Think I unintstalled my drivers and can't get them working again. How do I fix this? [SOLVED]

[LoudAndClear]

I was trying to get a Windows Steam game to run on Mint via Lutris, but I kept getting an error; can't remember what it was (something to do with Vulkan), but I tried googling around and discovered that some people had had some success fixing a similar error by using NVIDIA's proprietary drivers. I tried replacing my free drivers with NVIDIA's proprietary ones. I installed nvidia's 470 driver (sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver-470), rebooted my computer, only to discover that I now had no working drivers at all.


Right now, on startup, I just get prompted that my system is currently running "without video hardware acceleration," and told to launch Driver Manager. I do launch driver manager, and and it gives me a choice between three drivers:

nvidia-driver-470 (recommended)

xserver-xorg-video-nouveau (open source)

nvidia-driver-460

However, selecting any one of these and rebooting does not appear to fix anything. I get the same error message from Driver Manager, and the same prompt bringing up the same graphics cards. Uninstalling and reinstalling the driver didn't do anything.


Additionally, I should just note that I kept getting an error when installing the driver, which was:


libkmod: ERROR ../libkmod/libkmod-config.c:656 kmod_config_parse: /etc/modprobe.d/qemu-system-x86.conf line 2: ignoring bad line starting with 'group=kvm'

No idea what that means.

At this point, I don't even really care if I can run the game I was trying to run in the first place. I would just like a working graphics driver.

inxi output:

CPU: 12-Core AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max: 2196/2200/3800 MHz
Kernel: 5.4.0-47-generic x86_64 Up: 17m Mem: 3400.4/32085.1 MiB (10.6%)
Storage: 3.64 TiB (27.6% used) Procs: 458 Shell: bash 4.4.20 inxi: 3.0.32

Graphics card is: NVIDIA Corporation TU104 [GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER]

[SMG]

Right now, on startup, I just get prompted that my system is currently running "without video hardware acceleration," and told to launch Driver Manager.

Welcome to the forum, LoudAndClear.

This can commonly happen when the timing of the loading of the Nvidia drivers is a bit out of sync with starting the operating system.

Based on the snippet of inxi data you posted, it appears you have not yet run the updates in Update Manager. It is always best to do that before installing Nvidia drivers so all the dependent packages are installed.

After you install all the updates and reboot, I would like you to upgrade to the 5.11 kernel which is available in Update Manager.

Open Update Manager. Select View > Linux Kernels and click Continue. Make sure 5.11 is selected on the left panel and then click the top-most option on the right panel. An "Install" button will appear. Install the kernel and then reboot for it to become active.

Then, if you do not have an Nvidia driver installed, install it and reboot. If you get the message about video drivers, try restarting the X Server with Ctl-Alt-Backspace to see if it clears it.

There are also some other things we can try and check, but start with doing that and report back with the output of 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.

[LoudAndClear]

Hello! Thank you for the reply. Just a slight problem: I don't see a 5.11 kernel. I see a 5.0, 5.3, and 5.4 (screenshot attached). Should I just update to the latest kernel?

[SMG]

Hello! Thank you for the reply. Just a slight problem: I don't see a 5.11 kernel. I see a 5.0, 5.3, and 5.4 (screenshot attached). Should I just update to the latest kernel?

That is my fault for assuming you had Linux Mint 20 installed. It appears you have Mint 19 installed.

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.

[LoudAndClear]

I should have known to give you my version number, my bad. Here's the output:

Code: Select all

System:
  Host: Puget-206220 Kernel: 5.4.0-47-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8 wm: muffin 4.4.4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Puget Systems product: N/A v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2606 date: 08/13/2020 
CPU:
  Topology: 12-Core model: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 
  L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 182055 
  Speed: 2183 MHz min/max: 2200/3800 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 2196 2: 2191 3: 2792 4: 1863 5: 2194 6: 2195 7: 2192 8: 2196 9: 2195 
  10: 2196 11: 2053 12: 3593 13: 2193 14: 2053 15: 1863 16: 2794 17: 1858 
  18: 2196 19: 2196 20: 2196 21: 2055 22: 3591 23: 2053 24: 1862 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU104 [GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER] vendor: PNY driver: N/A 
  bus ID: 09:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1e84 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: fbdev,nouveau 
  unloaded: modesetting,vesa resolution: 1024x768~76Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.1 256 bits) 
  v: 4.5 Mesa 21.2.1 - kisak-mesa PPA compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU104 HD Audio vendor: PNY driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 09:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10f8 
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 0b:00.4 chip ID: 1022:1487 
  Device-3: Logitech CrystalCam type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
  bus ID: 7-4:3 chip ID: 046d:0894 serial: <filter> 
  Device-4: Focusrite-Novation type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,usb-storage 
  bus ID: 1-5.2:5 chip ID: 1235:8210 serial: <filter> 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-47-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 8086:2723 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel 
  port: e000 bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8125 
  IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-3: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igb 
  v: 5.6.0-k port: d000 bus ID: 05:00.0 chip ID: 8086:1539 
  IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: lxcbr0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.64 TiB used: 1.02 TiB (27.9%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 4TB size: 3.64 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 4B6Q scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: Scarlett Welcome Disk size: 192 KiB 
  serial: <filter> rev: 0.10 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 3.58 TiB used: 1.02 TiB (28.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 51.8 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/1047481448-2-sergkolo-bionic.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/1047481448-2/sergkolo/ubuntu bionic main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ppa-bionic.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kisak-kisak-mesa-bionic.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kisak/kisak-mesa/ubuntu bionic main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lutris-team-lutris-bionic.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/lutris-team/lutris/ubuntu bionic main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com tricia main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/protonvpn-stable.list 
  1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/protonvpn-stable-archive-keyring.gpg] https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/riot-im.list 
  1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/riot-im-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.riot.im/debian/ default main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list 
  1: deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
  2: deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
Info:
  Processes: 441 Uptime: 1h 42m Memory: 31.33 GiB used: 2.76 GiB (8.8%) 
  Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 alt: 7 
  clang: 6.0.0-1ubuntu2 Shell: bash v: 4.4.20 running in: gnome-terminal 
  inxi: 3.0.32 

[SMG]

Are there updates showing in Update Manager? There should be. The latest 5.4 kernel is 5.4.0-84.
System:
Host: Puget-206220 Kernel: 5.4.0-47-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8 wm: muffin 4.4.4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0
Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic

Other than that part about upgrading to the 5.11 kernel, everything else in my first post still applies.

[LoudAndClear]

Good news and bad news:

The good news is that after upgrading to Linux Mint 20, switching to the 5.11 kernel, and reinstalling my drivers, I can now use the open source driver (hooray!), so a crisis has been averted. The bad news is that I still can't run NVIDIA's proprietary driver.

When I start up my computer, I still get the error message from the driver manager that my system is currently running "without video hardware acceleration," this is despite the fact that if I actually open the driver manager, it will tell me that I am currently using the NVIDIA driver. The driver seems to not be in use, since I can't change (for example) the resolution or refresh rate of my screen.

I've attached a screenshot of what the driver manager looks like.

[SMG]

When I start up my computer, I still get the error message from the driver manager that my system is currently running "without video hardware acceleration," this is despite the fact that if I actually open the driver manager, it will tell me that I am currently using the NVIDIA driver. The driver seems to not be in use, since I can't change (for example) the resolution or refresh rate of my screen.

Did you try Ctl-Alt-Backspace to restart the X Server? You can also try what is described in this post [SOLVED] NVIDIA driver failing sometimes on boot ("no hardware acceleration") which fixes an issue that many people experience.

If that does not work, please provide the output of inxi -SMCGx, mokutil --sb-state, and dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia.

Run each of those commands separately and post the results of each one between code tags.

[LoudAndClear]

I did try Ctrl + Alt + Backspace, and regrettably that did not fix my problem.

Output of

Code: Select all

inxi -SMCGx

is:

Code: Select all

System:
  Host: Puget-206220 Kernel: 5.11.0-34-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana 
  base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Puget Systems product: N/A v: N/A 
  serial: <superuser/root required> 
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <superuser/root required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2606 
  date: 08/13/2020 
CPU:
  Topology: 12-Core model: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 
  L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 182052 
  Speed: 2793 MHz min/max: 2200/3800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2788 2: 1862 
  3: 2133 4: 2794 5: 3869 6: 2677 7: 1863 8: 2647 9: 2008 10: 2354 11: 2192 
  12: 2192 13: 2038 14: 2195 15: 2201 16: 1863 17: 2794 18: 2194 19: 2196 
  20: 2191 21: 2196 22: 2194 23: 2195 24: 2195 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU104 [GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER] vendor: PNY driver: N/A 
  bus ID: 09:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: fbdev,nouveau 
  unloaded: modesetting,vesa resolution: 1024x768~76Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.0 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.0.3 
  direct render: Yes 

Code: Select all

mokutil --sb-state

returns

Code: Select all

SecureBoot disabled

and the output of

Code: Select all

dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia

is:

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ii  libnvidia-cfg1-470:amd64                   470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX configuration library
ii  libnvidia-common-470                       470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            all          Shared files used by the NVIDIA libraries
rc  libnvidia-compute-390:amd64                390.144-0ubuntu0.18.04.1              amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
rc  libnvidia-compute-390:i386                 390.144-0ubuntu0.18.04.1              i386         NVIDIA libcompute package
rc  libnvidia-compute-440:amd64                450.66-0ubuntu0.18.04.1               amd64        Transitional package for libnvidia-compute-450
rc  libnvidia-compute-440-server:amd64         440.95.01-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
rc  libnvidia-compute-450:amd64                460.91.03-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        Transitional package for libnvidia-compute-460
rc  libnvidia-compute-460:amd64                460.91.03-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-compute-470:amd64                470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-compute-470:i386                 470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            i386         NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-decode-470:amd64                 470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries
ii  libnvidia-decode-470:i386                  470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            i386         NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries
ii  libnvidia-encode-470:amd64                 470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-encode-470:i386                  470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            i386         NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-extra-470:amd64                  470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        Extra libraries for the NVIDIA driver
ii  libnvidia-fbc1-470:amd64                   470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library
ii  libnvidia-fbc1-470:i386                    470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            i386         NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library
ii  libnvidia-gl-470:amd64                     470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD
ii  libnvidia-gl-470:i386                      470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            i386         NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD
ii  libnvidia-ifr1-470:amd64                   470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library
ii  libnvidia-ifr1-470:i386                    470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            i386         NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library
rc  nvidia-compute-utils-390                   390.144-0ubuntu0.18.04.1              amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
rc  nvidia-compute-utils-440-server            440.95.01-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
rc  nvidia-compute-utils-460                   460.91.03-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
ii  nvidia-compute-utils-470                   470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
rc  nvidia-dkms-390                            390.144-0ubuntu0.18.04.1              amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
rc  nvidia-dkms-440-server                     440.95.01-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
rc  nvidia-dkms-460                            460.91.03-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
ii  nvidia-dkms-470                            470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
ii  nvidia-driver-470                          470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA driver metapackage
rc  nvidia-kernel-common-390                   390.144-0ubuntu0.18.04.1              amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
rc  nvidia-kernel-common-440-server            440.95.01-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
rc  nvidia-kernel-common-460                   460.91.03-0ubuntu0.18.04.1            amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
ii  nvidia-kernel-common-470                   470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
ii  nvidia-kernel-source-470                   470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA kernel source package
ii  nvidia-prime                               0.8.16~0.20.04.1                      all          Tools to enable NVIDIA's Prime
rc  nvidia-prime-applet                        1.0.8                                 all          An applet for NVIDIA Prime
ii  nvidia-settings                            470.57.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.1            amd64        Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
ii  nvidia-utils-470                           470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA driver support binaries
ii  screen-resolution-extra                    0.18build1                            all          Extension for the nvidia-settings control panel
ii  xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-470              470.63.01-0ubuntu0.20.04.2            amd64        NVIDIA binary Xorg driver

[SMG]

Did you get any error messages when you installed the driver (like you mentioned in your original post)?

For some reason your system has Nvidia driver packages from both LM19 and LM20. I don't think I've ever seen that.

I'd like you to open an terminal and run sudo apt-get purge *nvidia* to remove all the nvidia files.

Then you will reboot and use the instructions in the Release Notes for Linux Mint 20Cinnamon. Scroll to section on 'Solving freezes during the boot sequence' for instructions on temporarily booting with nomodeset so you can install the Nvidia driver and hopefully just end up with one set of files rather than bits and pieces of several.

If after rebooting after installing the Nvidia driver it still does not work (even with the fix described in the link I posted earlier), then I would like to see the X Server log.
Use this command in a terminal to upload the X Server log file to termbin:
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | nc termbin.com 9999
It will return with a url address that you should post in your next reply.

[LoudAndClear]

Regrettably, none of that worked. I ran the

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get purge *nvidia*

command, rebooted with nomodeset, and reinstalled the driver via the driver manager. On reboot, I was still getting the same error. The fix that worked in the other thread (using the

Code: Select all

xed admin:///etc/modules

command) didn't work here either.

This is the url of the X server log:

https://termbin.com/2p68

[SMG]

What is the output of cat /var/log/gpu-manager.log? Please enclose the results within code tags.

[SMG]

Here is the key error in the Xorg log. Normally, the "card" is opened and then the GPU is probed. In this case, the GPU was probed first and there was never a card found. There are missing files for some reason, but I'm not yet sure why.

Code: Select all

[    12.372] (EE) [drm] Failed to open DRM device for pci:0000:09:00.0: -19
[    12.372] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory

I'm hoping the gpu-manager log has some clues.

How long did you have the system working properly before the problem arose in the first place?

[LoudAndClear]

The output of cat /var/log/gpu-manager.log is:

Code: Select all

log_file: /var/log/gpu-manager.log
last_boot_file: /var/lib/ubuntu-drivers-common/last_gfx_boot
new_boot_file: /var/lib/ubuntu-drivers-common/last_gfx_boot
can't access /run/u-d-c-nvidia-was-loaded file
can't access /opt/amdgpu-pro/bin/amdgpu-pro-px
Looking for nvidia modules in /lib/modules/5.11.0-34-generic/kernel
Looking for nvidia modules in /lib/modules/5.11.0-34-generic/updates/dkms
Looking for amdgpu modules in /lib/modules/5.11.0-34-generic/kernel
Looking for amdgpu modules in /lib/modules/5.11.0-34-generic/updates/dkms
Is nvidia loaded? no
Was nvidia unloaded? no
Is nvidia blacklisted? yes
Is intel loaded? no
Is radeon loaded? no
Is radeon blacklisted? no
Is amdgpu loaded? no
Is amdgpu blacklisted? no
Is amdgpu versioned? no
Is amdgpu pro stack? no
Is nouveau loaded? no
Is nouveau blacklisted? yes
Is nvidia kernel module available? no
Is amdgpu kernel module available? no
Vendor/Device Id: 10de:1e84
BusID "PCI:9@0:0:0"
Is boot vga? yes
Error: can't access /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:09:00.0/driver
The device is not bound to any driver.
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Does it require offloading? no
last cards number = 1
Has amd? no
Has intel? no
Has nvidia? yes
How many cards? 1
Has the system changed? No
Single card detected
Nothing to do

As for how I had the system working properly prior to this error: I don't really have the requisite knowledge to know The free driver seemed to work fine before I tried to install the proprietary one.

[SMG]

From the gpu-manager log, this appears to be the reason why the files are not being read and the drivers not loaded.

Code: Select all

Is nvidia blacklisted? yes
Is nouveau blacklisted? yes

Usually one or the other is blacklisted, so this is a first for me to see both blacklisted.

What is the output of ls /etc/modprobe.d/?

[SMG]

And also the output of ls /lib/modprobe.d/.

[LoudAndClear]

This is what I got:

Code: Select all

$ ls /etc/modprobe.d/
alsa-base.conf                  blacklist-rare-network.conf
amd64-microcode-blacklist.conf  dkms.conf
blacklist-ath_pci.conf          droidcam.conf
blacklist.conf                  intel-microcode-blacklist.conf
blacklist-firewire.conf         iwlwifi.conf
blacklist-framebuffer.conf      nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf
blacklist-modem.conf            osspd.conf
blacklist-oss.conf              qemu-system-x86.conf 

and

Code: Select all

$ ls /lib/modprobe.d/
aliases.conf                                     blacklist-nvidia.conf
blacklist_linux_5.4.0-84-generic.conf            fbdev-blacklist.conf
blacklist_linux-hwe_5.0.0-32-generic.conf        nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf
blacklist_linux-hwe-5.11_5.11.0-34-generic.conf  systemd.conf

[SMG]

It's my understanding the /lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf file is only supposed to be there if one has an Optimus-style laptop (for switching between Intel and Nvidia). You have a desktop with only nvidia, so I'm not sure how that may have been installed.

Remove the file sudo rm /lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf and then reboot the computer.

[LoudAndClear]

This is going to sound completely ridiculous, but could removal of that file cause networking issues? ,

I ask because I did run

Code: Select all

sudo rm /lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf

and reboot. The resolution returned to normal, which indicates that it is at least running some kind of graphics driver. But unfortunately, I can't actually check that because when I try to run Driver Manager, I get an error message that says:

Code: Select all

Drivers cannot be installed.  Please connect to the Internet or insert the Linux Mint installation DVD (or USB stick)

. I'm not sure how else to check the module it's using.

Bizarrely, the system appears to think it's connected to the internet. On startup, it says that it is connected to the Wi-Fi network, and the icon in the bottom right corner of the desktop says it is connected. But then stuff like this happens:

Code: Select all

$ ping google.com
ping: google.com: Name or service not known

Running Firefox results in similar connectivity errors (e.g. "Hmm. We're having trouble finding that site. We can't connect to the server at en.wikipedia.org") I have checked the three other devices I have that can connect to the network, and all of them have internet access via this Wi-Fi network (I'm typing this message on one of them).

I know of no mechanism by which fixing a graphics issue like this could result in connectivity problems, but I've been wrong before. What might be a good idea is if you tell me how to check what graphics driver my system is using right now by some means other than Driver Manager, and I can make a separate thread for my connectivity problems. If you think they might be connected (though I don't understand how), we can keep them in his thread.

[SMG]

Run inxi -Gx to check the graphics.