Tag Archives: 331.20

Problem with Nvidia 331.20 (64-bit) and Ubuntu updates start 2014

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After the latest updates from Ubuntu my system would not start the X server when booting up. I found a answer at askubuntu by the user darent (http://askubuntu.com/questions/399153/after-apt-get-upgrade-system-always-boot-to-low-graphics-mode):

I had this same problem just a few hours ago, the latest 331 is broken. Downgrading to the previous driver or any other, included the open-source nouveau won’t work, the only solution is uninstall all nvidia packages and install the driver from the .run you can download from the nvidia website.

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

There, select your graphic card, architecture, etc, and download the installer. When it’s done, you’ll need to install it from the command line without X running. Pres Ctrl+Alt+F1 and after login:

sudo service lightdm stop
# (change this line to match the drivers you have installed
# or simply sudo apt-get purge nvidia*).
sudo apt-get remove nvidia-319 nvidia-331

Now, assuming your driver has been downloaded to the “Downloads” folder:

cd Downloads
chmod +x NVIDIA*
sudo ./NVIDIA*.run

I’ve used the asterisk here because I can’t know if the driver you downloaded is the exact same name as mine, since it depends on your GPU. You could use autocompletion with the tab key to use the exact .run name.

Follow the on screen instructions. When you finish, reboot:

sudo shutdown -r now

If after rebooting you see the same problem, log again in a TTY and try:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

This should regenerate a new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Just a quick update for anyone who used my solution: Today a new update of some gl libraries has broken my system again. I’ve had to re-install the NVIDIA run package, it complained about some of its libraries being altered and restored them to its working state. There seems to be a compatibility problem between libraries from the official repositories and the ones packaged in the driver. This is the reason I don’t like to install things from outside packagers… To reinstall the driver, kill the X with

sudo service lightdm stop

and reinstall the .run with

sudo ./NVIDIA....run

NVidia drivers on Ubuntu…

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The installation of new NVIDIA drivers can be a problem sometimes, especially if you are not accustomed to the way things usually work on a Linux operating system.

There are just a couple of ways of installing the NVIDIA driver on an Ubuntu system: the easy way and the hard way. The easy way is also the most straightforward, but it requires a working Internet connection. This method will also introduce you to the beautiful world of PPAs.

Ubuntu 13.10, just like its predecessors, benefits from a large repository, but Canonical developers don’t upload the most recent version of the driver for several considerations. The most important is that it they don’t risk uploading a piece of software that has yet to be proven stable.

Fortunately, there is a PPA that makes available the latest versions of the drivers, a day or two after the launch. Just enter the following command in a terminal (you will need root access):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-331

If you already have an older version of the driver you will need to replace the last command with:

 sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

After the process is finished, restart the computer and you’re set. The next time NVIDIA releases a new driver, you will only have to update the system, without adding the PPA.

The second method is a little more complicated, but you don’t need an Internet connection (you will need to download the driver at some point, but you don’t need the connection during the installation). We will be using the 64-bit driver as an example. I did not have a big success with this method

You will have to enter the virtual console with Ctrl + Alt + F1 and login into the system with the user name and password. There, you need to navigate to the location of your driver (for example Downloads) and enter the following commands

sudo service lightdm stop
sudo chmod a+x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-331.20.run
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-331.20.run
sudo reboot

This is it. Whatever method you choose, enjoy the latest NVIDIA drivers.