Wrong graphics driver offered?

[electron1948]

Installing Mint 20.3 on an Acer Aspire 5755G for training purposes.

The laptop hardware spec says the graphics is Geforce GT 540 but Driver Manager offers nvidea-340, selecting this results in a black laptop screen after re-booting. The spec also says it has HD Graphics 3000 but I can see no sign of a driver for this.

When I got into 'Preferences | Display' it shows two monitors:
- Laptop LVDS-1 and Unknown VGA-1-2.
If I plug in an HDMI monitor then the Display app shows:
- Laptop LVDS-1, Unknown VGA-1-2 AND HDMI-1 but the HDMI displays nothing.
If I plug in a VGA monitor then the Display app shows:
- Laptop LVDS-1, Unknown VGA-1-2 AND HDMI-1 and the VGA gets an image.
I'm now very confused and could use some help! Never had a problem like this with Mint before
Thanks for any guidance!

[SMG]

Installing Mint 20.3 on an Acer Aspire 5755G for training purposes.

What does "training purposes" mean?

The laptop hardware spec says the graphics is Geforce GT 540 but Driver Manager offers nvidea-340, selecting this results in a black laptop screen after re-booting.

I suspect the default open-source nouveau driver loaded without you doing anything.

There have been issues with some dual-graphics laptops needing the Nvidia-340 driver resulting in a black screen, but there are workarounds for it. I will be able to comment more about that when I see the complete system information.

The spec also says it has HD Graphics 3000 but I can see no sign of a driver for this.

The Intel graphics driver is normally loaded straight from the kernel so I do not understand your comment about not seeing a sign of a driver for it.

Please boot to a live session of Linux Mint 20.3 using your install usb/dvd and then provide system information. Open the System Reports app and click the System Information tab on the left. Your computer's information should come up in the right pane. Then click the Copy button in the lower right and paste the results into a reply window here so we can see how Linux Mint views your hardware.

[electron1948]

Hi SMG,
Apologies for the delay, other things took over my life.
To answer your question on training purposes: I was guiding a small group to install Mint on old laptops.
The results from System Information:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-144-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire 5755G v: V1.17 serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 v: 1.17 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Acer model: JV51_HR serial: <filter> BIOS: Acer v: 1.17 date: 12/30/2011 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 29.1 Wh condition: 29.1/47.5 Wh (61%) volts: 12.1/10.8 
           model: SANYO Li_Ion_4000mA serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-2350M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge 
           rev: 7 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 18356 
           Speed: 2295 MHz min/max: 800/2300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2295 2: 2295 3: 2295 
           4: 2295 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics 
           vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0116 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 620M/630M/635M/640M LE] 
           vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10de:0de9 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) v: 3.3 Mesa 21.2.6 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio 
           vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
           chip ID: 8086:1c20 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0bea 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-144-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries NetLink BCM57785 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe 
           vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: tg3 v: 3.137 port: 2000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
           chip ID: 14e4:16b5 
           IF: enp2s0f0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Foxconn T77H167.00 
           driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 168c:002e 
           IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 15.09 GiB (3.2%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HTS547550A9E384 size: 465.76 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 47.84 GiB used: 7.22 GiB (15.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6 
           ID-2: /home size: 400.58 GiB used: 7.87 GiB (2.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 8.33 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-1: 1-1.3:3 info: Suyin type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 chip ID: 064e:c218 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-2: 2-1.2:3 info: Elan Micro Optical Mouse type: Mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid 
           rev: 1.1 chip ID: 04f3:0210 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 38 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 https: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/packages.linuxmint.com/packages una 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: 213 Uptime: 11m Memory: 5.66 GiB used: 1.31 GiB (23.1%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

Many thanks for helping me,much appreciated!

[SMG]

The laptop hardware spec says the graphics is Geforce GT 540 but Driver Manager offers nvidea-340, selecting this results in a black laptop screen after re-booting.

The info you posted does not show a 540.

The spec also says it has HD Graphics 3000 but I can see no sign of a driver for this.

I made the driver blue so you can see it.

Graphics: Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0116
Device-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 620M/630M/635M/640M LE]
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0
chip ID: 10de:0de9
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) v: 3.3 Mesa 21.2.6
compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes

I colored the Nvidia GPU and the open-source nouveau driver (which is loaded) in red.

The Nvidia 640M can use the Nvidia-390 driver which means you should have the option for nouvea, 340, and 390 in Driver Manager.

The 390 driver is supported in LM21 versions, but the 340 driver is not. Additionally, there have been issues with the 390 driver in the repos for LM21. You are the first person in quite a while who might want to install the 390 driver on an LM20 version and I do not know if that driver in the repo is problematic or not. (They didn't used to be problematic; I'm not sure what Canonical is doing with them.)

To get back to your black screen issue with the Nvidia-340, I found my post which has helped several people who ended up with a black screen. This laptop can be either Intel or Nvidia. It can not be On-demand and switch back and forth. You have to use one or the other and apparently the switcher sometimes needs a little help switching after initially installing the Nvidia-340 driver.

While doing more searching, I came across this post where someone else with switchable graphics ran into the black screen issue after installing the Nvidia-340 Driver. That person indicated:

I had the same issue with Mint 20.1. Installed nvidia-340 for my GeForce 710M and met with a black screen after reboot.
What worked for me was going into Ctrl + Alt + F1, running

Code: Select all

sudo apt install nvidia-prime

(after trying to switch back to intel with sudo prime-select intel).
Rebooted and it worked fine

So I suggest installing the Nvidia driver and then if you run into the black screen on the next boot, switch to a terminal with Ctl-Alt-F1 and run the command listed above and reboot.

If that does not work and you get a black screen again, switch to a terminal with Ctl-Alt-F1 and try sudo prime-select intel and reboot.

If you want to see if we can get the 390 driver working (and if it is not showing in Driver Manager), we can try installing it from the terminal.

Let us know if you have any questions on what I posted.

[electron1948]

Thanks for that, it has at least got me thinking! First some facts:
Driver Manager offers:
nvidia-340 - which gives black screen on reboot
xserver - was initially installed by default and works OK
nvidia-driver-390
The laptop hardware spec https://icecat.biz/en/p/acer/nx.rv3ek.0 ... 46193.html says nvidia GEforce GT630M!

I have now tried the offered 390 driver and that work OK,except that on checking the VGA & HDMI ports, only the VGA is working, that is, there is no video on the HDMI monitor. The Display App detects and correctly labels the attached HDMI display so maybe the HDMI port is faulty.
Is it worth giving the GT630M driver a try?

[SMG]

I have now tried the offered 390 driver and that work OK,except that on checking the VGA & HDMI ports, only the VGA is working, that is, there is no video on the HDMI monitor. The Display App detects and correctly labels the attached HDMI display so maybe the HDMI port is faulty.

We have seen lots of strange things happen with HMDI ports so it could be any one of a number of reasons.

In that situation (where you see the HDMI monitor in the Display app, but nothing on it), is the screen backlit at all? If you change the resolution, does anything show up?

X Server runs the graphics in Linux Mint. Please use this command in a terminal to upload the X Server log file to termbin:

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cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | nc termbin.com 9999

It will return with a url address that you can post in your next reply.

Is it worth giving the GT630M driver a try?

I don't understand this question. The Nvidia-390 is the GT630M driver.

[electron1948]

Hi SMG, Weirder and Weirder!
Checked to see if the backlight was on, not easy but appeared not to be. The monitor splash screen also said 'No Signal' when powering up. Changed resolution a few times - no difference.

Ran 'cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | nc termbin.com 9999' and it returned 'HTTPS://termbin.com/2dfh'

Approx two minutes later, while talking to a visitor, the external monitor popped up the desktop background!
I've now rebooted a couple of times and it's still OK.

Later still I found that the HDMI socket is very 'iffy' and a slight movement of the connector results in the HDMI monitor going blank again. So it seems I had two problems: poor choice of driver and unreliable socket

Many, many thanks for your help, I'd never have got there on my own.
Electron1948