GT215 [GeForce GTS 360M] graphical card. I am trying to install those drivers on Mint 13.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks for your time!

[MikeyT]

Sorry this is not an answer - it's just another plea for some help here guys!

I've been running Mint 12 since it came out and love it. I really do want to stick with Mint but I am having serious problems with 13 (both MATE & Cinnamon). I have an Nvidia GTX470 graphics card for which I need Nvidia drivers so I can run 3D stuff like X-Plane (Version 10). I have Mint 12 and it works fine - I downloaded the driver .run script from Nvidia and installed the drivers without a hitch. Does NOT work in Mint 13. I just get a black screen.

I'll happily supply more data/info if that's what is needed but can someone tell me why the proprietary drivers offered by Mint won't install properly?

Thanks,

Mike

[dfolk]

I have the same problem and have spent many hours trying to fix it.

I am bummed, I have been a Mint fan, but unless this gets fixed, 13 may never be usable for me.

[donkeyhottie]

I have this same.

I used Mint 13 earlier in a Virtual Box guest on Windows 7 and I liked Mint very very much. The next step was to configure dual boot and more of less transform myself into a Linux heavy user. (I have used Linux professionally since 1994, but always using xterm, Xming, PuTTY etc. in Windows. Built numerous servers on Linux, but never as a main GUI or OS).

Well, now when Mint runs the Nvidia driver itself, it is more of less a disappointment. Once or twice in a day, randomly the session dies (probably the X-server or something like that), all apps killed and I find myself in login screen. Logging in again goes OK, but in left top screen there are some black "pixels" (bigger than real pixes tho, so they are "virtual").

Does anyone have any ideas?

Or... what might be the preferred display driver/card vendor/manufacturer for Linux? Nvidia has been great on Windows, while ATI/AMD not so, their drivers have always been not so great while iron may be so.

I have a NVidia GeForce GTS 250 card now. I like Cairo dock in my desktop very much, if that matters. Currently using Cairo/Gnome with effects.

[munin]

No solution here, but some ideas, suspicions. I am using Mint 13 Mate on a 5 year old Acer Aspire 32 bit with nvidia geforce go 7300, and have had no problems with Mate or any other Linux distro I have tried. On my new Aspire 64 bit, I have tested both Mate and Debian with a live persistent pendrive, and have problems both with the graphics card(intel) and the wireless, Broadcom, as on my old laptop. So I am beginning to suspect that Mint, and maybe Linux in general, have problems with newer hardware. For me the worst problem is the wireless, but if I use any but the highest resolution, I have problems with the screen geometry.
Maybe more experienced users will come up with something more useful.

[donkeyhottie]

I found this when I googled with the error in dmesg:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... bug/973096

Same thing. Same symptoms.

[Rudemeister]

If you just ran the Nvidia ".run" file, it isn't going to install properly. Here's what you need to do:

- For Ubuntu12.04/ 12.10 and LinuxMint13 use the following PPA:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

I did this and it installed the Nvidia 302.17 driver and it runs better than ever.

[donkeyhottie]

If you just ran the Nvidia ".run" file, it isn't going to install properly. Here's what you need to do:

- For Ubuntu12.04/ 12.10 and LinuxMint13 use the following PPA:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

I did this and it installed the Nvidia 302.17 driver and it runs better than ever.

I did just that. Installed and configured, no errors seen.

<reboot>ping-ping-ping.... endless beeb

Boot loader or something. Happily I have this Windows7 on the same disk. And happily I did not instlla grub to there. Grub is chainloaded from Windows boot loader.

Every day has a new day with something to learn. Now it is to recover the dead Linux... tomorrow...

[donkeyhottie]

<reboot>ping-ping-ping.... endless beeb

Boot loader or something. Happily I have this Windows7 on the same disk. And happily I did not instlla grub to there. Grub is chainloaded from Windows boot loader.

Every day has a new day with something to learn. Now it is to recover the dead Linux... tomorrow...

Well I think I got it.

[donkeyhottie]

If you just ran the Nvidia ".run" file, it isn't going to install properly. Here's what you need to do:

- For Ubuntu12.04/ 12.10 and LinuxMint13 use the following PPA:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

I did this and it installed the Nvidia 302.17 driver and it runs better than ever.

That did not help

After 2 hours of documenting how I got this Mint up & running after that update, X crashed again and I found myself in login screen.

[Rudemeister]

I have a Nvidia Radeon GTS 250 card now.

Either you have a Radeon card which is AMD/ATI or you have an Nvidia GTS 250. Your description does not make sense. Please double check your hardware.

[donkeyhottie]

I have a Nvidia Radeon GTS 250 card now.

Either you have a Radeon card which is AMD/ATI or you have an Nvidia GTS 250. Your description does not make sense. Please double check your hardware.

LOL, good catch

I have an Nvidia GeForce GTS 250.

[donkeyhottie]

Today 5 times relog because of this

Wonder if I have to go back to Windows, and use Mint in VirtualBox: that works fine when Windows manages the video.

[donkeyhottie]

I changed my music player to Amarok. No drop to login after that! Interesting...

[Rudemeister]

Nvidia Driver 304.37 Installation

Open the terminal under Ubuntu 12.10/12.04/11.10/Linux Mint 13 or older and install the Nvidia driver with these commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

Then reboot your system to finish the installation.

Works for me!!!

[donkeyhottie]

Nvidia Driver 304.37 Installation

Open the terminal under Ubuntu 12.10/12.04/11.10/Linux Mint 13 or older and install the Nvidia driver with these commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

Then reboot your system to finish the installation.

Works for me!!!

Looks promising! No fatalities after I did this! And I did it at once as the advice was posted here.

[donkeyhottie]

That last ppa fixed it really. Not a single crash after it.

But. The ppa brought also new kernel: 3.5.0!

I want to get rid of that kernel. I have hardware having drivers only for 3.2. How can I disable 3.5 for now, and still receive updates from 3.2 branch?

OR...

How can I edit Grub2 so that it loads 3.2-latest by default? That is now in the "Previous versions" submenu.

[donkeyhottie]

That last ppa fixed it really. Not a single crash after it.

But. The ppa brought also new kernel: 3.5.0!

I want to get rid of that kernel. I have hardware having drivers only for 3.2. How can I disable 3.5 for now, and still receive updates from 3.2 branch?

OR...

How can I edit Grub2 so that it loads 3.2-latest by default? That is now in the "Previous versions" submenu.

I answer to myself.

/etc/apt/preferences:

Package: *
Pin: release o=linuxmint
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: origin packages.linuxmint.com
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: 500

Package: linux-image*
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: linux-source*
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: linux-headers*
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: 900

[hunty6]

Problem solved for me :

I have installed a BETA version of the drivers, it crashed again with the same errors. I tried running

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get nvidia-current

it downloaded the current version. I then tried rebooting, nothing worked. Took a look at the log and it said it couldn't find any proper configurations, so I ran

Code: Select all

sudo nvidia-xconfig

because X11 wouldn't allow access without sudo.

Code: Select all

sudo startx

then rebooted X server and everything went fine.