Nvidia 331 installed but unable to select it

[NoWorries]

I have dual graphic cards listed by sudo lspci|grep VGA as:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108M [GeForce GT 630M] (rev a1)

I was able to install bumblebee and get glxgears working by using the procedures here. The main problem with this method is that, if you want to have an application use the GeForce card, the string optirun has to preceed the command to start the application. Also, I could not get any output with a hdmi cable connected.

I used muon to remove bumblebee and I then installed nvidia-331 and all its associated files. When I run

~$ sudo /usr/bin/nvidia-settings
[sudo] password: 
** Message: PRIME: Requires offloading
** Message: PRIME: is it supported? yes

ERROR:

I get the NVIDIA X Serve Settings and PRIME Profiles has options for the two video cards but it refuses to allow me to select the NVIDIA. Is there something else that I need to do to get it to work?

[NoWorries]

I noticed that when I got the previous results, I had the bumblebee repository selected. I then tried the repository http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu. This gave a more recent version for Nvidia, ie 331.67. In this case the nvidia-settings crashed so I now have bumblebee and xorg-edgers repositories deselected. I purged all the nvidia* packages and then installed nvidia-331 and all its associated packages.

My system still gives what I reported previously. To illustrate what I am getting, the attached graphics show what I get when I try to change to the NVIDIA (Performance Mode). After clicking OK it promptly returns to the Intel.

To me it seems as though the NVIDIA driver is not activated. I was surprised to see that there were some xorg.conf.--- files in /etc/X11 but no xorg.conf file. I had thought that we no longer needed a xorg.conf file!

Is the current situation that NVIDIA drivers do not work when there are dual graphic cards? I am patiently waiting to be able to use my laptop's hdmi output rather than being forced to use the VGA output.

[SteveRiley]

If you don't mind disabling the Intel graphics in your firmware, thus forcing your machine to use only the nVidia processor, you should be able to eliminate your problems. Tha'ts how I run my ThinkPad T520.

[NoWorries]

Thanks for the suggestion. My only problem is that I do not know how to disable Intel Graphics in firmware. I tried removing packages such as nouveau-firmware and linux-firmware-nonfree but that made no difference. These packages were listed by Muon when I searched for firmware. The nouveau-firmware package is for the open source nvidia driver.

[SteveRiley]

Hm. On my ThinkPad, there's a hardware configuration page in the firmware's menu that offers a number of settings. One is for the graphics: integrated (only Intel), discrete (only nVidia), or switchable (using Optimus to manage both). Have you explored your firmware's menus for something similar?

When I write "firmware menus," I'm referring to what we used to call the BIOS settings. But since the collection of PCs in the world is now a mix, some with BIOS and some with UEFI, I'm changing my vocabuarly to use the more generic term "firmware." I don't mean to imply that you should be uninstalling packages with "firmware" in their names. In fact, you probably should put those back.

[NoWorries]

. . . . I'm changing my vocabuarly to use the more generic term "firmware." I don't mean to imply that you should be uninstalling packages with "firmware" in their names. In fact, you probably should put those back.

After removing the packages, I did in fact reinstall them to return my system to normal.

I am beginning to wonder if I should make some changes in the grub code as my system has UEFI and the BIOS does not give any options to change the display drivers.

[SteveRiley]

my system has UEFI and the BIOS does not give any options to change the display drivers

Not drivers... I mean a configuration in the firmware setup menus (what we used to call "BIOS settings"). It has nothing to do with drivers, but rather with how the hardware should be operated. For example, on my ThinkPad T520:


Screen 1. Firmware settings main menu




Screen 2. Hardware configuration menu, with "Display" option selected




Screen 3. Display configuration menu, with "Graphics Device" selected and "Discrete Graphics" chosen




This setting disables the Intel onboard ("Integrated") graphics, as you can see:

steve@t520:~$ [B]lspci[/B]
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b4)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
[COLOR="#B22222"][B]01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [Quadro NVS 4200M] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 HDMI Audio Controller (rev a1)[/B][/COLOR]
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (rev 35)
0d:00.0 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller (rev 08)

I'd be surprised if your firmware settings menus didn't offer something similar.

I am beginning to wonder if I should make some changes in the grub code

Since we're dealing with hardware configuration here, which is "beneath" GRUB, you wouldn't be making any GRUB changes to try to get the computer to use on the nVidia graphics and ignore the Intel graphics.

[NoWorries]

Thanks for the attachments which are quite different to what I get as shown below. As you can see there is no option in the BIOS to select the NVIDIA driver.

One the man reasons for wanting this driver is that I thought it might help resolve the problem I am having with the hdmi connection. When I use the hdmi connection to a Digital TV nothing is shown and I get a message on the TV saying to check the power connection etc. When I had 13.10 installed, I was able to use the hdmi connection however it had problems with screen updates, eg a line of mouse pointer images across the screen.

I will be interested to try any further ideas you have.

Tomorrow I will be using my Laptop to run LO Impress at a funeral. Also a M$ XP computer for recording the service does not boot, so I will also be using Audacity on my Laptop to record the service. In addition I will be controlling a Presonus Mixer. SO I will make sure that I do not break my system and I might be a bit slow in responding - please be patient.

[SteveRiley]

Thanks for the attachments which are quite different to what I get as shown below. As you can see there is no option in the BIOS to select the NVIDIA driver.

To clarify... we aren't discussing drivers here, we're discussing hardware configuration. On my machine, I can select which graphics chip should be enabled in the hardware. By selecting only "Discrete graphics" (which is the nVidia chip), my Intel graphics is completely disabled. As such, it is then not even detected by the operating system, and I don't have to deal with Bumblebee fiddling.

I am curious about something. Let's try to disable the Intel graphics via software and see if we can force the computer to use only nVidia. But first, I'd like to see what kernel modules are loaded in your machine. Please post the output of lsmod here.

[NoWorries]

I am curious about something. Let's try to disable the Intel graphics via software and see if we can force the computer to use only nVidia. But first, I'd like to see what kernel modules are loaded in your machine. Please post the output of lsmod here.

:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
usb_storage            62209  0 
rfcomm                 69160  12 
bnep                   19624  2 
binfmt_misc            17468  1 
nfsd                  280336  13 
auth_rpcgss            59338  1 nfsd
nfs_acl                12837  1 nfsd
nfs                   236636  0 
lockd                  93977  2 nfs,nfsd
sunrpc                284590  23 nfs,nfsd,auth_rpcgss,lockd,nfs_acl
fscache                63988  1 nfs
ath3k                  13318  0 
btusb                  32412  0 
bluetooth             395423  23 bnep,ath3k,btusb,rfcomm
nls_iso8859_1          12713  1 
uvcvideo               80885  0 
videobuf2_vmalloc      13216  1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops       13362  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
snd_usb_audio         153450  2 
videobuf2_core         40664  1 uvcvideo
videodev              134688  2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
snd_usbmidi_lib        29215  1 snd_usb_audio
hid_logitech_dj        18581  0 
usbhid                 52570  0 
hid                   106148  3 usbhid,hid_logitech_dj
asus_nb_wmi            16990  0 
asus_wmi               24191  1 asus_nb_wmi
sparse_keymap          13948  1 asus_wmi
intel_rapl             18773  0 
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    14205  0 
intel_powerclamp       14705  0 
coretemp               13435  0 
kvm_intel             143060  0 
kvm                   451511  1 kvm_intel
snd_hda_codec_realtek    61438  1 
crct10dif_pclmul       14289  0 
crc32_pclmul           13113  0 
snd_hda_intel          52355  6 
snd_hda_codec         192906  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
ghash_clmulni_intel    13216  0 
snd_hwdep              13602  2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
arc4                   12608  2 
snd_pcm               102099  3 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_page_alloc         18710  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
aesni_intel            55624  0 
snd_seq_midi           13324  0 
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
aes_x86_64             17131  1 aesni_intel
ath9k                 164164  0 
lrw                    13286  1 aesni_intel
gf128mul               14951  1 lrw
snd_rawmidi            30144  2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_midi
glue_helper            13990  1 aesni_intel
ablk_helper            13597  1 aesni_intel
ath9k_common           13551  1 ath9k
cryptd                 20359  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
ath9k_hw              453856  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
snd_seq                61560  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
ath                    28698  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
mac80211              626557  1 ath9k
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer              29482  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
cfg80211              484040  3 ath,ath9k,mac80211
serio_raw              13462  0 
snd                    69238  28 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
lpc_ich                21080  0 
mei_me                 18627  0 
mei                    82276  1 mei_me
soundcore              12680  1 snd
parport_pc             32701  0 
mac_hid                13205  0 
ppdev                  17671  0 
lp                     17759  0 
parport                42348  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
mxm_wmi                13021  0 
i915                  783703  3 
i2c_algo_bit           13413  1 i915
drm_kms_helper         52758  1 i915
ahci                   25819  4 
psmouse               102222  0 
alx                    32452  0 
drm                   302817  4 i915,drm_kms_helper
libahci                32168  1 ahci
mdio                   13807  1 alx
wmi                    19177  2 mxm_wmi,asus_wmi
video                  19476  2 i915,asus_wmi
:~$

I will be interested to know if this uncovers any problems with my machine. Thanks for being willing to trawl through the lsmod output.

[SteveRiley]

The nvidia kernel module isn't loaded. Without that, the X driver won't load. So now we need to find out why. What's the output of lspci -k and sudo lshw -C display?

[Don]

Dumping Nouveau for NVIDIA

Steve,
I wonder if I can make bold to horn in on the discussion and use your expertise. I would like to install the NVIDIA driver for the GTX 460, but Nouveau is preventing it. I cannot seem to boot into recovery mode; the machine just hangs at a blinking cursor. Here are the three print-outs you sought from NoWorries:

lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by
vmnet                  56072  13 
bnep                   19624  2 
vmw_vsock_vmci_transport    26278  0 
vsock                  34895  1 vmw_vsock_vmci_transport
vmw_vmci               62966  1 vmw_vsock_vmci_transport
rfcomm                 69160  0 
bluetooth             395423  10 bnep,rfcomm
vmmon                  80278  0 
binfmt_misc            17468  1 
arc4                   12608  2 
ath9k                 164164  0 
ath9k_common           13551  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              453856  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
joydev                 17381  0 
hid_microsoft          12805  0 
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     46207  4 
ath                    28698  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
usb_storage            62209  1 
mac80211              626557  1 ath9k
cfg80211              484040  3 ath,ath9k,mac80211
gpio_ich               13476  0 
i7core_edac            24122  0 
edac_core              62291  2 i7core_edac
lpc_ich                21080  0 
serio_raw              13462  0 
coretemp               13435  0 
kvm_intel             143060  0 
kvm                   451511  1 kvm_intel
snd_hda_codec_realtek    61438  1 
snd_hda_intel          52355  10 
snd_hda_codec         192906  3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              13602  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm               102099  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_page_alloc         18710  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_midi           13324  0 
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi            30144  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                61560  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer              29482  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd                    69238  31 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
mac_hid                13205  0 
soundcore              12680  1 snd
parport_pc             32701  0 
ppdev                  17671  0 
lp                     17759  0 
parport                42348  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
hid_logitech_dj        18581  0 
usbhid                 52570  0 
hid                   106148  4 hid_microsoft,usbhid,hid_logitech_dj
nouveau              1097199  2 
mxm_wmi                13021  1 nouveau
video                  19476  1 nouveau
firewire_ohci          40409  0 
i2c_algo_bit           13413  1 nouveau
firewire_core          68769  1 firewire_ohci
ttm                    85115  1 nouveau
crc_itu_t              12707  1 firewire_core
drm_kms_helper         52758  1 nouveau
r8169                  67581  0 
pata_acpi              13038  0 
mii                    13934  1 r8169
drm                   302817  4 ttm,drm_kms_helper,nouveau
pata_jmicron           12758  0 
ahci                   25819  0 
libahci                32168  1 ahci
wmi                    19177  2 mxm_wmi,nouveau

lspci -k

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub to ESI Port (rev 13)                                                                               
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000                     
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 13)                                                                    
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport                                          
00:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 13)                                                                    
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport                                          
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 13)                                                                    
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport                                          
00:10.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Physical and Link Layer Registers Port 0 (rev 13)                                                             
00:10.1 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Routing and Protocol Layer Registers Port 0 (rev 13)
00:11.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500 Physical and Link Layer Registers Port 1 (rev 13)
00:11.1 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500 Routing & Protocol Layer Register Port 1 (rev 13)
00:13.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub I/OxAPIC Interrupt Controller (rev 13)
00:14.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers (rev 13)
        Kernel driver in use: i7core_edac
00:14.1 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers (rev 13)
00:14.2 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers (rev 13)
00:15.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Trusted Execution Technology Registers (rev 13)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5/GA-EG45M-DS2H Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 1
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 2
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 3
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 4
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 5
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5 Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5 Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5 Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5 Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 90)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JIR (ICH10R) LPC Interface Controller
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5 Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller #1
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device b002
        Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GA-EP45-DS5/GA-EG45M-DS2H Motherboard
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller #2
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device b002
        Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
01:00.0 IDE interface: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Device 91a3 (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device b000
        Kernel driver in use: ahci
02:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5007
        Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF104 [GeForce GTX 460] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: eVga.com. Corp. Device 1360
        Kernel driver in use: nouveau
03:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF104 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
        Subsystem: eVga.com. Corp. Device 1360
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
05:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: ahci
05:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: pata_jmicron
06:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device 3099
        Kernel driver in use: ath9k
07:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: ahci
07:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: pata_jmicron
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 06)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: r8169
09:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
3f:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-Core Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QPI Link 0 (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QPI Physical 0 (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:03.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:03.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:03.4 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:04.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:04.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:04.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:04.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:05.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:05.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:05.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:05.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:06.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Control Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:06.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Address Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:06.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Rank Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000
3f:06.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Thermal Control Registers (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 5000

sudo lshw -C display

  *-display               
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: GF104 [GeForce GTX 460]
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=nouveau latency=0
       resources: irq:55 memory:f6000000-f7ffffff memory:e0000000-e7ffffff memory:ec000000-efffffff ioport:bf00(size=128) memory:e8000000-e807ffff

I certainly hope one of us knows what all of this means. I know which one doesn't. I think I need to boot into grub's recovery mode, then go after nouveau and then install the latest (tested) Nvidia drivers. (I'll skip the 340s for now in favor of the 331s. I've seen some of the discussion. Any help much appreciated.

[oshunluvr]

Late to this thread, but you do have your kernel headers installed, right?

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

[NoWorries]

Thanks for the reply. I do have the kernel headers installed, ie

:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
[sudo] password: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
linux-headers-3.13.0-29-generic is already the newest version.
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
:~$

I will certainly be very interested to try any ideas that you come up with on how to solve this problem.

[SteveRiley]

Been away for a while. Now returning to this thread.

@NoWorries: Would you please run the two commands I requested in my post #11?

@Don: Installing the nVidia binary driver should create a blacklist file in /etc/modprobe.d. What's the output of
tail -n +1 /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia*

---

Reminder while I'm thinking about it: remember that it's often necessary to rebuild the initramfs when changing the kernel driver. Usually the installation scripts handle that for us. But it can't hurt to run sudo update-initramfs -u -k all just to be on the safe side. I'll let you know when it's time to do this.