ubuntu 12.10 nvidia drivers geforce 9600gt

Also should mention I've tried using the x-swat and edgers ppas and had the same results.

What is the output of:

sudo lshw -C display; sudo dmidecode -t 1; lsb_release -a; uname -a

Thanks

Actionparsnip thanks, I will do a fresh install tonight and update with the output. Before I've tried changing anything.

Actionparsnip the output is as follows:

$ sudo lshw -C display; sudo dmidecode -t 1; lsb_release -a; uname -a
[sudo] password for nathan:
  *-display
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: G94 [GeForce 9600 GT]
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=nouveau latency=0
       resources: irq:18 memory:fd000000-fdffffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:fa000000-fbffffff ioport:dc00(size=128) memory:fea80000-feafffff
# dmidecode 2.11
SMBIOS 2.5 present.

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
 Manufacturer: System manufacturer
 Product Name: System Product Name
 Version: System Version

What is the output of :

dpkg -l | grep nvidia; lsb_release -a; uname -a

Thanks

As requested:

nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$ dpkg -l | grep nvidia; lsb_release -a; uname -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.10
Release: 12.10
Codename: quantal
Linux Nathanations-PC 3.5.0-17-generic #28-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 9 19:31:23 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

this is right after 12.10 complete erase and install btw

sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

Reboot to test

ok ran that command, just about to reboot but the last part of the output worries me based on my previous tinkering.

Loading new nvidia-current-304.88 DKMS files...
First Installation: checking all kernels...
Building only for 3.5.0-17-generic
Building for architecture x86_64
Module build for the currently running kernel was skipped since the
kernel source for this kernel does not seem to be installed.
Setting up python-xkit (0.5.0) ...
Setting up screen-resolution-extra (0.15) ...
Setting up nvidia-settings (304.88-0ubuntu0.2) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/nvidia-settings/ld.so.conf to provide /etc/ld.so.conf.d/nvidia_settings.conf (nvidia_settings_conf) in auto mode
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf.index...
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-17-generic

The module build for currently running kerenl was skipped part means that the module hasnt been inserted into my kernel right?

ok after reboot - no unity launcher or top bar. reduced resolution

I tried:

sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
sudo apt-get install linux-source
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-3.5.0-17-generic
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

shows module building for my current kernel (3.5.0-17)
no errors, then added:

nvidia-xconfig

and finally sudo update-grub

which shows the new kernel module being reconised, i think??

however after a reboot i get to the ubuntu 12.10 loading screen with 4 orange dots then it hangs at a screen full of orange text ( i left it on that screen for 20 mins, no change, no boot!)

i dont know how to make the kernel bootable again so ive done what seems like the 100th fresh install of 12.10 :/

Lets remove everything related to nvidia and try to install another driver that might support your Card better.

    sudo apt-get purge nvidia-*
    sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
    sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-nouveau libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx
    sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Then reboot your PC and you will login with the open source nouveau driver. See if you are OK with this driver before you attempt to install nvidia again. Check the performance - resolution .. etc.

If you want to install the nvidia driver again , then install the version "nvidia-173-updates" instead of current.

    sudo apt-get install nvidia-173-updates
    sudo nvidia-xconfig

and reboot your PC to test again.

Regards
 NikTh

Hi NikTH, thanks for your response.

I did a fresh install from usb stick so the nouveau driver was already installed, im pretty sure its not doing much as the ui hangs, resolution is correct however.

so next i tried the nvidia-173-updates. this is what gets returned in terminal:

nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-173-updates
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies.
 nvidia-173-updates : Depends: xorg-video-abi-11 but it is not installable or
                               xorg-video-abi-12 but it is not installable
                      Recommends: nvidia-settings-updates
E: Unable to correct problems,

I had this. was fixed with:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-core
sudo apt-get -f install

ok i did

  sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-core
  sudo apt-get -f install

then, tried commands again, didnt work, rebooted, tried nvidia-173-updates, error again , below.

   nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-173-updates
  [sudo] password for nathan:
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree
  Reading state information... Done
  Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
  requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
  distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
  or been moved out of Incoming.
  The following information may help to resolve the situation:

  The following packages have unmet dependencies.
  nvidia-173-updates : Depends: xorg-video-abi-11 but it is not installable or
                               xorg-video-abi-12 but it is not installable
                      Recommends: nvidia-settings-updates
  E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
  nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$

I should mention that the nouveau driver is ok-ish, but its performance seems slow and Steam would not even open when using it, this is why i really would like to get the official nvidia driver working. Plus its kinda fun to learn more about ubuntu and linux along the way :)

udo apt-get --reinstall install xserver-xorg-core

    sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings-updates
    sudo dpkg --configure -a
    sudo apt-get install -f

Regards
 NikTh

NikTh i tried your commands and they were not successful if i choose anything other than the nouveau driver i get reduced resolution and no unity ui

nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings-updates
[sudo] password for nathan:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
nvidia-settings-updates is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  dkms fakeroot linux-headers-3.5.0-17
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$ sudo apt-get install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  dkms fakeroot linux-headers-3.5.0-17
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
nathan@Nathanations-PC:~$

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

Now installed 13.04 as I had read that nvidia installation should be fixed.... Yet again I've destroyed my install.

Reinstalled from USB It now boots to a desktop without unity bar and the wrong resolution (too low, monitor shows as "laptop") and big black borders.

I've tried installing the various nvidia drivers from the software and updates menu to no success. The properiety-tested 310 gives me a message about not being able to detect graphics or monitor.

Using noveua driver no longer gives me a normal desktop like it did in 12.10 its gives a letterboxed 640x400 display.

I read that the standard kernel had a bug so updated to the mainline kernel which is now booting but with same issues as above. I'm close to just giving up! I've read so many threads on here and trawled Google for hours :( halp!

Installing video drivers doesn't "destroy" an install. You can drop to root recovery and uninstall the drivers easily

Which drivers can I uninstall when none of them work correctly to begin with?

Also it was more the steps I took to try to recover that caused further problems. It is simple enough to reinstall from a USB stick, my data is backed up.

That is where I am currently, fresh install of 13.04, Asus branded nvidia 9600gt graphics card. I have not touched the additional driver settings yet, default is the noveua driver.
None of the commands or solutions that come up in search are working to bring back unity and correctly detect my monitor. Your help would be very appreciated.

if you install a package for drivers and it doesnt work the that package is the one to uninstall. I'd have thought that was obvious.

What is the output of:

dpkg -l | grep nvidia

Thanks

$ dpkg -l | grep nvidia
ii nvidia-304 304.88-0ubuntu1 amd64 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
rc nvidia-310 310.44-0ubuntu2 amd64 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
ii nvidia-current 304.88-0ubuntu1 amd64 Transitional package for nvidia-current
ii nvidia-settings-310 310.44-0ubuntu1 amd64 Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver

Ah Ok, i had not read about removing drivers from the system all together, does this mean that the noveau driver could be conflicting with the nvidia drivers?

OK I removed all nvidia drivers and attempted to use just the nouveau driver but still no unity, resetting compiz did not bring back my unity launcher.

I then installed just the 310 updates nvidia driver. Same problem as before.

I then removed nvidia again and tried installing from synaptic but once again no luck.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction Actionparsnip.

I've finally got it working correctly after removing all drivers and installing nvidia 313-updates.

Got unity back up by selecting the unity plugin within compiz settings manager.