[SOLVED] Black screen after installing Nvidia driver

[VanessaDeagan]

I have a Z97 motherboard with an Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU. It used to work fine with the Nvidia drivers, but it has been a while since I've started using this desktop machine again. The problem I have is I get a black screen after installing the proprietary Nvidia drivers. The methods I've used to install the drivers:

1. Have tried ticking "Install 3rd Party software" during installation (can see "nvidia-435" packages being installed).
2. Have tried ubuntu-drivers autoinstall (with/without the graphics-drivers ppa).
3. Have tried installing drivers directly (versions 390 to 440) using sudo apt install nvidia-driver-XXX.
4. Have tried installing using the "Driver Manager" GUI.
5. Have tried downloading and running the .run file directly from Nvidia (while in telinit 3 mode).
6. Have tried manually blacklisting Nouveau with all of the above.

Each and every time, I just get a black screen after rebooting (it doesn't even display the login screen. I can get the GRUB menu up if I tap the ESC key, and can sometimes drop down in the Recovery Mode's root shell (but not always). I have tried re-installing (using several different USB sticks) numerous times. I have found that if I install without ticking the "Install 3rd party software" checkbox, then everything works fine with the Nouveau drivers, and I can then install openssh-server (which is very useful because it allows me to ssh in to the box and then do a sudo apt remove --purge nvidia* to start again without re-installing.

How can I install the Nvidia drivers and get a login screen?

[VanessaDeagan]

Turns out, in my case, it was a hardware issue. The slot on my motherboard is faulty. I moved the GPU to the second slot, and it works fine now.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I'm glad your problem is resolved, and I appreciate that you posted what your solution was. It may help someone else who's having similar problems!

[VanessaDeagan]

I'm glad your problem is resolved, and I appreciate that you posted what your solution was. It may help someone else who's having similar problems!

After spending 3 days on this issue, I might write a blog about the process I went through. It taught me a lot about installing the Nvidia drivers (including the log files I was looking at: /var/log/Xorg.0.log, /var/log/dmesg etc...). It was a very good learning experience. I might even put my 1070 back in to the faulty slot so I can capture the precise log events (I saw something like "...GPU has fallen off the bus...", which is what made me think it could be a hardware issue - something I initially dismissed because strangely enough everything was working fine with the Nouveau drivers).

I think it could be beneficial to others to write up a detailed post on where to start when looking for such issues, as a lot of the time, folks (including myself) just end up randomly searching for answers when it would be much better to follow a reliable process (something that would have saved me a lot of time). In my case, the process was:

• Install without ticking the "Install third party software" checkbox to avoid installing Nvidia drivers during installation.
• Install Open SSH Server after installation is complete (to make sure you can still access the box if the desktop/boot "freezes up").
• Install the proprietary Nvidia drivers (using whichever method best suites you) and then reboot.
• If you get the black screen, SSH in to the machine from another computer (I used my Android phone with an SSH client).
• Check the relevant log files (i.e. /var/log/Xorg.0.log and /var/log/dmesg) and perform a search for reported errors.
• If you wish to return to the Nouveau drivers, uninstall the Nvidia drivers (sudo apt remove --purge nvidia-*).

In my case, laziness didn't pay off - checking the logs should have been my first port of call.

IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: I was completely blown away by how well the Nouveau drivers now work this 1070! Compared to what Nouveau was like a couple of years ago, the difference is like night and day. Were it not for my specific use case (i.e. CUDA programming), I would have stuck with the Nouveau drivers. The Nouveau drivers worked flawlessly with my dual-monitor setup (a 2K monitor, and FHD TV panel). Everything was fast, smooth, could watch a full-HD video in VLC while comfortably browsing and scrolling. CPU usage was excellent (compared to what it used to be like when I last used Nouveau). When I get a chance, I'll definitely try Nouveau out with some of the Steam games I play.

[TWPonKubuntu]

@VanessaDeagan Thanks for your detailed reporting on Nvidia problems. I've given up on all Nvidia drivers and reverted to Nouveau on my one system which needs it.

Thanks to the Nouveau dev team for keeping up with this.

Given a choice, I will not buy a computer, laptop or desktop, which has Nvidia graphics chips. I do realize that some of us don't have that option, but it is certainly something to consider when shopping for new/used hardware. Making a choice to avoid the Nvidia driver mess can save a LOT of time in your future.

[VanessaDeagan]

@TWPonKubuntu - I couldn't agree more. I'm currently in the market for a new desktop rig, and I'm definitely going to go for an AMD option (both in terms of the CPU and GPU). I have been eyeballing the Ryzen 9 3700x along with a Vega 56 graphics card. I still need to do some research in to how "Linux friendly" the hardware I want is (I understand that new mobos and CPUs, especially CPUs from AMD, can experience a few teething problems out of the gate).

I've been using an AMD RX 580 for a couple of years now, and have been very happy with it. I mean, the driver is Open Source, and it's in the kernel! What's not to like? It's soooooo nice to be able to install a Linux distro and not have to worry about the GPU drivers. No need to fiddle around with complicated proprietary BLOBs trying to find the right formula (and sometimes cryptic kernel/module params) just to get up and running. In terms of a great Linux desktop experience, I think AMD have nailed it (well, at least with the AMD GPU I have).

Nvidia still have the lead in many areas (CUDA being one of them, another being the NVENC hardware encoding support). But in terms of a hassle free, fast, and fluid desktop experience, Nvidia fail to deliver. As an example, consider the latest Linux distros with a 1070 (probably other Nvidia cards too):

Driver 430 - unable to reliably install from default repositories due to nvidia-dkms breaking (can install by downloading directly from Nvidia).
Driver 435 - terrible stutter, jank, performance for the Linux desktop (for example, try it with Kubuntu 19.10 with wobbly windows running - terrible performance).
Driver 440 - same issues as driver 435.

I have found the 430 driver seems to perform the best for my hardware. There's still an intermittent "jello effect" in Firefox when scrolling (depends on the page you're scrolling in, and whether or not you have VLC open and playing a video).

I can't wait to try out a Vega 56 card. Unfortunately, I still have to use Nvidia for my 9-to-5.

[jlittle]

Thank you for the detailed reports. Appreciated.

I'm currently in the market for a new desktop rig...
I've been using an AMD RX 580 for a couple of years now, and have been very happy with it.

Is there a reason you don't want to use the RX580 in the new rig?

[VanessaDeagan]

Is there a reason you don't want to use the RX580 in the new rig?

No reason, other than I'm curious about Vega