Install the newest nVidea driver for Lucid Lynx 10.04

[Cavsfan]

I know there is a PPA for getting new nVidia drivers but, I like this method as I can have the latest driver quicker.

I am pretty sure this will work for other versions of Ubuntu besides 10.04. I know it has worked for a few people using Ubuntu 12.04.
The latest nVidia driver came out for Linux on 2012.05.16 version 295.53.
This is not for the squeamish, so if you are not comfortable doing this or are new to Ubuntu I would not recommend it.

Download the latest nVidia driver here.
This is the English version, but you can select another language I am sure.
You will select either the 32 bit Linux or 64 bit Linux version.

Here are the instructions for installing the driver:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/howto-install-nvidia-drivers-manually-on-ubuntu-10-04-lucid-lynx.html
I have used this many times without any problems. I suggest printing steps 4 through 8 to have after rebooting.
I just copy them to a gedit record and print that page.
If you have done this before you will start at step 4 as the previous steps have already been accomplished.
If you have installed the driver this way before, you will just reboot into recovery and select the shell prompt (the bottom option on my system).
The first time installing the driver after removing the default driver, you will not need to enter telinit 3, but the 2nd, 3rd, etc. you will need to.
The directions do not mention this but, you will want to enter telinit 3 (the nVidia driver will tell you to do this if you do not do it now) before logging in (Step 6) and wait a few seconds for that to take effect.
Then just enter your userid and password.
Step 7 you will change the file name to the one you downloaded.

You will be asked to accept the terms and need to answer a few other questions with yes.
It will ask if you want to create a new Xorg file and you want to say yes.
Once you do step 8 to start GDM, you will be looking at your normal login screen.

After doing this, you must go by the following tutorial to install the driver into future kernels that are installed.

HOWTO: Automatically update manually installed NVidia drivers after kernel updates
This was written by sdennie from this forum. It was written back in 2007 but, still works flawlessly.

I recommend using command line to get updates sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade.
ranch hand, a knowledgeable guy in this forum told me to use these commands. This way you can see what is going on. I just use Update Manager to review the updates.
If there is a kernel to be installed it will be held back and once you get the updates from the above command, you will enter sudo apt-get dist-upgrade to install the new kernel.
This way when installing a kernel you will see Building NVIDIA driver for kernel .....
And then either SUCCESS: Driver installed for kernel ... or FAILURE: See /var/log/nvidia-installer.log
If it is just upgrading a kernel it will tell you the driver is already installed.

In the future, you can either continue using this driver or update to a newer one.
These instructions will still apply.

[Cavsfan]

I should mention that this action will render your older kernels useless. Unless you remove and re-install them.
If you have accomplished the HOWTO (3rd link) that is.

I will also mention that if you have gone by the Tutorial in my signature for creating a customized Grub2 screen,
the custom Ubuntu entry will use the last installed kernel and not the highest numbered kernel.
So, if you removed and re-installed an older kernel, that kernel will be the one that gets used at boot time.

I first install the new driver into the kernel I am using.

I keep 2 kernels and what I do is I remove the older one and re-install it. If I see "SUCCESS" I know it worked.
These are the commands I used:

sudo apt-get purge linux-headers-2.6.32-39 linux-headers-2.6.32-39-generic linux-image-2.6.32-39-generic

When you purge the kernel, you will see a message that a folder was not deleted pertaining to that kernel
because it had the nvidia-driver in it. I manually delete that folder myself before re-installing the kernel to force
it to rebuild the driver in the kernel.

Then after that is completed without rebooting I re-install it:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.32-39 linux-headers-2.6.32-39-generic linux-image-2.6.32-39-generic


Then, without rebooting, to make the newest kernel the one that boots up. I remove and re-install the latest kernel with these commands:

sudo apt-get purge linux-headers-2.6.32-40 linux-headers-2.6.32-40-generic linux-image-2.6.32-40-generic

You will notice that in addition to those three files, linux-headers-generic and linux-image-generic are also removed.

So, I enter this to re-install it:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.32-40 linux-headers-2.6.32-40-generic linux-image-2.6.32-40-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic

Then both of my kernels have the new driver installed in them and my custom Grub2 menu uses the latest kernel.

[Cavsfan]

if anyone is interested, driver version 295.40 which was added 2012.04.11.
I am going to install that myself.

[Cavsfan]

Also, I should not have put Lucid Lynx in the title of this thread as it should work for all versions of Ubuntu.

[Mike_tn]

Do you get better results doing this manually? I'm running Precise for the first time, fresh Ubuntu install after being only on Debian Squeeze a long time so I have no Ubuntu packages in archives and the Ubuntu version of 295.40 nvidia-current will not install properly, maybe it's a bug in Unity, not sure. Easy fixes such as unity reset do not work. My screen behavior seemed to match someone else who fixed it by installing the previous Ubuntu version of nvidia-current which uses 295.33 however I cannot find a download to that anywhere, I can only find the manufacturer version of that. Hence I read your post. Very detailed and easy to follow really. Makes perfect sense with everything I have read and tried in the last two days. I'm only half-way a geek. I would prefer to find the Ubuntu version of the driver but that could be a bad idea, you may have less bugginess cropping up doing it your way, I don't have enough experience to know. But it is also just plain fun to make computers work for you even if the advantage is only slight. Plus I have no clue how to get that older package amd 64 nvidia-current for precise, I searched high and low, seems odd it disappears so fast from the web but so many others hang around.

I see why you do this, Ubuntu only gives you the 195 driver in nvidia-current for Lucid. I don't really have that issue. Maybe I should just use 2D which works but is not so fun and more ugly. I would not use the generic driver in 2D for any serious fun with photography which is what I like to do. But a fix may soon come down the pike from the repos.

Then I read your;

After doing this, you must go by the following tutorial to install the driver into future kernels that are installed.

I'm also offline with this computer. It may be best to get the ubuntu version so new kernels don't mess me up? What if I just want to leave installed the first driver that works well. I may update the kernel because I get updates through the installation on my laptop which has Intel graphics drivers. I take the packages over to the offline nVIDIA desktop but the graphic driver version in use there will likely be frozen .... at least for longer periods of time because I won't think of it probably. Would the Ubuntu version nvidia-current driver be the best choice for that situation or would the manufactuerer driver be just as easy of a situation to maintain?

[Mike_tn]

Me again. You may not want to answer any of my questions above and I wouldn't blame you considering how verbose it is.
(Mike_tn = -vvv)

Short Qs about your code on these steps:


your step 6
cd to the directory where you saved your file

Q: If the nVIDIA .run file is in HOME next to Documents, Downloads etc then is it true that I should not need to do any directory changes?


your step 7
Install drivers

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.33.run

I saw both that and the following on the nVIDIA site.

sudo sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.33.run

Do both of these work or no?


your step 8
Start GDM

sudo service gdm start

Is that equal to this,

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

[Cavsfan]

Do you get better results doing this manually? I'm running Precise for the first time, fresh Ubuntu install after being only on Debian Squeeze a long time so I have no Ubuntu packages in archives and the Ubuntu version of 295.40 nvidia-current will not install properly, maybe it's a bug in Unity, not sure. Easy fixes such as unity reset do not work. My screen behavior seemed to match someone else who fixed it by installing the previous Ubuntu version of nvidia-current which uses 295.33 however I cannot find a download to that anywhere, I can only find the manufacturer version of that. Hence I read your post. Very detailed and easy to follow really. Makes perfect sense with everything I have read and tried in the last two days. I'm only half-way a geek. I would prefer to find the Ubuntu version of the driver but that could be a bad idea, you may have less bugginess cropping up doing it your way, I don't have enough experience to know. But it is also just plain fun to make computers work for you even if the advantage is only slight. Plus I have no clue how to get that older package amd 64 nvidia-current for precise, I searched high and low, seems odd it disappears so fast from the web but so many others hang around.

I see why you do this, Ubuntu only gives you the 195 driver in nvidia-current for Lucid. I don't really have that issue. Maybe I should just use 2D which works but is not so fun and more ugly. I would not use the generic driver in 2D for any serious fun with photography which is what I like to do. But a fix may soon come down the pike from the repos.

Then I read your;

I'm also offline with this computer. It may be best to get the ubuntu version so new kernels don't mess me up? What if I just want to leave installed the first driver that works well. I may update the kernel because I get updates through the installation on my laptop which has Intel graphics drivers. I take the packages over to the offline nVIDIA desktop but the graphic driver version in use there will likely be frozen .... at least for longer periods of time because I won't think of it probably. Would the Ubuntu version nvidia-current driver be the best choice for that situation or would the manufacturer driver be just as easy of a situation to maintain?

If you went my these instructions, you will have to manually update the driver each time one comes available.
If you do not follow the instructions in the tutorial to install the driver into future kernels that are installed, you will have major problems I believe.
If the kernel is upgraded, it will be fine but, not when one is installed.
It is is a pretty simple tutorial.

[Cavsfan]

Me again. You may not want to answer any of my questions above and I wouldn't blame you considering how verbose it is.
(Mike_tn = -vvv)

Short Qs about your code on these steps:


your step 6
cd to the directory where you saved your file

Q: If the nVIDIA .run file is in HOME next to Documents, Downloads etc then is it true that I should not need to do any directory changes?


your step 7
Install drivers

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.33.run

I saw both that and the following on the nVIDIA site.

sudo sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.33.run

Do both of these work or no?


your step 8
Start GDM

sudo service gdm start

Is that equal to this,

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

As long as you are in the directory where the installation file exists (enter ls -l to see what is in a directory).

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.33.run

has always worked for me. My files go to the Downloads directory, so I just have to enter cd Downloads.
(295.40 is what is currently available from the nVidia site.)

sudo service gdm start

is what I have always used in the past.

[Mike_tn]

Thanks for the replies Cavsfan;

I tried to install. Two preliminary notes.

-I left "nvidia-common" installed because the terminal wanted to remove "ubuntu-desktop" along with it.

-typing "login" at runlevel 3 did not work. I had to Alt+Backspace+F2
then login using my terminal prompt name and password.


After that I tried it several ways,

-An attempt immediately at the root shell prompt after clicking the recovery menu.

-Attempts using init 3, telinit 3, and init 1.

-Tried with the word "root" in the prompt and with "mike" in the prompt.

-Tried with and without sudo

-Tried with and without ./ ahead of <filename> (after sh)

-Finally tried placing the NVIDIA...run file in Home directory and also tried it on root at /usr/local/mydebs and then cd to it.

-Also I tired various combinations of all of the above.

2 Results

-If I did not jump to a runlevel after the recovery menu then it could not open anything whatsoever.

-If I did jump to a runlevel 3 or 1 in order to cut out X more fully then it said this:

mkdir: cannot create directory '/tmp/selfgz1327': Read-only file system
Unable to create the target directory...

Final try

-I created a tmp folder of the name "selfgz1327" and put the NVIDIA....run file in there but it just said it could not make a tmp directory and picked a different name for it, changing the numbers in the name. It gave the same Read-only file system error.

Ideas?

Could nvidia-common being still installed have caused directory-creation and Read-only issue? I'm guessing it would not cause that.

P.S. This is using Precise Final Beta so it could have a bug. One wierd thing I noticed. When I went into a root folder and tried to copy-paste the NVIDIA...run file from /usr/local/mydebs to the tmp folder I made, the copy function looked normal but the paste function was greyed out however the paste still worked as if it the context menu lettering for the word "paste" was black. bugs I assume.

P.P.S. I did have root access because trying to restart gdm or reboot required root privilege and that worked.

[Cavsfan]

Not sure what to tell you. I do not have nvidia-common on my system. I checked via SPM.
When you drop to root shell (terminal) and enter telinit 3 did you wait a few minutes to allow it to do it's thing?
Then when the prompt comes back I enter login and it asks for my username/password and I am in.
Then I go to where my driver is and make sure I am in the directory by entering ls -l and see it listed.
Then I enter

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-295.40.run

exactly as it is named. The capitals matter. If I get anything wrong it gets an error and I have to compare the file name with my command.
If it is wrong I use the up arrow key to display the command and change it. Then it works.
I did that with this latest version.

The reason I mention enter telinit 3 is that I have skipped that step and the installation said to quit and enter telinit 3 and then install.
I tried to login first and then enter telinit 3 (which I believe stops the x server) and it went crazy. I had to reboot.
Entering telinit 3 before logging in worked great for me.

I was able to install the latest driver and boot back up in less than 15 minutes.
But, I have done it a few times and am comfortable with it plus I am on 10.04 probably the most stable version there is.

I have heard that 12.04 has issues with some nVidea cards, which is why I am not jumping into it yet.
I will wait until 12.04.1 comes out as by then the bugs have been pretty much taken care of.
I used to jump to the next version, but my HP printer/scanner/copier would not work so I went back to 10.04 LTS.

All I am doing is providing the links to do the work. I am not really providing the commands myself.
But, I can acknowledge that it does work as I have done it about 7-10 times. My windows 7 system tells me when a new driver
comes out and asks me if I want to install it. Then I start checking manually for the Linux version as it comes out soon afterward usually.

If you do not have a whole lot invested in 12.04 or if you can backup your important stuff I would suggest a clean install of the new release.
Or 10.04 if you want to be safe until 12.04.1 comes out on July 19th.

If doing this the manual way is too much, there is also a deb you can add to get nVidia driver updates automatically:

https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates

There is a tab "Any Series" that will take you to which version of Ubuntu you have.