12.10, problems with Nvidia

[kokoshmusun]

Hi people,
I'm really demoralized. I have a desktop PC that ran great with 10.10; I finally decided to put 12.10 on it. I've done countless ubuntu installs and the only big problem I ever had is that on one of my laptops, you get a huge screen with part of the wallpaper that you can't do anything with (since I can't use the system, I forgot if it was 12.04 or 12.10).
But this desktop install of 12.10 was the WORST ubuntu install I ever did. Dash is impossible to use, whenever I click on it, graphics go berserk and I have to force restart (by hardware button).
I tried to change driver from the top right panel system settings to propriety (it has a NVidia GEForce something), and there's no clear indication whether I succeed, and no change in the situation. I try to install gnome-session-fallback but it just hangs at "0% Headers" thing.
It's a completely unusable system. I am utterly disappointed at how worse things have become since the awesome Gnome 2.X. I had recently posted a rant on ubuntu saying that I love it but feel that something is lacking graphically. Now, my nightmare has become true. Not only is something not lacking in terms of prettiness graphically, but there is no properly functioning graphics anymore.
My last resort is this forum. After the failed attempts to have a usable install of ubuntu 12.X on the laptop and the desktop; if there is no solution you know of, I guess I have to either switch to another linux distro or win 7 (which I dual boot with anyway).
I can't get over my shock, I was so in love with ubuntu for such a long time.

[The Cog]

Try this from a command line:
sudo apt-get install nvidia-experimantal-310

It seems better than the other drivers that it defaults to.

[oldfred]

I had to install headers first with 12.10. then the updates for nVidia worked.

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:
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*

Fix for nVidia with 12.10 missing kernel dpkg reconfigure:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2072862

[kokoshmusun]

When I ran this command and logged out and logged back in, it became a usable system with unity and dash functioning:

sudo apt-get purge nvidia*

But it looks pretty ugly (resolution doesn't seem right, things are a bit stretched out), so I guess I need to work on it more.
EDIT: I booted again and now it looks nicer with better resolution (???)
EDIT2: That was temporary, dash crashes horribly again.

However, I can't get anything to install. It always gets stuck at "0% [waiting for headers]".
EDIT: Waiting for a long time, it works. I figured I may have to edit software sources.
EDIT2: I choose best server from software sources, but then I get unable to locate package.

[Statia]

I would suggest staying with (K)Ubuntu 12.04:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/u...-high-end.html

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/k...wo-months.html

[kokoshmusun]

I have wasted a day trying to get 12.10 to work: NO! I can't even download any packages.

I'm definitely reverting back to 12.04 which worked so well. I would love to go Kubuntu, although I'm sick of DE/WM and distro hopping. Most of my stuff is Gnome-based. I'm not sure if this means I will end up having a bloated system in an attempt to use my beloved Gnome apps in KDE.

[kokoshmusun]

Thread solved, reverting back to 12.04! 12.10 has been the worst OS I have ever attempted and the only completely unusable OS I have ever installed on a machine. This is really a disaster for linux and ubuntu; I really hate to think that many users who joined ubuntu with 12.10 as their first install were probably appalled at the horrible experience it provides.

I don't care about Unity or Amazon.com stuff on my desktop. I just want a stable system out of the box. Unbelievably sad.

[The Cog]

Maybe you should try Xubuntu, which seems to run all the gnome apps very well. Give the live CD a whirl.

[kokoshmusun]

Yes, had been using xubuntu on an older laptop and was very happy with it. This is a more powerful desktop, and I'd like to try hard to love Unity so I'm going to push it one more with the stable 12.04 version. If it's not working, I'm definitely going Xu or Ku.

[BlinkinCat]

Hi,

If you go back to 12.04 try gnome shell too. I love it.

Cheers -