[SOLVED]: failed to initialize the NVIDIA GPU at PCI 1:0:0

regmar · Post by **regmar** » Tue Aug 28, 2018 9:38 am

I want to give a second life to my 11 years PC so I installed Mint 19 Xfce. The video card is a Nvidia Geforce 710. Whenever I try to install the property nvidia-390 driver from Driver Manager, I get a blank screen after a reboot and Xorg.0.log shows "Failed to initialize the NVIDIA GPU at PCI:1:0:0". I get the same error after a fresh Mint 19 or 18.3 installation. From a similar post, I tried several kernel parameters at boot time like acpi=off, pci=nomsi, irqpool, etc. without success.

I would like to know whether this issue is related to my old PC hardware or the drivers for the Geforce 710 video card just don't work with this kernel. If someone has the same type of card and made it works, please let me know.

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inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: m8020n Kernel: 4.15.0-33-generic i686 bits: 32 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.31) Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: desktop System: HP-Pavilion product: RX883AA-ABA m8020n serial: N/A
           Mobo: ASUSTek model: LEONITE v: 5.00 serial: N/A
           BIOS: Phoenix v: 5.13 date: 02/16/2007
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 6420 (-MCP-) 
           arch: Conroe rev.6 cache: 4096 KB
           flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8535
           clock speeds: max: 2133 MHz 1: 1665 MHz 2: 1881 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK208 [GeForce GT 710B] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting,nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1680x1050@59.88hz
           OpenGL: renderer: NV106 version: 4.3 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Def. Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-33-generic
Network:   Card: D-Link System DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: ea00 bus-ID: 02:03.0
           IF: enp2s3 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (43.7% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST3250824AS size: 250.1GB temp: 44C
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD2500JS size: 250.0GB temp: 42C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 107G used: 39G (39%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
           fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 168 Uptime: 54 min Memory: 670.8/3404.0MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56

roblm · Post by **roblm** » Wed Aug 29, 2018 4:23 pm

Did you try to install the Nvidia driver with the default 4.15.0-20 kernel?

When you tried Mint 18.3, the nvidia-340 driver was also probably listed in Driver Manager. Did you try installing it?

Try using the nomodeset kernel parameter. At the GRUB boot menu select the correct line but don’t press Enter. Press the “E” key to edit. If no menu shows, then hold down the shift key while starting. Use the Down arrow key to go down to the line that starts with: linux /boot/vmlinuz.............ro quiet splash $vt_handoff

Press the End key to go to the end of the line. Add a space and then add the parameter: nomodeset

Press F10 to start your system.

regmar · Post by **regmar** » Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:44 pm

Yes I tried everything you suggested numerous times, on different Mint, kernel and driver versions after fresh installation. I currently use nouveau driver but it is frustrating to not be able to install the Nvidia drivers. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share.

roblm · Post by **roblm** » Wed Aug 29, 2018 7:27 pm

So I assume you already tried installing the nvidia-384 driver in Mint 18.3.

Did you test the 4.4 kernel. I’m using 4.4.0-127. The default kernel is 4.10.0-38.

With Mint 19, you can add the graphics-drivers PPA with these commands:

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sudo apt-add-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa		
sudo apt update

Then open Driver Manager and install nvidia-driver-396

trytip · Post by **trytip** » Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:52 pm

only way to do this if to first undo everything you tried and start from fresh. apt remove --purge nvidia* then reboot
add the repository @roblm mentioned

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
apt update

then look in Driver Manager and post what drivers you have to install

regmar · Post by **regmar** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:55 pm

I started over from a fresh Mint 18.3 Xfce. I added the graphic-drivers PPA to the repository and Driver Manager offers 2 choices: nvidia-384.130 and 390.77. I choose nvidia-384 and installed it on the default kernel which is 4.10.0-38. Upon reboot, blank screen, Xorg.0.log reports "Failed to initialize the NVIDIA GPU at PCI:1:0:0. I removed nvidia-384 and I installed nvidia-390. Same error message. I removed nvidia-390.

I then installed kernel 4.4.0-127 as suggested and from Driver Manager, nvidia-384. I did not get a blank screen however Xorg.0.log reports "Failed to initialize the NVIDIA kernel module". Did the same with nvidia-390. Same error. I rebooted and at the grub level I added nomodeset. No luck!

Do you believe that installing an older kernel than 4.4.0-127 would help? If so, which version? Any other ideas are quite welcome!

Lord Boltar · Post by **Lord Boltar** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:46 pm

Have you tried downloading them from nVidia

https://www.nvidia.com/drivers/results/ ... o-137276=1

after it has download you need to install them through the terminal

open terminal where you saved the download and type in

sudo bash ./(the nvidia file name).run

should look something like

sudo bash ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run

and see if you still get the error

roblm · Post by **roblm** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 8:19 pm

regmar wrote: ⤴Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:55 pm I then installed kernel 4.4.0-127 as suggested and from Driver Manager, nvidia-384. I did not get a blank screen however Xorg.0.log reports "Failed to initialize the NVIDIA kernel module".

So you were able to get to the desktop? If yes, then post the output of these commands:

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ls /etc/modprobe.d
lspci -nnk |egrep -A3 -i "3D|VGA"
ls /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/char/drm/

regmar wrote: ⤴Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:55 pm Do you believe that installing an older kernel than 4.4.0-127 would help? If so, which version? Any other ideas are quite welcome!

The default kernel for Mint 18 was 4.4.0-53, but to get the Security updates for the Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerabilities, at least the 4.4.0-108 kernel is needed: https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3496

Lord Boltar · Post by **Lord Boltar** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 8:54 pm

you could try changing GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet" to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet rcutree.rcu_idle_gp_delay=1" in /etc/default/grub

regmar · Post by **regmar** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:15 pm

Yeah, got it! In addition to the Nvidia video card, I also have a Hauppauge TV tuner PCI card and somehow they both need more memory than the default allocated. I searched the Internet and by adding the kernel parameter vmalloc=192M fixes the problem in my case. Change GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="vmalloc=192M quiet splash" in /etc/default/grub to make the modification permanent.

Recap: I have a 2007 PC, a Nvidia Geforce 710, Mint 19 and the latest Nvidia 390.87 drivers (downloaded from nvidia site). Watching videos is a much nicer experience now with hardware decoding. Thanks to everyone who posted messages to help.

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