Lenovo Ideapad Y500 LiveUSB Problem

[greybeard62]

"If it works for you exactly as I've written it up, please report back. If there was anything I didn't quite explain or that didn't quite work, please report back so I can edit this post for others as well."

Thank you so much! Your scripts worked perfectly just as posted. Can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. This forum is a great resource.

This is a great timesaver and help for those just getting the Y500 or Y400. I get to save about six hairs on top of my head now and I can put up my big Linux books again, things are heavy. It helps to remember how to do stuff and learn new things though, fertilizer for the brain.

Of course for a plain newb or an old geezer like me, create the scripts in your home dir or a work dir, then sudo cp to appropriate directories as listed. The absolute beginner will need to know how to cat the files but you can't do everything. Everything worked perfectly after reboot. I'm gonna go get a shot of Knob Creek - you earned it, I'll drink it to you, cheers!

[greybeard62]

One more thing, about the generic headers. I followed the guide on this forum at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2081649

to install the .bin driver from nvidia web site.

The driver is installed and works, current 64 bit for this card 310.19 but I have produced a bug report on the nvidia driver, crashed.

So now I am 3.5.0-21-generic.

Apparently you are suggesting the nvidia-currrent driver works without the generic headers? There are many different guides available and the one above did work so there I was on the fourth install with generic headers.

Just a little dream but is there consensus about this and perhaps a complete Y500 install guide..and finally, are you 12.10 64 bit desktop?

Before I get back to that crazy screen and try to remove generic headers and install 3.5.0-21-64bit and have to start all over I'll listen to advice.

[oldfred]

I do not have the Lenovo, but do have nVidia.

If you install the nVidia driver direct from nVidia, you have to reinstall with every new kernel as part of the install step is recompiling the init or boot files.

The experimental files from Ubuntu are just the newer versions of the nVidia. After nVidia messed up with the older .40 version not working with some nVidia cards I think Ubuntu wants to wait and see if the newer version really works before truly recommending it. Before they used to only offer one version.

If you download the Ubuntu versions, then with every kernel update it automatically is recompiled & works.

Some very new versions of Nvidia cards or chips may need the very newest driver, so then you cannot use the Ubuntu provided ones. But if not bleeding edge, it is a lot easier just to use the Ubuntu provided ones.

[rorschachwalter]

One more thing, about the generic headers. I followed the guide on this forum at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2081649

to install the .bin driver from nvidia web site.

The driver is installed and works, current 64 bit for this card 310.19 but I have produced a bug report on the nvidia driver, crashed.

As pointed out in the comment above, using the Ubuntu-provided driver makes upgrades seamless and also protects against regressions and instability. It's recommended that you stick with installing using the nvidia-current package. Lots of people have complained about updates and experimental drivers not working, and then things being fixed when reverting to nvidia-current.

And nvidia-current works fine on my Lenovo Ideapad Y500 with a 650m -- no crashes yet even after gaming for a while.

Apparently you are suggesting the nvidia-currrent driver works without the generic headers? There are many different guides available and the one above did work so there I was on the fourth install with generic headers.

Yes, I'm a bit dismayed at how difficult it is to find consistent and verified documentation on installing the nvidia driver. But again, the recommended installation procedure is to use nvidia-current. This is how Ubuntu installs it if you install and invoke jockey (Ubuntu's tool for installing proprietary drivers and firmware).

I am not exactly sure what the issue with the headers and the nvidia-current package is. But if you had resolution problems or if your desktop wouldn't boot or something after trying the nvidia-current package, it has to do with the headers. Normally, linux-headers-generic should work (and I'm guessing it does with the driver provided on nvidia's site), but there's some bug causing it to not work now. The other command I provided fixes the headers issue and allows a very quick and easy installation of the nvidia drivers. Install dkms, install the headers, install nvidia-current, then reboot and everything should be perfect.

No messing around with other commands to install the driver from nvidia's site, and for me, no crashes.

Just a little dream but is there consensus about this and perhaps a complete Y500 install guide..and finally, are you 12.10 64 bit desktop?

The consensus is that, at least for this Ubuntu release, you should use nvidia-current, which means not installing linux-headers-generic, but installing linux-headers-`uname -r` and dkms first.

Before I get back to that crazy screen and try to remove generic headers and install 3.5.0-21-64bit and have to start all over I'll listen to advice.

I think you can fix your situation fairly easily. Give this a shot, and if it doesn't work, then a rebuild might be easier:

Just uninstall the nvidia driver you installed from their website using this command:

sudo ~/installation_file.run --uninstall

Replace the filename above with whatever the actual filename is, and make sure the file is in your home directory.

Then uninstall the headers you installed before (you can probably leave them installed, but just incase):

sudo apt-get remove linux-headers-generic

I'd reboot at this point just to be sure nothing is sitting around that might cause problems with the new driver installation. After a reboot, just install dkms and linux-headers-`uname -r`, then after those install nvidia-current. Reboot and you should be good to go.

[greybeard62]

OK,

I'm hosed again.

First uninstalled the nvidia driver as noted - done.
Then uninstalled generic headers - done.
Reboot.
Screen hosed. Can't see anything except the spread out background.

Can get a terminal going in low-res.
Can't install "uname-r"
Don't have a clue but probably can't see everything out there.
dpkg --list shows two images, 3.5.0-17.28 and 3.5.0-21.32 as well as their linux-image-ex and thelinux-image-ge.

So, please give command to install the headers.
Tried sudo apt-get install linux-headers(all combinations I could think of).

[rorschachwalter]

Sorry to hear you're having troubles.

I think the problem is that you're typing the package name wrong. It's

linux-headers-`uname -r`

The uname -r text is enclosed by the little apostrophe-type thing (called a grace accent) below the tilda. The command will NOT work with quotes or single quotes -- you must use the grave accent. Also make sure it has a space before the between the "uname" and the "-r" ending.

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

I didn't add any special repositories to my install, so the package should be there for you. Doing "apt-cache search linux-headers-`uname -r`" shows

linux-headers-3.5.0-19-generic - Linux kernel headers for version 3.5.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP

You probably won't see exactly that version since I'm typing this from another computer, but you should be able to install the package once it's typed properly.

[greybeard62]

Yes, I understand. However this results in 3.5.0-21-generic showing installed. Perhpas I misunderstood thinking I was removing (I did execute the command and reboot) the generic headers and reverting. So, after executing the code I still show generic installed, ie, uname -r returns 3.5.0-21-generic.

Yes, am using the correct character under the tilda not quotes, just typed it wrong here.

Anyway, same thing, after reboot and sudo apt-get install .....am still running generic, still have nvidia-current drivers so good there and still immediately after reboot have system program problem (it is an nvidia crash).

So, either I am extremely dense or simply don't understand what you are telling me or I need to re-install and start over to get rid of the generic headers. They remain.

[greybeard62]

It is late, not sure if my response was clear enough.
OK, did this all again before last post.
1. Uninstalled the 310.19 64 bit run file - OK
2.removed linux-headers generic
3. rebooted.
4. Installed sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
5. Installed sudo apt-get install nvidia-current
6. reboot

All commands work properly but I still am generic, 3.5.0-21-generic
I definitely am running the nvidia-current driver, from repository not nvidia. Definitely getting nvidia crash on reboot (still works just cancel out).

[rorschachwalter]

I guess I wasn't understanding your problem then. Sorry!

I think the best solution would just be to reinstall. At least, that's the best solution I've got, because if we're running the same machine, I have no idea why the steps that worked for me wouldn't also work for you, unless something during the initial nvidia install messed with something.

Regarding having the generic headers installed, that's the way it should be -- just NOT from the linux-headers-generic package. Only from the uname -r command.

Your configuration includes an nVidia 650m?

[oldfred]

these are the commands I ran. I did not put version number into headers install and it installed the current head that I needed.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2081649
# You may need headers - meta package for current version:
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic
# only reason to purge is there are several versions, if you know you have different nVidia use that:
#To see available versions:
dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia*
apt-cache search nvidia-sett*
# I used nvidia-current-updates & nvidia-settings-updates, example below is just nvidia-current, use version you prefer
sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current
sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings
sudo dpkg-reconfigure nvidia-current
sudo nvidia-xconfig
sudo reboot
May want nvidia-current, nvidia-current-updates or nvidia-current-experimental-XXX for most recent testing version.
apt-cache search nvidia-sett*