Cinnamon crashes after updating Nvidia driver to 367.57

[clem]

Hi,

I found a workaround for those who can't get Xorg to work with 367.57 on Mint 17.x with NVIDIA prime. It's not a solution, but while waiting for one, it might give you a graphical session again:

Code: Select all

sudo prime-select intel

[clem]

A bit more news for 17.x users, I managed to get prime working with the following configuration:

- nvidia 367
- kernel 4.4.0-31 (in case https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1638990 came into play)
- original trusty MESA/Xorg stack (as opposed to the LTS-Vivid one)
- changes in nvidia-prime/ubuntu-drivers-common (which should get into the repos in a couple of days)
- xserver-xorg-video-modesetting installed

I'm yet to fully understand the cause of the issue and what fixes it... I'm pretty sure you need udc to unload nvidia-drm (and that's coming, it reached Ubuntu 14.04 a few days ago and I just want to test it a little more before pushing it), but it's not enough... it might be enough in 17.2 with the original stack, or maybe it's the addition of xserver-xorg-video-modesetting which fixes it.. or maybe it's the fact that I'm using 4.4.0-31 as opposed to 4.4.0-51 (or even 3.19.x/3.13.x).

I need to test it more to eliminate suspects and clearly identify the cause and solution for the issue here. But as you can see, I'm able to reproduce it, and to fix it somehow, so we should hopefully get a resolution on this in the coming days.

[clem]

I see something odd here... Mint and Ubuntu traditionally shipped xserver-xorg-video-modesetting. In 18/16.04, this is gone and obsolete.

In 17.2.. it's still here..
In 14.04.2 it's there in the utopic stack.. xserver-xorg-video-modesetting-lts-utopic
in 17.3 and 14.04.3 it's missing altogether... for some reason xserver-xorg-video-modesetting-lts-vivid isn't installed.

I get the feeling it was removed from the list of dependencies in the source package (for newer versions of Xorg starting with Vivid) and it got completely forgotten.

I need to completely reinstall my test environment to get to the bottom of this and I'm a bit delayed as we're in the middle of the 18.1 release, but it looks promising.

[DeMus]

I can't remember where (I think it came directly from Nvidia) but I read somewhere that driver 367.57 is not good, something is wrong with it and this is solved in driver 375.20.
I also use this last one and it runs great.

[clem]

Here's the result of my investigations.

If you are using the kernel 4.4 series on Mint 17.x, you need the modesetting driver.

You cannot install this driver on the LTS Vivid stack which comes preinstalled with Mint 17.3.

If you are in this situation, you either need to:

- Downgrade your kernel to 3.13.
- Downgrade your LTS stack from vivid to trusty and install xserver-xorg-video-modesetting.

It's much easier to downgrade your kernel than your Xorg stack... so this is what I recommend.

If you really need to downgrade your Xorg stack, this would be the command:

Code: Select all

apt install libegl1-mesa-lts-vivid:amd64 libgbm1-lts-vivid:amd64 libgl1-mesa-dri-lts-vivid:amd64 libgl1-mesa-dri-lts-vivid:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-vivid:amd64 libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-vivid:i386 libglapi-mesa-lts-vivid:amd64 libglapi-mesa-lts-vivid:i386 libgles1-mesa-lts-vivid:amd64 libgles2-mesa-lts-vivid:amd64 libwayland-egl1-mesa-lts-vivid:amd64 libxatracker2-lts-vivid:amd64 xserver-xorg-core-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-input-all-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-input-evdev-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-input-mouse-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-input-synaptics-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-input-wacom-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-all-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-ati-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-cirrus-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-fbdev-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-intel-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-mach64-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-mga-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-neomagic-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-nouveau-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-openchrome-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-r128-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-radeon-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-savage-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-sisusb-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-tdfx-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-trident-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-vesa-lts-vivid xserver-xorg-video-vmware-lts-vivid

If you do that, I STRONGLY suggest you review ALL the packages being removed/installed and take note of anything you'll need to reinstall again, before confirming. It goes without saying you shouldn't do this if you're not experienced with APT.

So, to summarize:

- Updates are coming for ubuntu-drivers-common and nvidia-prime which help with getting acceleration working.
- On 17.x, if you want to use kernel 4.4 with NVIDIA 367, you need xserver-xorg-video-modesetting... that package isn't available for the Vivid stack which comes with 17.3, so you either need to downgrade the kernel to 3.x, or to downgrade the stack from lts-vivid to the original trusty stack (i.e. any package called fubar-lts-vivid should be replaced with its fubar equivalent).

[clem]

Updates in Mint 17.x

ubuntu-drivers-common 1:0.2.91.12linuxmint1
nvidia-prime 0.6.2.1linuxmint1

These two updates fix the Cinnamon crash when using the Intel GPU with prime in Mint 17.x. They're available in the repository today.

Note: If you are running Mint 17.x, with kernel 4.4 and NVIDIA 367.x and what you are seeing isn't a Cinnamon crash but an Xorg crash (i.e. you don't even see the login screen), then these updates won't help. Check the previous post above for details on the necessary kernel/stack downgrades.

[slipstick]

If you are using the kernel 4.4 series on Mint 17.x, you need the modesetting driver.

You cannot install this driver on the LTS Vivid stack which comes preinstalled with Mint 17.3.

.......


......
- On 17.x, if you want to use kernel 4.4 with NVIDIA 367, you need xserver-xorg-video-modesetting... that package isn't available for the Vivid stack which comes with 17.3, so you either need to downgrade the kernel to 3.x, or to downgrade the stack from lts-vivid to the original trusty stack (i.e. any package called fubar-lts-vivid should be replaced with its fubar equivalent).

I'm running 17.3 with the Nvidia 367 driver and kernel 4.4.0.45 and it works fine (my system specs are on page 1 of this thread). Synaptic shows that I do have the xserver-xorg-video-modesetting package installed, though I never made any special effort to install that. I assume from what you are saying, that I don't have the Vivid stack that comes with 17.3 ? Maybe because I did a clean install of 17.1, then later upgraded to 17.3, skipping 17.2 entirely?

[clem]

Yes, that's exactly why.

17, 17.1 and 17.2 came with the trusty Xorg/MESA stack and the modesetting driver installed by default.

17.3 came with the vivid Xorg/MESA stack, which doesn't have a modesetting driver.

In Mint, when you perform a point upgrade with the update manager we preserve your hardware support, so neither your kernel nor your Xorg/MESA stack get upgraded, which is very good news in this case.

[slipstick]

I'd rather be lucky than good, any day.

[jeff124578]

I'm a little late installing the updates and discovering I'm affected here. My preferred resolution is to install modesetting if it's easy, else I'll purge nvidia for nouveau. But one question about modesetting...

On 17.3 with Kernel 4.4.0-4, nvidia-367.57 installed, and all my repos are either "rosa" or "trusty" (I don't see "vivid" anywhere). So I think that means the modesetting install should be simple. However:

Code: Select all

$ sudo apt-get -s install xserver-xorg-video-modesetting
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 libgbm1 : Depends: libgl1-mesa-dri
E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.

Or, when I select the same modesetting package in Synaptec it wants to uninstall cinnamon, xorg, totem, and a slew of others.
Is this expected, or was I mistaken and my current setup is just not eligible for such an easy fix?

[jeff124578]

Aha, I now see that I am using xserver-xorg-core-lts-vivid. That's what you meant by the vivid Xorg stack (not the repos as I had thought). I'll try to downgrade to nvidia-304 then.

[mogplus8]

I had a similar problem, the error message /bin/systemctl command not found or similar appearing for a moment, then the system booting as normal. Did a search and found a site that recommended a command to fix it. Of course I can't find the site now, and all I remember is that it was an nvidia something command (I think...). Anyway, my system now happily starts with no error message, and no screen either. I can see the mouse cursor and that's it. The rest of the screen is unrelieved black. I can open a terminal (alt-ctrl-F1) and run commands, but I'm nowhere near linux savvy enough to understand what I'm doing. Tried the inxi -Fxz command suggested in another post and it displayed some stuff I didn't understand. Also tried the sudo dpkg-reconfigure mdm command suggested in another post but the problem persists. Fortunately I have Ubuntu installed in another partition, so I can at least get on the net and ask questions! What do I have to do to get my screen back? I'm guessing I have to reinstall an nvidia driver, but I don't know how to do it.
All advice gratefully received,
Ian

[mogplus8]

SOLVED: found the cure to my problem was just to use apt-get to deinstall Nvidia

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get purge nvidia*

Problem solved!
Thanks to all the helpful people who post solutions and tips on these forums, your help is invaluable and much appreciated!
Ian

[clem]

Hi,

I don't know if it helps, but here's another bit of information. I came across it while testing 18.1.

The first time the nvidia drivers are installed a reboot is required for the module to load in the kernel.

Upon reboot and for the first login, nvidia-prive will fail to select the card. Xorg will work, but without any acceleration (which means you'll get a Cinnamon crash if you're using Cinnamon).

At that stage a simple logout fixes it.

On your next login, prime is able to work correctly going forward.

Of course there are other issues with NVIDIA, as mentioned earlier in the thread, but I just wanted to post that here. If you're tinkering with kernels and driver versions.. make sure to reboot+login+logout+login after you install your drivers/kernels.

[jeff124578]

Just wondering if anyone can confirm or deny if the nvidia drivers will work again out-of-the-box in Mint 18.1? (I'm still on 17.3, and without the nvidia drivers the screen flickers occasionally, so trying to decide if it's worth upgrading.) Thanks!

[tercoide]

I have an Acer Aspire V with Nvidia 720m and after selecting the suggested 340 driver it started in emergency mode. So, to answer your question, it doesnt work. After going back to Xorg driver, all is fine. So I have a useless GPU here.

I'm coming from Ubuntu 17.04 so this is a fresh install.