Not Impressed with Bionic

[claydoh]

so you are using the Intel GPU. I don't know what to do next, really. At least not yet.

[NoWorries]

It looks like I am using the Intel card because I get:

:~$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile 
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.2 (Core Profile) Mesa 18.0.0-rc5
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.20
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 3.0 Mesa 18.0.0-rc5
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.30
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.0 Mesa 18.0.0-rc5
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.00
OpenGL ES profile extensions:

When I checked the contents of nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf I get what you say I should get, ie:

blacklist nouveau
blacklist lbm-nouveau
alias nouveau off
alias lbm-nouveau off

[claydoh]

It is showing both the Nvidia and Intel GPUs, but which is being used?

The driver listed for your Nvidia is the Nouveau, so I wonder if the case here is that the free driver needs to be blacklisted so that the Nvidia driver can load? It is supposed to happen automatically but i see enough instances of this across distros that sometimes it doesn't happen.

glxinfo | grep OpenGL
will show which GPU is in use, if you are not sure. If it mentions Intel or Nvidia, that is self-explanatory. If it does not mention either iirc, that means it is using Nouveau.

If it looks like you are using Nouveau, we can check something: post the contents of this file, or if it exists:
/etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf
See if there are other files with 'nvidia' in the name, but mine is this file. If there are others, post the contents.

There is supposed to be these lines in nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf (and nothing else):

blacklist nouveau
blacklist lbm-nouveau
alias nouveau off
alias lbm-nouveau off

if you don't have this file, or any file as mentioned above, we can create one with these lines, then run : sudo update-initramfs -u and reboot.

But let us know which gpu is in use first

[NoWorries]

Does "sudo lshw" show the "capabilities" of your two display devices? I notice on your lspci listing that they are "<access denied">. That's not right. Can you set your NVidia as the primary at bootup?

This command shows all the hardware on my system including the NVIDIA and Intel displays. So here it is in all its glory:

:~$ sudo lshw
basil                       
   description: Notebook
   product: N56VM (ASUS-NotebookSKU)
   vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
   version: 1.0
   serial: C7N0BC23191828E
   width: 64 bits
   capabilities: smbios-2.7 dmi-2.7 smp vsyscall32
   configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook family=N sku=ASUS-NotebookSKU uuid=5154434E-4A38-3230-4532-10BF489C3E3E
 *-core
      description: Motherboard
      product: N56VM
      vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
      physical id: 0
      version: 1.0
      serial: BSN12345678901234567
      slot: MIDDLE
    *-firmware
         description: BIOS
         vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
         physical id: 0
         version: N56VM.214
         date: 08/28/2012
         size: 64KiB
         capacity: 6080KiB
         capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb smartbattery biosbootspecification uefi
    *-cache:0
         description: L2 cache
         physical id: 8
         slot: CPU Internal L2
         size: 1MiB
         capacity: 1MiB
         capabilities: internal write-through unified
         configuration: level=2
    *-cache:1
         description: L1 cache
         physical id: 9
         slot: CPU Internal L1
         size: 256KiB
         capacity: 256KiB
         capabilities: internal write-through data
         configuration: level=1
    *-cache:2
         description: L3 cache
         physical id: a
         slot: CPU Internal L3
         size: 6MiB
         capacity: 6MiB
         capabilities: internal write-back unified
         configuration: level=3
    *-memory
         description: System Memory
         physical id: b
         slot: System board or motherboard
         size: 16GiB
       *-bank:0
            description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
            product: 9905428-095.D00LF
            vendor: Kingston
            physical id: 0
            serial: CC3027E6
            slot: ChannelA-DIMM0
            size: 8GiB
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 1600MHz (0.6ns)
       *-bank:1
            description: DIMM [empty]
            product: [Empty]
            vendor: [Empty]
            physical id: 1
            serial: [Empty]
            slot: ChannelA-DIMM1
       *-bank:2
            description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
            product: 9905428-095.D00LF
            vendor: Kingston
            physical id: 2
            serial: CF3036E7
            slot: ChannelB-DIMM0
            size: 8GiB
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 1600MHz (0.6ns)
       *-bank:3
            description: DIMM [empty]
            product: [Empty]
            vendor: [Empty]
            physical id: 3
            serial: [Empty]
            slot: ChannelB-DIMM1
    *-cpu
         description: CPU
         product: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz
         vendor: Intel Corp.
         physical id: c
         bus info: cpu@0
         version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz
         slot: SOCKET 0
         size: 3069MHz
         capacity: 3800MHz
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 100MHz
         capabilities: x86-64 fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm cpuid_fault epb pti tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase smep erms xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts cpufreq
         configuration: cores=4 enabledcores=4 threads=8
    *-pci
         description: Host bridge
         product: 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 100
         bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
         version: 09
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         configuration: driver=ivb_uncore
         resources: irq:0
       *-pci:0
            description: PCI bridge
            product: Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1
            bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
            version: 09
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pci pm msi pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=pcieport
            resources: irq:16 ioport:e000(size=4096) memory:f6000000-f70fffff ioport:e0000000(size=301989888)
          *-display
               description: VGA compatible controller
               product: GF108M [GeForce GT 630M]
               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:29 memory:f6000000-f6ffffff memory:e0000000-efffffff memory:f0000000-f1ffffff ioport:e000(size=128) memory:f7000000-f707ffff
       *-display
            description: VGA compatible controller
            product: 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 2
            bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
            version: 09
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
            configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
            resources: irq:26 memory:f7400000-f77fffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
       *-usb:0
            description: USB controller
            product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 14
            bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
            version: 04
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm msi xhci bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
            resources: irq:24 memory:f7a00000-f7a0ffff
          *-usbhost:0
               product: xHCI Host Controller
               vendor: Linux 4.15.0-21-generic xhci-hcd
               physical id: 0
               bus info: usb@3
               logical name: usb3
               version: 4.15
               capabilities: usb-2.00
               configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
             *-usb:0
                  description: Keyboard
                  product: USB Receiver
                  vendor: Logitech
                  physical id: 1
                  bus info: usb@3:1
                  version: 24.00
                  capabilities: usb-2.00
                  configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=98mA speed=12Mbit/s
             *-usb:1
                  description: Keyboard
                  product: USB Receiver
                  vendor: Logitech
                  physical id: 2
                  bus info: usb@3:2
                  version: 12.03
                  capabilities: usb-2.00
                  configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=98mA speed=12Mbit/s
             *-usb:2
                  description: USB hub
                  product: USB2.0 Hub
                  vendor: GenesysLogic
                  physical id: 3
                  bus info: usb@3:3
                  version: 41.43
                  capabilities: usb-2.10
                  configuration: driver=hub maxpower=100mA slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
                *-usb
                     description: Video
                     product: Logitech Webcam C920-C
                     vendor: Logitech, Inc.
                     physical id: 3
                     bus info: usb@3:3.3
                     version: 0.12
                     serial: 557F019F
                     capabilities: usb-2.00
                     configuration: driver=snd-usb-audio maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
          *-usbhost:1
               product: xHCI Host Controller
               vendor: Linux 4.15.0-21-generic xhci-hcd
               physical id: 1
               bus info: usb@4
               logical name: usb4
               version: 4.15
               capabilities: usb-3.00
               configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=5000Mbit/s
             *-usb
                  description: USB hub
                  product: USB3.0 Hub
                  vendor: GenesysLogic
                  physical id: 3
                  bus info: usb@4:3
                  version: 41.43
                  capabilities: usb-3.00
                  configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=5000Mbit/s
       *-communication
            description: Communication controller
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 16
            bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
            version: 04
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
            resources: irq:27 memory:f7a1a000-f7a1a00f
       *-usb:1
            description: USB controller
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1a
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
            version: 04
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
            resources: irq:16 memory:f7a18000-f7a183ff
          *-usbhost
               product: EHCI Host Controller
               vendor: Linux 4.15.0-21-generic ehci_hcd
               physical id: 1
               bus info: usb@1
               logical name: usb1
               version: 4.15
               capabilities: usb-2.00
               configuration: driver=hub slots=2 speed=480Mbit/s
             *-usb
                  description: USB hub
                  product: Integrated Rate Matching Hub
                  vendor: Intel Corp.
                  physical id: 1
                  bus info: usb@1:1
                  version: 0.00
                  capabilities: usb-2.00
                  configuration: driver=hub slots=6 speed=480Mbit/s
                *-usb:0
                     description: Bluetooth wireless interface
                     product: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
                     vendor: Atheros Communications
                     physical id: 1
                     bus info: usb@1:1.1
                     version: 0.02
                     serial: Alaska Day 2006
                     capabilities: bluetooth usb-1.10
                     configuration: driver=btusb maxpower=100mA speed=12Mbit/s
                *-usb:1
                     description: Video
                     product: ASUS USB2.0 Webcam
                     vendor: 04G626000611BQ24Q0004Y9
                     physical id: 3
                     bus info: usb@1:1.3
                     version: 4.29
                     capabilities: usb-2.00
                     configuration: driver=uvcvideo maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
       *-multimedia
            description: Audio device
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1b
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
            version: 04
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
            resources: irq:28 memory:f7a10000-f7a13fff
       *-pci:1
            description: PCI bridge
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1c
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
            version: c4
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=pcieport
            resources: irq:16
       *-pci:2
            description: PCI bridge
            product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1c.1
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
            version: c4
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=pcieport
            resources: irq:17 memory:f7900000-f79fffff
          *-network
               description: Wireless interface
               product: AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter
               vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
               physical id: 0
               bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
               logical name: wlp3s0
               version: 01
               serial: dc:85:de:04:64:6d
               width: 64 bits
               clock: 33MHz
               capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical wireless
               configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=4.15.0-21-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.178.39 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
               resources: irq:17 memory:f7900000-f797ffff memory:f7980000-f798ffff
       *-pci:3
            description: PCI bridge
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1c.3
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.3
            version: c4
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=pcieport
            resources: irq:19 ioport:d000(size=4096) memory:f7800000-f78fffff
          *-network
               description: Ethernet interface
               product: AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet
               vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
               physical id: 0
               bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
               logical name: enp4s0
               version: 10
               serial: 10:bf:48:9c:3e:3e
               size: 1Gbit/s
               capacity: 1Gbit/s
               width: 64 bits
               clock: 33MHz
               capabilities: pm pciexpress msi msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
               configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=alx duplex=full ip=192.168.178.23 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
               resources: irq:19 memory:f7800000-f783ffff ioport:d000(size=128)
       *-usb:2
            description: USB controller
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1d
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
            version: 04
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
            resources: irq:23 memory:f7a17000-f7a173ff
          *-usbhost
               product: EHCI Host Controller
               vendor: Linux 4.15.0-21-generic ehci_hcd
               physical id: 1
               bus info: usb@2
               logical name: usb2
               version: 4.15
               capabilities: usb-2.00
               configuration: driver=hub slots=2 speed=480Mbit/s
             *-usb
                  description: USB hub
                  product: Integrated Rate Matching Hub
                  vendor: Intel Corp.
                  physical id: 1
                  bus info: usb@2:1
                  version: 0.00
                  capabilities: usb-2.00
                  configuration: driver=hub slots=6 speed=480Mbit/s
       *-isa
            description: ISA bridge
            product: HM76 Express Chipset LPC Controller
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1f
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
            version: 04
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=lpc_ich latency=0
            resources: irq:0
       *-storage
            description: SATA controller
            product: 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1f.2
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
            version: 04
            width: 32 bits
            clock: 66MHz
            capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
            resources: irq:25 ioport:f0b0(size=8) ioport:f0a0(size=4) ioport:f090(size=8) ioport:f080(size=4) ioport:f060(size=32) memory:f7a16000-f7a167ff
       *-serial UNCLAIMED
            description: SMBus
            product: 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SMBus Controller
            vendor: Intel Corporation
            physical id: 1f.3
            bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
            version: 04
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            configuration: latency=0
            resources: memory:f7a15000-f7a150ff ioport:f040(size=32)
    *-scsi:0
         physical id: 1
         logical name: scsi0
         capabilities: emulated
       *-disk
            description: ATA Disk
            product: Samsung SSD 850
            physical id: 0.0.0
            bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
            logical name: /dev/sda
            version: 2B6Q
            serial: S25TNXAG904191A
            size: 476GiB (512GB)
            capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
            configuration: ansiversion=5 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 signature=6e0ceb5f
          *-volume:0
               description: Windows NTFS volume
               physical id: 1
               bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
               logical name: /dev/sda1
               version: 3.1
               serial: 8adb-b669
               size: 348MiB
               capacity: 350MiB
               capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
               configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2017-02-01 19:39:14 filesystem=ntfs state=clean
          *-volume:1
               description: Windows NTFS volume
               physical id: 2
               bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
               logical name: /dev/sda2
               version: 3.1
               serial: 62a47e66-9d05-364a-963b-d4e0be7ea4f4
               size: 77GiB
               capacity: 77GiB
               capabilities: primary ntfs initialized
               configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2017-02-02 19:32:23 filesystem=ntfs state=clean
          *-volume:2
               description: Extended partition
               physical id: 3
               bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,3
               logical name: /dev/sda3
               size: 398GiB
               capacity: 398GiB
               capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
             *-logicalvolume:0
                  description: EXT4 volume
                  vendor: Linux
                  physical id: 5
                  logical name: /dev/sda5
                  logical name: /
                  version: 1.0
                  serial: 9294430b-56ce-46eb-9ae8-b7826de36894
                  size: 12GiB
                  capacity: 12GiB
                  capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                  configuration: created=2018-05-04 17:17:51 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2018-05-07 09:19:59 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2018-05-07 09:19:59 state=mounted
             *-logicalvolume:1
                  description: Linux swap volume
                  physical id: 6
                  logical name: /dev/sda6
                  version: 1
                  serial: 04ea4469-9213-407e-b05b-03ee2b59a075
                  size: 953MiB
                  capacity: 953MiB
                  capabilities: nofs swap initialized
                  configuration: filesystem=swap pagesize=4096
             *-logicalvolume:2
                  description: EXT4 volume
                  vendor: Linux
                  physical id: 7
                  logical name: /dev/sda7
                  logical name: /home
                  version: 1.0
                  serial: 0290ccdc-167f-4fde-bffc-a65ad5f04756
                  size: 385GiB
                  capacity: 385GiB
                  capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                  configuration: created=2017-02-02 12:45:25 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/home modified=2018-05-07 09:19:59 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,data=ordered mounted=2018-05-07 09:19:59 state=mounted
    *-scsi:1
         physical id: 2
         logical name: scsi2
         capabilities: emulated
       *-cdrom
            description: DVD-RAM writer
            product: DVD A  DS8A9SH
            vendor: Slimtype
            physical id: 0.0.0
            bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
            logical name: /dev/cdrom
            logical name: /dev/cdrw
            logical name: /dev/dvd
            logical name: /dev/dvdrw
            logical name: /dev/sr0
            version: EAA2
            capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
            configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc

[GreyGeek]

Does "sudo lshw" show the "capabilities" of your two display devices? I notice on your lspci listing that they are "<access denied">. That's not right. Can you set your NVidia as the primary at bootup?

[NoWorries]

Try running this to see if the kernel module for the driver was built (or not)

sudo dkms install nvidia/396.24

And post any errors.

Reinstalling the package nvidia-dkms-396 may do the same thing, but not sure if any errors will be shown.

Thanks for your help but when I issued the command I got:

:~$ sudo dkms install nvidia/396.24
Module nvidia/396.24 already installed on kernel 4.15.0-21-generic/x86_64

I did a Reinstallation of dkms and nvidia-dkms-396 using Muon and I get the same response as above with the NVIDIA driver still not loaded.

[claydoh]

Try running this to see if the kernel module for the driver was built (or not)

sudo dkms install nvidia/396.24

And post any errors.

Reinstalling the package nvidia-dkms-396 may do the same thing, but not sure if any errors will be shown.

[NoWorries]

How did you install the driver? Even adding the PPA to get the 396 driver, the Driver Manager should be used as simply installing the package does not do all the extra steps needed. Not saying that just installing nvidia-396 shouldn't Just Work in Ubuntu-land, but a beta driver from a PPA, even one created and managed by Ubuntu, is still a beta, and there could be packaging bugaboos.

The ppa that I used for the Nvidia driver is:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

To make sure that my card is working, I found the command and the results are:

:~$ sudo lspci | grep ' VGA ' | cut -d" " -f 1 | xargs -i lspci -v -s {}
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
     Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
     Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 26
     Memory at f7400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
     Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
     I/O ports at f000 [size=64]
     [virtual] Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
     Capabilities: <access denied>
     Kernel driver in use: i915
     Kernel modules: i915

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108M [GeForce GT 630M] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
     Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. GF108M [GeForce GT 620M/630M/635M/640M LE]
     Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 11
     Memory at f6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=16M]
     Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=256M]
     Memory at f0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=32M]
     I/O ports at e000 [disabled] [size=128]
     Expansion ROM at f7000000 [disabled] [size=512K]
     Capabilities: <access denied>
     Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau, nvidia_drm, nvidia

My Muon listing for Nvidia-396 is:



I hope this clarifies what I have done and will hopefully lead to a solution.

[GreyGeek]

....
I will also add an additional "observation" in that Muon Package Manager takes just over 1 minute to Rebuild search index. This can be rather frustrating when it starts to do this at the start and during a search for additional packages to install.

I have to agree.
It is VERY aggravating to have to wait until the index takes a minute to rebuild every time you change the search phrase. I swear that it is so slow that they have to be using a Bubble Sort. Besides, running the index just once, when Muon starts uip, is all that is needed.

[claydoh]

How did you install the driver? Even adding the PPA to get the 396 driver, the Driver Manager should be used as simply installing the package does not do all the extra steps needed. Not saying that just installing nvidia-396 shouldn't Just Work in Ubuntu-land, but a beta driver from a PPA, even one created and managed by Ubuntu, is still a beta, and there could be packaging bugaboos.

I just did a Bionic install on my system with an Nvidia gtx 1050, hooked up to a 4K TV I got the day before. It surprisingly worked rather well visually with the Nouveau driver, but as this is my "gaming" rig, I used the Driver Manager to install the 390 driver. Zero problems, even the hidpi was no problem, with everything being nice and crisp. Since Rise of the Tomb Raider sort of requires the beta Nvidia driver, I added the ppa, and installed 396 via the Driver Manager. Again, no issues. Well, none other than my total lack of gameplay skills that is

[NoWorries]

The bottom line is that the NVIDIA driver doesn't work at this stage. So a reviewer or a new user is likely to encounter this problem during installation and testing.

I will also add an additional "observation" in that Muon Package Manager takes just over 1 minute to Rebuild search index. This can be rather frustrating when it starts to do this at the start and during a search for additional packages to install.

[GreyGeek]

Or three?

FIVE years. Three years on hardware and two years on software maintenance.

My Nvidia GT 650M failed to load when I first installed Bionic. Comparing it with my Neon snapshot I noticed several packages were missing. Specifically the bbswitch, prime, and other packages related to Bumblebee. I loaded them and rebooted. Nvidia took control of the display. I use "Thermal Monitor" set to display temperatures of my CPU0, GPU and HD0. I notice that when the GPU temp is "Off" that tells me that Nvidia did not load. I check the NVidia config file and click on the NVidia radio button. Then, when I reboot, NVidia takes control again. All in all, rather temperamental.

On my Neon setup NVidia is very stable. Just one annoying bug, however. When the login splash screen appears on Neon there are mouse pointer artifacts showing, but none with Bionic. I have to use Ctl+Alt_F2 to call up a terminal and issue "sudo systemctl restart sddm". That brings back the login splash screen without mouse pointer artifacts and all is well.

[chimak111]

before the 5 years is up!

Or three?

[NoWorries]

I decided to try a fresh install of Bionic after having problems with Nvidia Settings not working and getting the message that the NVIDIA driver is not loaded.

My first problem with the installation was that I could not try the Desktop, I could only do the installation. I found that my problem was that my hdmi connection to an external monitor was the source of the problem. When I disconnected the external monitor, the installation allowed the try the Desktop option.

I then installed Bionic and all my favourite packages as well as the NVIDA 396 driver. Once again the driver was not loaded! This is what I get:

:~$ /usr/bin/nvidia-settings

ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded

ERROR: Unable to load info from any available system

When I use the hdmi connection to my external monitor I sometimes get it connected on boot and at other times it is not. To avoid this problem, I now use the VGA connection and all works well.

There is still the outstanding problem that I have previously reported with the Wallpaper background being blurred and no option for a solid colour to be retained after a reboot.

So I will patiently wait for Bionic to improve. I hope it happens well before the 5 years is up!