[SOLVED] Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

What is the output for

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cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original | nc termbin.com 9999 
That may be the original file before you installed the Nvidia driver. If we can confirm that, by switching to it, you may be able to get graphics again with Intel to make troubleshooting easier.



In my searching I found the following topic GTX 1060 & Linux Mint where someone indicated the 4.4 kernel (the one you have) was too old for use with the GTX 1060. The GTX 1650 you have is even newer so maybe that is a factor in this issue.

Do you not have a copy of the Sandbox software? Is that why you have to stay with LM18.1? Moving to an LM19 version would enable being able to use a newer kernel and installing Linux Mint with the GPU already installed may also help.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

Good morning.
What is the output for cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original | nc termbin.com 9999
I'm getting no output for that--I hit Return and the next blank input line appears as if I hadn't typed anything.

I did the possibly stupid thing of removing the Nvidia card from the motherboard and trying to boot. I got a message and selected to view the log. Here are the screenshots of the short log. It offered to show the full log after this, which I also did and can post if you want.

Warning message:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/G9b4L9hKVK51cnvCA

Log shots:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/S18wgLpL8C2tLxZa8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aZGwUbhSrwKAzd1t9

Final message:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/izBRt7pGVscNKW4g9
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by deepakdeshp »

Instead of posting photos you should copy paste text. Install ksnip and you can use it to post figures. Photos aren't clear.
If I have helped you solve a problem, please add [SOLVED] to your first post title, it helps other users looking for help.
Regards,
Deepak

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Mint 21.1 Cinnamon AMD Ryzen3500U/8gb
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

I'm working off a TV for display, it doesn't take screenshots. Apparently google photos does OCR now; I will get text that way moving forward.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:03 pm Good morning.
What is the output for cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original | nc termbin.com 9999
I'm getting no output for that--I hit Return and the next blank input line appears as if I hadn't typed anything.
I do not have any guesses as to why that happened. Sometimes termbin is down, but others have reported getting an error message when that happens. Try running just the first part

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cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original
and see if it gives you output. That file is one of the ones you listed as being in that directory as per the below. (I made it bold and larger than normal in the below.)
LVH20 wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:36 pm
Please also post the output of ls /etc/X11 and if you have internet access, please provide the url returned from
(output text was in color)

defaults default-display-manager fonts rgb.txt xinit xkb xorg.conf xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original Xreset Xreset.d Xresources Xsession Xsession.d Xsession.options xsm
LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:03 pmI did the possibly stupid thing of removing the Nvidia card from the motherboard and trying to boot. I got a message and selected to view the log. Here are the screenshots of the short log. It offered to show the full log after this, which I also did and can post if you want.

Warning message:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/G9b4L9hKVK51cnvCA
The X Server log you posted earlier indicated it was using a custom xorg.conf file which indicates to only use Nvidia drivers. That means when X Server starts and sees that file telling it to use Nvidia drivers but there is no Nvidia GPU, it would make sense it can not start. In order to run without the Nvidia GPU installed, we would probably need to switch your system back to the file with xconfig-original in its name.
LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:03 pmLog shots:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/S18wgLpL8C2tLxZa8
The next to last line indicates "using config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf". That's the file that says to use Nvidia. You removed the Nvidia GPU so X Server can not do anything.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

deepakdeshp wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:20 pm Instead of posting photos you should copy paste text. Install ksnip and you can use it to post figures. Photos aren't clear.
The OP only has command line available to them. There is currently no GUI available. ksnip is a GUI app.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

That file is one of the ones you listed as being in that directory as per the below. (I made it bold and larger than normal in the below.)
Thanks, that helps make sense.

Try running just the first part cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original and see if it gives you output.
No, nothing again. Any chance /etc in 18.1 has a different parent directory or something that would keep it from being read?

In order to run without the Nvidia GPU installed, we would probably need to switch your system back to the file with xconfig-original in its name.
If we can't get it to switch with the Nvidia driver installed, would uninstalling the Nvidia driver make it default back? Or just confuse it more?
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:22 pm
Try running just the first part cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original and see if it gives you output.
No, nothing again. Any chance /etc in 18.1 has a different parent directory or something that would keep it from being read?
I just ran than command on my computer, which I know does not exist on my system. It returned.

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cat: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original: No such file or directory
By chance, are you getting a blank line when you run that? Maybe the file exists, but it is empty.

Run

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ls -l /etc/X11
and see if that file exists and its size.
LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:22 pmIf we can't get it to switch with the Nvidia driver installed, would uninstalling the Nvidia driver make it default back? Or just confuse it more?
It is my understanding when you run the uninstaller program (that is how you would remove it), it will give you the option to return to your original settings. At least that is the feedback I have received from others who did it. If I am recalling correctly, it will also create an uninstall log.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

By chance, are you getting a blank line when you run that? Maybe the file exists, but it is empty.
What it looks like on the terminal is

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admin-Sandbox ~$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original
admin-Sandbox ~$ 
No spaces, just a new line.
see if that file exists and its size.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LEu8ycqCm3PbeTEs8
If the middle column is the size, it does look empty...
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 4:32 pmhttps://photos.app.goo.gl/LEu8ycqCm3PbeTEs8
If the middle column is the size, it does look empty...
Yes, 0 is empty.

Let's go with the presumption the installer created the empty file so there would be something to which it could revert if you uninstalled the Nvidia driver. We will rename the file currently being used to .old with

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mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
Then based on the last message you posted we will try:

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sudo service mdm start
and see if you get back to the desktop. If not, post what error messages come up.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

Yes! required a reboot but desktop GUI is back. What now?
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 5:01 pm Yes! required a reboot but desktop GUI is back. What now?
Time to start checking logs for clues.

I would like to see the log where you had the Nvidia GPU installed, but you ended up with a black screen. I'm just not sure how many boot cycles ago that was. I think it was 2? Current boot does not have it, prior boot did not have it, one before did? If that is correct, let's run the following to see what comes up.

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journalctl -b -2 | grep -i "drm\|nvidia\|01:00.0"
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

Okay, it gave me

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No command 'journalct1' found, did you mean:
 Command 'journalctl' from package 'systemd' (main)
journalct1: command not found
I tried to install it with sudo apt install systemd, which seemed to work, but when trying the command again, it gave

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Specifying boot ID has no effect, no persistent journal was found
Another way? Copy from the terminal window below.

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cdm@admin-Sandbox ~ $ journalct1 -b -2 | grep -i "drm\|nvidia\|01:00.0"
No command 'journalct1' found, did you mean:
 Command 'journalctl' from package 'systemd' (main)
journalct1: command not found
cdm@admin-Sandbox ~ $ sudo apt install systemd
[sudo] password for cdm: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libpam-systemd libsystemd0 libsystemd0:i386
Suggested packages:
  systemd-ui systemd-container
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libpam-systemd libsystemd0 libsystemd0:i386 systemd
4 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 768 not upgraded.
Need to get 4,155 kB of archives.
After this operation, 97.3 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libpam-systemd amd64 229-4ubuntu21.31 [115 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 libsystemd0 i386 229-4ubuntu21.31 [223 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libsystemd0 amd64 229-4ubuntu21.31 [205 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 systemd amd64 229-4ubuntu21.31 [3,611 kB]
Fetched 4,155 kB in 3s (1,289 kB/s)  
(Reading database ... 203074 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libpam-systemd_229-4ubuntu21.31_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpam-systemd:amd64 (229-4ubuntu21.31) over (229-4ubuntu17) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libsystemd0_229-4ubuntu21.31_amd64.deb ...
De-configuring libsystemd0:i386 (229-4ubuntu17) ...
Unpacking libsystemd0:amd64 (229-4ubuntu21.31) over (229-4ubuntu17) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libsystemd0_229-4ubuntu21.31_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libsystemd0:i386 (229-4ubuntu21.31) over (229-4ubuntu17) ...
Preparing to unpack .../systemd_229-4ubuntu21.31_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking systemd (229-4ubuntu21.31) over (229-4ubuntu17) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu7) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
ureadahead will be reprofiled on next reboot
Setting up libsystemd0:amd64 (229-4ubuntu21.31) ...
Setting up libsystemd0:i386 (229-4ubuntu21.31) ...
Setting up systemd (229-4ubuntu21.31) ...
addgroup: The group `systemd-journal' already exists as a system group. Exiting.
[/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/var.conf:14] Duplicate line for path "/var/log", ignoring.
Setting up libpam-systemd:amd64 (229-4ubuntu21.31) ...
Processing triggers for dbus (1.10.6-1ubuntu3.3) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu7) ...
cdm@admin-Sandbox ~ $ journalctl -b -2 | grep -i "drm\|nvidia\|01:00.0"
Specifying boot ID has no effect, no persistent journal was found

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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

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LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 5:43 pm Okay, it gave me

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No command 'journalct1' found, did you mean:
 Command 'journalctl' from package 'systemd' (main)
journalct1: command not found
It gave you a message that you typed the command incorrectly. The last character is a lower case L and not the number one. You typed the number one.

Then you typed it incorrectly a second time. It appears you finally typed it correctly the third time after you installed packages that did not need installed (and hopefully will not cause problems).

I don't understand why you just can't install LM19 on the computer and then install your software. You could have been done and running your software by now.

At this point I suggest you see if you can get the BIOS upgraded.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

I am sorry. When I did type it correctly, what does it mean that no persistent journal was found?

Since LM19 is nearing end of life as you said, it'd make more sense to install LM20 if the sandbox programs are compatible. There's no official guarantee but I've asked for feedback from users. If the BIOS upgrade doesn't help, I'll install LM20 if the sandbox programs are compatible. If it's not clear they are, I'll install LM19 instead.

I apologize again, and thank you for your patience.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:01 pm what does it mean that no persistent journal was found?
It means the journal was not running. That may have been normal for LM18.1. I do not recall what changes were made at what point in the releases. That's one of the difficulties when troubleshooting older software installs.

We normally recommend making Timeshift snapshots so one can roll back to a prior state if there are issues. Timeshift didn't become available until LM18.3.
LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:01 pmIf the BIOS upgrade doesn't help
I am hoping the BIOS update will address the issue of both GPUs being seen instead of just one. That may make it possible to get the system to work in the current LM18.1.

If it does not, then the kernel may be the issue because the GTX 1650 didn't exist when the kernel was released. I am not sure what is currently available to be able to upgrade your system to the 4.15 kernel (which is the LTS kernel for LM19). Some repos must still be available because your system updated packages, but I have no idea if all that is needed might be available.

At a minimum, LM19 uses a newer kernel (4.15 rather than 4.4, and 4.15 can be upgraded to 5.4) so if the older kernel is the issue then that issue can be addressed. Plus a I think a fresh install with the Nvidia GPU in place might also be helpful.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

SMG wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:29 pmI am hoping the BIOS update will address the issue of both GPUs being seen instead of just one. That may make it possible to get the system to work in the current LM18.1.
I would expect if this does work, you would no longer get the "no signal" message.

However, to get the operating system graphics to work, we would need to rename the xorg.conf.old file back to xorg.conf so LM18.1 uses the Nvidia info.

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mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old /etc/X11/xorg.conf
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

Okay, that sounds like a plan.

If nothing else, going about it the slow way means I'll be starting with a little more knowledge than if I had tried to update the OS right off the bat. Thank you again for being willing to explain things. I'll use the procedure on the post you linked and go A05, A10, A24.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by SMG »

LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:58 pmI'll use the procedure on the post you linked and go A05, A10, A24.
They sounded very positive in that post (especially compared to their initial post), so I'm hoping it will go smoothly for you.
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Re: Adding NVIDIA GPU to system with only onboard previously. Install problems.

Post by LVH20 »

SMG wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 8:11 pm
LVH20 wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:58 pmI'll use the procedure on the post you linked and go A05, A10, A24.
They sounded very positive in that post (especially compared to their initial post), so I'm hoping it will go smoothly for you.
Me too!
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