ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded

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roblm
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Re: ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded

Post by roblm »

Is there a Secure Boot option enabled in the BIOS? It should be disabled.

Otherwise, the only other step I can think of is to try removing the nouveau driver package:
sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

Log out and back in. If there is a problem getting back to the desktop, then press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to enter the virtual console tty1. After logging in, use this command to reinstall the nouveau driver: sudo apt install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
azohc

Re: ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded

Post by azohc »

roblm wrote: Mon Jul 02, 2018 3:23 pm Is there a Secure Boot option enabled in the BIOS? It should be disabled.
I do not know how that was on :o
But yeah, this one right here put the nail in the coffin for this thread.
Thanks a ton roblm, nuff respect for helping me through this even regardless of it being a stupid thing in the end :lol:
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roblm
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Re: ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded

Post by roblm »

In another topic I was involved in last week, the same thing happened.

After doing some testing, I have now seen the Continue using a manually installed driver message for the first time while installing a Nvidia driver in Driver Manager. In Mint 19 Cinnamon, I installed a Nvidia driver and then removed it, but it was not removed and that message was seen and all options grayed out.

Also in Driver Manager, the nvidia-390 driver is now named nvidia-driver-390, so anyone using the command sudo apt install nvidia-390 to install the driver needs to make the change.


EDITED:
I added this info because many users will not know what to do when they see the Continue using a manually installed driver message.

First use the command ls /etc/modprobe.d. There should be a file named nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf or one similar to nvidia-390.conf listed, but the number may be different. These blacklist the nouveau driver. It's supposed to be removed when the Nvidia driver is uninstalled, but that doesn’t always happen and it’s happening more often in the newer Mint versions. Use this command, for example, to remove that file: sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-390.conf

Then use this command to update the initial ramdisk and reboot: sudo update-initramfs -u; reboot
Now the Driver Manager message should be gone and the driver options can be selected.


EDITED-2:
After some more testing, the procedure above may not work after using Driver Manager to remove a Nvidia driver. You will also need to use one or both of these commands to remove all the other Nvidia related files: sudo apt remove nvidia-driver-390 and sudo apt autoremove

If the Nvidia driver is removed using the command sudo apt purge *nvidia*, then the driver and all other files are removed, but on laptops with Optimus technology, this also removes nvidia-prime and nvidia-prime-applet.
Marvin2Shoes

Re: ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded

Post by Marvin2Shoes »

I wish I had found this thread first. I eventually found that the Secureboot option should be disabled.
After finally booting to GUI successfully I attempted to update the Nvidia driver from original Nouveau driver.
I was amazed to discover that a system could be so unpredictably unstable. One boot would freeze while booting... the next would freeze after login and then another would freeze on driver manager load, then on shutdown and reboot would always shutdown. Then I finally got the driver manager to install Nvidia 396 driver and all is working INCLUDING reboot. The only reason I upgraded to Mint 19 from Mint 18 was that 18 refused to allow me a sound device... something that had never happened in the previous 6 or 7 installations on 3 separate computers.
Anyway... if it isn't working keep reading through forums, as it gets better even if it takes days.
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