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View Full Version : [ubuntu] Turn on/off proprietary nVidia drivesr from command line



EndingPop
July 15th, 2008, 03:23 PM
I'd like to know if anyone knows how to turn on and off the proprietary video drivers (nVidia in my case) from the command line. I currently get major instability when they're on (video/audio freezes after a short but random interval beyond boot). It is usable and stable when they're off, but then I have no 3D video support.

That problem is for another thread (or many others, judging by a couple of searches). I'd like to know how to use the command line to turn them on and off so I can get my computer back to stable after attempting to troubleshoot this problem. Often the thing freezes before the drivers are fully turned off, and that causes all sorts of problems on reboot. If I could do this from the command line in a lower init level, then I could troubleshoot this issue better.

[Edit: Sorry, forgot to mention I'm running Hardy Heron, in case it matters.]

overdrank
July 15th, 2008, 03:51 PM
I'd like to know if anyone knows how to turn on and off the proprietary video drivers (nVidia in my case) from the command line. I currently get major instability when they're on (video/audio freezes after a short but random interval beyond boot). It is usable and stable when they're off, but then I have no 3D video support.

That problem is for another thread (or many others, judging by a couple of searches). I'd like to know how to use the command line to turn them on and off so I can get my computer back to stable after attempting to troubleshoot this problem. Often the thing freezes before the drivers are fully turned off, and that causes all sorts of problems on reboot. If I could do this from the command line in a lower init level, then I could troubleshoot this issue better.

[Edit: Sorry, forgot to mention I'm running Hardy Heron, in case it matters.]

Hi and welcome, I am unaware of such command but could you give us some system specs? Maybe we can help and are you using compiz (desktop effects)?

EndingPop
July 15th, 2008, 03:59 PM
I know there must be a way to do this from the CL. I suspect the GUI way just activates a script of some sort.

I'm not using compiz. I saw this same issue with Windows XP on the same machine. It appeared after over a year of normal operation. I checked the video card and motherboard for obvious issues (exploded capacitors and scorch marks), and found nothing. I don't have another video card I can swap in to tell for sure if it's my current card or not. Right now I'm hoping I won't need to shell out cash for new hardware, but switching the drivers on and off is difficult if you don't have enough time to finish the switch.

The video card is an AOpen GeForce 6200 AGP. What other specs would you like?