Score:0

Ubuntu 20.4 won't boot with Nvidia proprietary drivers, even when trying the common fixes found online

cn flag

I am sorry to post another thread about this same issue. I have come across many similar threads with the same issue, and have tried most of the fixes but unfortunately I still can't get the drivers to work.

first of all, I am a linux noob so please forgive me if I'm not clear.

When I install nvidia proprietary drivers, my system hangs at the Ubuntu logo screen. To get past this, I have been booting into grub and running sudo apt purge ~nvidia, then sudo apt autoremove. after I do this I can boot again and everything seems fine except of course, this is using the nouveau drivers.

I have tried:

  • installing different versions of the drivers (460, 450, 440), using both Additional Drivers app and command line
  • disabling Wayland by removing the #
  • editing the boot in grub and adding in nomodeset, which still doesn't allow me to boot

I am using an Asus laptop, and the GPU is GTX 1650 Ti.

I am at a bit of a loss here. Are there any other fixes I can try, or is there anything I can do to try and diagnose the exact issue and figure out exactly what is going wrong? I would be really grateful for any assistance.

Nmath avatar
ng flag
When did you install Ubuntu? You didn't choose Nvidia (proprietary) drivers during system installation?
Jordz avatar
cn flag
admittedly, a friend gifted me the laptop with Ubuntu already installed on it. so unfortunately I don't know
Nmath avatar
ng flag
If I were you I'd reinstall the OS so that it's yours. Wouldn't it be nice to know the history of your own device? Presumably your friend bought a device with a dedicated GPU to put it to use. The friend wasn't using the correct driver?
Nmath avatar
ng flag
If you reinstall while connected to the internet and choose to download updates during installation, you can choose proprietary drivers during system installation. This is the best time to install the correct driver that you intend to use. After the fact, you can install the proprietary driver with the single command `sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall`, but this might not work if you've been running lots of commands trial-and-error and not reverting those changes properly and since you don't know the history or contents of the system, a reinstall is warranted.
Jordz avatar
cn flag
thank you. I thought this might be the case. I will attempt a reinstall of Ubuntu then and hopefully this resolves the issue
Score:-1
it flag

I ran into this issue and others today. It looks like an update occurred on my system, and installed a new kernel (5.13.0-21-generic), but messed a bunch of stuff up including the graphics drivers, and audio devices and video devices.

The proprietary nvidia drivers use dkms to compile the driver against the kernel version. However, whatever happened on my system, this was failing due to not having the correct version of kernel headers installed.

The following commands fixed it for me, your kernel version or driver version may be different.

sudo apt install linux-headers-5.13.0-21-generic
sudo dpkg-reconfigure nvidia-dkms-470 
reboot
Jordz avatar
cn flag
Hi there. thank you for taking the time to reply. I have tried this but unfortunately it doesn't appear to have resolved the issue. my kernel version is 5.11.0-4-generic, so have used the same commands but with my kernel version. It only states 0 to upgrade, 0 to install etc etc. have tried the dpkg nvidia dkms command after installing driver 470 but still encountering the same issue.
Nmath avatar
ng flag
Ubuntu 20.04 does not use this kernel version. This answer could easily break someone's entire system.
karel avatar
sa flag
@Namath This answer looks OK to me. `apt search linux-headers-5.13*` in Ubuntu 20.04 returns `linux-headers-5.13.0-21-generic`
Jordz avatar
cn flag
would it be possible for any of you guys to explain what these commands are doing for my own personal learning? @karel
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