[SOLVED] Mint 18.3 Reverting back from nouveau to nvidia driver

[SierraBravo]

Hello there,

linux newbie here, I hope you can help me out.

I installed Mint 18.3 successfully 2 days ago and configured it to my liking.
My setup uses hybrid graphics (Intel/Nvidia). Using the recommended nvidia drivers (nvidia-384) worked well, until I couriously wanted to try out the nouveau drivers. Using the built-in Driver Manager, I selected the nouveau driver, applied the change and restarted.
Now, the nouveau drivers seem to work worse than the nvidia drivers, so I wanted to revert back using the Driver Manager.

Problem: Although Driver Manager shows the nvidia driver applied, the nouveau drivers are still in use. No matter what google solution I try :-/

Solution: down here

-> sudo lshw -C display:

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*-display               
       description: 3D controller
       product: GK208M [GeForce GT 740M]
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=nouveau latency=0
       resources: irq:32 memory:f6000000-f6ffffff memory:e0000000-efffffff memory:f0000000-f1ffffff ioport:e000(size=128) memory:f7000000-f707ffff
  *-display
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 06
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: irq:28 memory:f7400000-f77fffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff

-> inxi -Fxz:

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System:    Host: verto-pc Kernel: 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   Mobo: Micro-Star model: MS-1758 v: REV:1.0
           Bios: American Megatrends v: E1758IMS.30A date: 08/23/2013
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-4700MQ (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 19154
           clock speeds: max: 3400 MHz 1: 935 MHz 2: 799 MHz 3: 859 MHz 4: 1012 MHz
           5: 1161 MHz 6: 799 MHz 7: 801 MHz 8: 799 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Card-2: NVIDIA GK208M [GeForce GT 740M] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.02hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Haswell Mobile
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet
           driver: alx port: d000 bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8723AE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: rtl8723ae port: c000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: wlp5s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 750.2GB (4.7% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: HGST_HTS541075A9 size: 750.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 679G used: 25G (4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
           ID-2: /boot size: 473M used: 69M (16%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 8.51GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 258 Uptime: 23 min Memory: 1478.9/7902.2MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35

-> lying Driver Manager:

driver_man.jpg

Any suggestions?

Kinda frustrating, when such "basic" things always lead to time-consuming troubleshooting in Linux.

[kc1di]

This may be of help : https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/176

[SierraBravo]

Thanks for the tip.
But it didn't help.

Despite of GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nouveau.blacklist=1 quiet splash" that nouveau crap is still in use.

[kc1di]

ok lets try this then.
in a terminal issue this command

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sudo update-initramfs -uv

when it's finished reboot see if nouveau is still active.

[SierraBravo]

Also no difference.

[kc1di]

please update your kernel to the latest 4.15 by going to update manager and view tab then kernels.
reboot what you may have to reinstall nvidia driver with driver manager and try again.

[SierraBravo]

No effect.

Had to click an option to see the kernel update in Update Manager first - indeed there was an update to "4.13.0-43-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)". Not 4.15 though...

Trying to apply the 2 offered nvidia drivers in the Driver Manager + rebooting had no effect.

Thanks for your effort!

[kc1di]

In order to get 4.15 kernel you have to click the view tab then select kernels.
In any event if may no do what you want.
this page may be of help it's for ubuntu but should work on mint as well. https://www.linuxbabe.com/desktop-linux ... ard-ubuntu

[SierraBravo]

Well, i'd like to shout "success!", but:

Tldr; finally I could install the nvidia drivers, but now my networking is broken?!

1. Installed kernel 4.15. Mea culpa - you were totally right. Under View->Linux-kernels I could choose version 4.15. I thought Update Manager would automatically show me the latest kernel, when I click "Refresh". Why would you need to go via that extra menu?

-> That didn't change anything though.

2. I purged nvidia-settings and nvidia-384 via terminal.

3. Then I could select the nvidia-384 drivers in Driver Manager. Reboot. Voila, nvidia drivers finally applied.

But, after that final reboot my wi-fi doesn't show any connections. Also wlp5s0 is down.

Ideas?

[kc1di]

You may need to reinstall realtek wireless drivers under the new kernel.
Unfortunately your realtek card is not automatically supported in kernels newer than 4.14. but can be made to work
by following this tutorial. https://ibcomputing.com/install-rtl8723 ... ntu-18-04/
Sorry this is so difficult, they will get it all sorted out eventually

[SierraBravo]

Yesterday evening I suspended the laptop and as I opened the lid today, wi-fi was working perfectly fine. Still works after a reboot. Self-repair over night? Nice.

Anyway, I consider this problem solved. Thanks a bunch for your kind support, kc1di!

Short ROUNDUP for everyone, who has a similar problem:

• If you can not revert back to nvidia drivers from nouveau:
  I deinstalled the nvidia-drivers with "sudo apt-get purge nvidia-settings nvidia-384" (<- your driver version number there).
  Then in Driver Manager select your desired nvidia drivers (the one you just deinstalled) and re-apply them. Reboot.
  Now, the nvidia drivers should be back in use.

• Also, see kc1di's posts above on kernel updates and network drivers!

[kc1di]

Happy it all worked out for you, Enjoy

[kc1di]

Happy it all worked out for you, Enjoy