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Thread: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Beans
    13

    NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    I've been trying for the last couple days to get the NVidia drivers working on this new laptop with no luck. Originally when I tried to enable the proprietary drivers through the GUI, it said it was available but not activated or something. The strangest thing is, when I boot from USB, I get a Unity interface working 100%, I'm assuming this means it is using the proper drivers since I can't get Unity after I install...

    I started by running
    Code:
    sudo nvidia-xconfig
    to get an X11 config file that made use of the drivers. Unfortunately, when trying to startx I would then get an error complaining that the nvidia kernel module couldn't be loaded.

    I did
    Code:
    locate nvidia.ko
    to find the location of the kernel module, it was at
    Code:
    /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-current/2.70.41.06/build/nvidia.ko
    I then created a symbolic link in the appropriate modules directory
    Code:
    ln -s /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-current/2.70.41.06/build/nvidia.ko /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidia.ko
    and finally ran
    Code:
    depmod -a
    so that the module could be loaded. X was now loading the module but gave the error "(EE) No devices detected" so in the Device section of xorg.conf I added the line
    Code:
    BusId "PCI:1:0:0"
    .

    Now I'm at the point where the kernel module is being loaded but it still won't work. I get the following
    Code:
    (--) NVIDIA(0): Connected display device(s) on Quadro 1000M at PCI:1:0:0
    (--) NVIDIA(0): none
    (EE) NVIDIA(0): No display devices found for this X screen
    (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration
    I followed the advice in this thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...1#post10809006 and it allows X to start with no errors, I even get the login sound, but the screen is still completely black.

    Does anyone have any advice?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Beans
    1

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    I got the exact same laptop (i7 2820, nvidia quadro 1000M) as you and the same problems. Installed Ubuntu for the first time... unity wouldn't start saying the Nvidia driver is installed but not activated (played around with settings and f***** it up beyond repair). Reinstalled Ubuntu and magically unity started working.
    The only problem is that it crashes quite a bit. Hibernate or suspend crashes the system.. to point where you have to turn it on and off (not sure if it's video card related). Half of the time when scrolling down websites the top dashboard gets printed in the middle of the screen.

    Think the drivers are a work in progress... painful.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Beans
    13

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    Well that's pretty unfortunate. I tried a re-install with no success. I'm going to download the alternate installation media and try again I guess.

    I'll post back with any progress. I'm pretty much out of ideas, I've tried quite a few things and it's to the point where I'm not even getting any error messages to help with debugging, just a black screen.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Beans
    13

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    Just an update, if I remove the lines pertaining to what was recommended in http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...1#post10809006 then reboot with an external monitor attached, everything seems to work fine with the proprietary NVidia drivers.

    This seems to suggest that the NVidia drivers are having a hard time with my display, but using the EDID isn't working as a solution. Not sure what else to do.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Beans
    13

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    The source of the problem was with NVidia Optimus. Had to go to the BIOS and disable Optimus completely and set the card to run always in Discrete mode. The OS detection in Optimus doesn't seem to work, it wasn't until I completely disabled it that things started working. Hopefully battery life doesn't suffer too much.

    Here's a quick tutorial of what I did to get a fresh install working after this discovery and only using Ubuntu packages to do so (I hate installing things from outside the package manager).

    1) Disable Optimus in the BIOS, set the card to run in Discrete mode

    2) Install Ubuntu

    4) Activate the NVidia proprietary driver under "Additional Drivers"

    5) Reboot

    6) Run nvidia-xconfig.

    7) Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf, add the following to the "Device" section:
    Code:
    BusId "PCI:1:0:0"
    8) Blacklist the nouveau driver by adding the following to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
    Code:
    blacklist vga16fb
    blacklist nouveau
    blacklist rivafb
    blacklist nvidiafb
    blacklist rivatv
    9) Make the nvidia kernel driver loadable by using a symbolic link as follows:
    Code:
    sudo ln -s /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-current/2.70.41.06/build/nvidia.ko /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidia.ko
    
    sudo depmod -aq
    10) Reboot!

    Now it should be working. Unfortunately the ubuntu "additional drivers" GUI will still report the driver as "Available but not in use" this is however false. You'll know you're using the right driver because a big NVidia logo flashes on the screen just before login (and nvidia-settings is fully functional).

    Hope this helps my fellow W520 users, now I can finally enjoy my new computer.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Beans
    12

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    Thank you so much for this information. Do you think that this would work the same way for the 2000M also?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Beans
    13

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    I think it should, especially if it is NVidia Optimus that is the problem. Let me know how it goes for you, I'll check back on this thread and try and help you out if you get stuck.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    The World Is My Home..
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    can someone please make this simple enough for a layman to understand? im a newbie to linux help..

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Beans
    2

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    I have a new Thinkpad W520 with an Nvidia Quadro 2000 graphics card. I am an Ubuntu newby, migrating from Mac. I went through all the steps Breenmachine recommends, to the letter. When I reboot, I don't get to the desktop: instead, it goes to a black screen with a bunch of "*Starting ..." and "*Stopping ..." messages, and just hangs.

    According to the Ubuntu website, Lenovo is supposed to have a special Ubuntu distribution iso that actually works on the Thinkpad W520. Has nobody tried this?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Beans
    13

    Re: NVidia Quadro 1000M (ThinkPad W520)

    When you get the black screen, press ctrl-alt-f2, that should present you with a prompt to log in. Log in and type:
    Code:
    cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log
    Post the output here. It sounds like the kernel module still isn't getting loaded for you. Probably because something went wrong at this step:

    Code:
    sudo ln -s /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-current/2.70.41.06/build/nvidia.ko /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidia.ko
    
    sudo depmod -aq

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