[SOLVED] Nvidia driver / Cinnamon problems

[zebop917]

I am currently having some issues with the Nvidia driver in my Mint 20.1 Cinnamon installation.

The system is an Acer 8735 with a GT240M graphics card. With the Nvidia 340.108 driver installed, it will boot into a lo-res 640*480 screen with a message saying that Cinnamon has crashed. No problems when using the Nouveau display driver and it boots OK with 1920*1080 screen.

This issue seems to have arisen as a result of a new update somewhere along the way but I'm unable to tell which. Currently running kernel 5.4.0-72 and Cinnamon 4.8.6. I've tried reverting to kernel 5.4.0-66 when it boots into a high-res screen but Cinnamon still crashes.

Can anyone give advice on other solutions to try?

[SMG]

This issue seems to have arisen as a result of a new update somewhere along the way but I'm unable to tell which.

Does that mean the Nvidia-340 was working prior to this "new update"?

Please give us information about your install by entering this command in a terminal: inxi -Fxxxrz
Click </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply and then place your cursor between the code markers and paste the results of the command between the code markers [code]Results[/code]. This will let us know how Mint sees your hardware.

[zebop917]

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-72-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire 8735 v: 0100 serial: <filter> 
  Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Acer model: JV80 v: Rev serial: <filter> BIOS: Phoenix v: 1.05 
  date: 10/12/2009 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 9.6 Wh condition: 9.6/71.0 Wh (14%) volts: 16.1/14.8 
  model: SANYO AS07B32 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo T6600 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Penryn rev: A L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 bogomips: 8778 
  Speed: 1197 MHz min/max: 1200/2200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1197 2: 1197 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GT216M [GeForce GT 240M] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
  driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:0a34 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz, 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVA5 v: 3.3 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:293e 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GT216 HDMI Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0be2 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-72-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries NetLink BCM5784M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: tg3 v: 3.137 port: 2000 
  bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:1698 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel WiFi Link 5100 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 2000 
  bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 8086:4232 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 456.46 GiB used: 96.92 GiB (21.2%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Gigabyte model: GP-GSTFS31240GNTD size: 223.57 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 61.3 scheme: MBR 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Toshiba model: MK2555GSX size: 232.89 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 1J scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 110.02 GiB used: 30.95 GiB (28.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 48 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://mirror6.layerjet.com/linuxmint/packages ulyssa main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 209 Uptime: 4m Memory: 3.84 GiB used: 1.51 GiB (39.3%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

Yes, I had a Mint 20.1 setup running using the Nvidia 340.108 driver. Since then I've replaced the original HDD with a SSD and ended up doing a clean instal. Now, after the various updates introduced in the last month or so I get the issue when using the Nvidia driver.

[SMG]

Yes, I had a Mint 20.1 setup running using the Nvidia 340.108 driver. Since then I've replaced the original HDD with a SSD and ended up doing a clean instal. Now, after the various updates introduced in the last month or so I get the issue when using the Nvidia driver.

It is possible the driver modules are loading at a different rate/pace than they were when you had the HDD.

With the Nvidia 340.108 driver installed, it will boot into a lo-res 640*480 screen with a message saying that Cinnamon has crashed.

Sometimes the low-res screen is an indication the nouveau drivers may have installed ahead of some of the Nvidia drivers. The next time that happens, try restarting X Server with Ctl-Alt-Backspace. If that fixes the resolution, then a more permanent solution is in this thread [SOLVED] NVIDIA driver failing sometimes on boot ("no hardware acceleration"). Let us know if the fix roblm recommends in the second post addresses the issue for you.

[zebop917]

Brilliant! Yes that fix from the other thread does indeed appear to have fixed the problem. Now booting with full screen resolution and the Nvidia graphics driver enabled.

Thanks for your help!

[SMG]

Brilliant! Yes that fix from the other thread does indeed appear to have fixed the problem. Now booting with full screen resolution and the Nvidia graphics driver enabled.

Thanks for your help!

Glad to hear that worked.
Please go to your first post in the thread, click the pencil icon, and add [SOLVED] to the title of the thread so others know you no longer need help on this issue.