Cannot activate nvidia driver 390.48

[jorritTyb]

Hi I just installed Kubuntu 17.10 (clean install, previous linux was Kubuntu 16 which I updated to Kubuntu 18 causing all kinds of issues). I'd like to activate the nvidia 390.48 drivers for optimal performance (need to do a lot of 3D work) but for some reason it isn't working. I have this screen:



But if I here select the recommended driver (390.48) it immediatelly starts scanning for drivers again and is back to the X.Org driver.

In Kubuntu 16 I could select the 390 version with no problem. I have been using it for some time there.

Anyway to fix this? Thanks!

[GreyGeek]

Install 390.48 from the repository. If it works, fine. If not, purge it and install the next lower numbered release. Continue until one works with your older NVidia card.

[jorritTyb]

Install 390.48 from the repository. If it works, fine. If not, purge it and install the next lower numbered release. Continue until one works with your older NVidia card.

First how do I do that? Secondly, this is the same driver that I was using just fine on Kubuntu 16 (with same graphics card which is a GTX 460)

[GreyGeek]

sudo apt update
sudo apt install muon
Run muon and enter your password when requested.

In Muon search for "nvidia-3" and the drivers will list. Right click on the driver you want in the listing and choose "Mark for Installation". It may suggest installing several other apps. Click OK. In the menu bar is "Apply Changes". Left click on it. Click on OK.

To remove an installed app. Search for it in Muon. When found and selected right click on it and chose "Purge". Be careful here. The purge option may choose to delete your entire plasma desktop. Make sure you understand exactly what is going to be purged. If you are not sure. Ask here. Once the driver has been purged you can select an another one to test install.

[jorritTyb]

sudo apt update
sudo apt install muon
Run muon and enter your password when requested.

In Muon search for "nvidia-3" and the drivers will list. Right click on the driver you want in the listing and choose "Mark for Installation". It may suggest installing several other apps. Click OK. In the menu bar is "Apply Changes". Left click on it. Click on OK.

To remove an installed app. Search for it in Muon. When found and selected right click on it and chose "Purge". Be careful here. The purge option may choose to delete your entire plasma desktop. Make sure you understand exactly what is going to be purged. If you are not sure. Ask here. Once the driver has been purged you can select an another one to test install.

Ok just tried this and it appears nvidida-390 is already installed. So it is not the problem that I cannot install it but more the problem that the driver manager doesn't let me select it. Something is preventing the selection of it

[claydoh]

have you rebooted?

[jorritTyb]

have you rebooted?

Yes several times. In fact I just woke up and turned on my computer

[GreyGeek]

Then, as I said, continue down the chain. Purge 390 and install 384. If that one doesn’t work purge it and try 378, etc.
One of them should work. Your chip is an older one and one of the lower numbers should work. Note that each one will install a set of additional files that change with each version. And, that during the install compiling will occur.

[jorritTyb]

How does that explain that this driver (version 390) worked on Ubuntu 16 with the same card?

[GreyGeek]

Because Ubuntu and Kubuntu are not the same system, even though Ubuntu is the base for Kubuntu. Obviously they have different desktops. But what effects the display the most are the display managers GDM, KDM, LightDM, sddm, etc. Which one you are using depends on how you installed your distro, what GPU you have, how your upgrades went, etc...

[jorritTyb]

Because Ubuntu and Kubuntu are not the same system, even though Ubuntu is the base for Kubuntu. Obviously they have different desktops. But what effects the display the most are the display managers GDM, KDM, LightDM, sddm, etc. Which one you are using depends on how you installed your distro, what GPU you have, how your upgrades went, etc...

Sorry I was not clear. I meant kubuntu 16. I upgraded from kubuntu 16 to kubuntu 17

[GreyGeek]

Sorry I was not clear. I meant kubuntu 16. I upgraded from kubuntu 16 to kubuntu 17

Upgrading between version releases is something I learned to avoid early on. I always back up important data and then do a fresh install of the new version. Always much cleaner. Usually takes about 15-20 minutes to do a basic install, then about 2-4 hours to install favorite programs and import important data.

And, since I began using Btrfs almost three years ago I will never install a distro without it. It is drop-dead easy to do backups in seconds and restores in under 5 minutes. One can also browse a snapshot and drag & drop a specific file(s) to home. Btrfs blows away any combo of EXT4 and apps to do backups and restores.

[jorritTyb]

Ok... Here is what I did.

First I had kubuntu 16.
Then I updated directly to 18 (bionic). That caused all kinds of problems
So after that I decided to start fresh and installed kubuntu 17 from scratch!

So that's the situation I'm in right now.

[GreyGeek]

Wrong move. First. DO NOT UPGRADE! That is the source of your problems. The docs say you can, but it rarely turns out OK and the results are too much of a fixit problem to mess with unless your are a greybeard. SECOND. 17 is a short life release.
17.04 Reached End of Life on Saturday, January 13, 2018

The 17.10 EOL is this summer, in a couple months.
https://www.ubuntu.com/info/release-end-of-life
So, you don't want to use either of them


What you should have done download the 18.04 LTS BIONIC ISO (EOL in April of 2023) and check its checksum. If it is OK then burn it to a USB stick. Check the USB stick after your boot to it by using the grub menu option that offers that. If the USB checks OK then install it to your HD. Reports are that a FRESHLY installed 18.04 LTS (NOT an upgraded to it) is rock solid.

[jorritTyb]

I don't want to go back to bionic for now. The people at ubuntu forums told me the nvidia drivers are not ready for them.

Anyway I did a 'FRESH' install of kubuntu 17.10. Ignore the previous attempts. The fresh 17.10 install was on a freshly formatted harddisk (I really started from scratch). Doesn't matter that it is EOL this summer. It should work right now doesn't it?