Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

I don't know if the 173 driver is still in the repositories.

I would go a little different way. Try installing the x-swat repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-current

This will install the latest nvidia driver already set up for k/ubuntu.
Actually, you should probably do an sudo apt-get dist-upgrade before the nvidia-current, but that is going to download and update a lot of stuff. It would be the best way to insure you're on the right kernel, though. If you are doing a fresh install, might as well do it right.

I don't follow you about the nvidia-common. I was under the impression that the live cd installed nouveau by default. Maybe not, but if it did, that would explain why installing nvidia-common broke the video. Check you /var/log/Xorg.0.log file, that will tell you whether it's trying to load nvidia, nouveau, or both, the latter case guaranteeing a video crash.

[Tiger 955]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

There were two drivers listed in the video settings, 173.* & nvidia-common. From the Xorg.0.log file it looked like it was the nouveau installed as there were lines & lines prefixed with nouveau. So if these were the nvidia drivers to select & install shouldn't it have removed the nouveau one's?

The Xorg.0.log file is attached, it's after running the upgrade/x-swat update/reinstall nvidia-current, which still didn't work.

I'm going to install again from disk to get a working pc & then try later to get the video working, is it not the nvidia-current that's the problem?

BIG THANKS again for your input.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

1. nvidia-common should not be required, it's apparently for finding obsolete drivers, and isn't really part of the driver package. It could possibly cause problems if loaded.

2. I still see mention of NOUVEAU in Xorg.0.log, though it doesn't seem to be causing errors. Nonetheless, you can make sure there is no trace of nouveau by doing the following:

Go to your /etc/modprobe.d dirctory. See if there is a file (a symlink actually) called
nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf. If there is , fine. If there is not, then create a file called blacklist-nouveau.conf and put the following lines in it:

blacklist nouveau
blacklist lbm-nouveau
blacklist nvidia-173
blacklist nvidia-96

Also make sure that you have removed the nouveau packages:
xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

On my system, I am unable to remove the libdrm-nouveau1a package, because they have made most of ubuntu dependent on it (nice, eh?) With the blacklisting, it should pose no problem.

Once that is done, run update initramfs -u
You must do this step, otherwise the blacklisting won't take effect.
Then reboot.

3. Now if you somehow have the nvidia-173 driver installed, this will whack it, and you will have no video. So after that, you will need to set up the x-swat ppa, and run the procedure for installing the video driver, which for reference is:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-current

4. I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be a problem with your xorg.conf file -- that it is not really set up properly for dual monitors. I don't know how to do that, as I don't have dual monitors to test with. You might try running the nvidia-xconfig to set up a bare-cones xorg.conf file and see if it works. Also check its man page. I also found this howto, though it's very skeletal:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221174

This one may be better:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/dual-monit...th-nvidia.html
Ignore the part about "nvidia-glx", these are old instructions. nvidia-current from the x-swat repository is the driver you want. Just look for how to set up the xorg.conf on these pages.

[mfraser]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

I have tried to do 2 OEM installs of Kubuntu 11.04 now, both times it fails to work after installing the Nvidia drivers. Has a bug been reported on Launchpad as it can't be limited to a few people?

[mfraser]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

I have reported a bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...rg/+bug/794956

[lanzen]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

Interesting thread! I've found myself with this annoying bug in natty on my Desktop PC running Kubuntu 64bit. Of course everything was working beautifully in Maverick and I wasn't new to nvidia failures in the past.

That machine has a GeForce 7300le ghraphic card. Nouveau would not work, so I purge them and installed
nvidia-173. Maybe that's not the recommended solution, but now natty works quite fine.

Of course I'm willing, as soon as I get some time, to try other better alternatives, but now all seems ok, plymouth included.

[tendays]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

I'm also unable to login since I upgraded to 11.4. Just to see if I'm having the same problem as you guys, can you tell if you also have the following symptoms?

• When I attempt to log in, I wait until it freezes, then go to the text console (ctrl-alt-f1), log in there and run "top", it reports kded4 taking all cpu.
• going back to the graphic environment (ctrl-alt-f7, or f8, I don't remember which) gives me a black screen with just the mouse pointer that I can move around.
• Moving the .kde directory out of the way before logging in does not help.
• I am able to log in using other environments such as gnome.

In the meantime, next time I have access to the machine I'll try disabling/reinstalling/reconfiguring the nvidia driver. Thanks!

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

When I attempt to log in, I wait until it freezes, then go to the text console (ctrl-alt-f1), log in there and run "top", it reports kded4 taking all cpu.

When this happens, try killing the kded4 process. I have noticed that this often happens after a kde crash or freeze, and killing the kded4 process fixes it. There might also be a problem with starting a new kde session after rebooting; if kded4 was running in an error state of some kind, sometimes it just restarts itself in an error state.

I usually do this with htop from the console, but it can be done from the shell:

1. Kill the x server
sudo service kdm stop

2
ps -e | grep kded4

this gives you the process number, and there may be more than one instance of it, which I think may be the reason for the crash.

3.
kill -9 ####

where #### is the process id you got from 2 above.

4. Restart x and kde:
sudo service kdm start

This isn't a fix, but I have found it a useful workaround.

[dibl]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

killall -9 kded4

will do the trick, too.

[tendays]

Re: Cannot login after upgrading with NVIDIA driver enabled

Okay, I finally got access to that machine. The kded4 thing was just a coincidence after all because on other attempts there were no processes taking the cpu but it would crash all the same, AND using the vesa driver instead of nvidia solves the problem. Next time I'll try installing those newer drivers. Thanks for the help!