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Installing Nvidia Driver Fails

gb flag
nekton

I have an older computer that was running Ubuntu 16.04. Whatever default video driver was installed worked with my video adapter. When I upgraded to 20.04 only the xfce desktop displays properly. I normally use Gnome.

My graphics card is older:

sudo lshw -C display
  *-display UNCLAIMED       
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: G72 [GeForce 7200 GS / 7300 SE]
       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
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:e1000000-e1ffffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:e0000000-e0ffffff memory:c0000-dffff

I downloaded what I thought was the appropriate install file for the driver: NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137.run

When I run this command I get an error. Here is the pertinent part of the error log:

   executing: 'cd ./kernel; make module SYSSRC=/lib/modules/5.4.0-96-generic/build SYSOUT=/lib/modules/5.4.0-96-generic/build'...
   NVIDIA: calling KBUILD...
   make -f ./scripts/Makefile.build obj=arch/x86/entry/syscalls all
   make -f ./scripts/Makefile.build obj=scripts/basic
   rm -f .tmp_quiet_recordmcount
   make -f ./scripts/Makefile.build obj=arch/x86/tools relocs
   make[3]: *** No rule to make target 'arch/x86/tools/relocs_32.c', needed by 'arch/x86/tools/relocs_32.o'.  Stop.
   make[2]: *** [arch/x86/Makefile:236: archscripts] Error 2
   NVIDIA: left KBUILD.
   nvidia.ko failed to build!
   make[1]: *** [Makefile:261: module] Error 1

I am new to trying to do something out of the standard graphical interface driven installs and configurations and am not a programmer.

When I ran the .run file above it did something to the nouveau driver so now everything is in very large font but I still have a graphical interface.

Can anyone guide me on how to install the nvidia driver for my graphics card? Am I missing something that should be installed to make this work?

Thanks so much in advance for any help. If there are other things I should post for people to help me, please let me know.

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waltinator avatar
it flag
waltinator
Read https://askubuntu.com/help/how-to-ask and https://askubuntu.com/help/formatting
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hu flag
mikewhatever
Nvidia stooped supporting the 304 driver in 2017, so there is no support for it since 18.04. In other words, there is no easy way to install nvidia-304 on 20.04, as it is too new.
1
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gb flag
nekton
Thanks for the info. So does that mean the card won't work with 20.04?
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hu flag
mikewhatever
It might somewhat work with the default nouveau driver, but I don't know how well, especially with Gnome3. GeForce 7200 GS is from 2006, so it might be time to consider a replacement.
1
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gb flag
nekton
The adapter .run file did something that caused the nouveau drive to not being the display driver. Is there a command to return the nouveau driver to the default while I go get myself a new display adapter. Thanks so much for your patience with these noob questions.
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karel avatar
sa flag
karel
The built-in ubuntu-drivers program will automatically install the compatible Nvidia proprietary driver for your graphics card if it can find a compatible driver. See the top upvoted answer to [How to download all required Ubuntu drivers](https://askubuntu.com/q/543325/). In order for this to work first you have to uninstall the NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137 driver that you downloaded and reboot.
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hu flag
mikewhatever
There is no supported proprietary nvidia driver for GeForce 7200 GS in 20.04, so the ubuntu-drivers program won't find anything. As noted above, it needs nvidia-304, but the oldest available is nvidia-340.
1
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gb flag
nekton
I am going to replace the card with a new one. In the meantime, no nvdia driver has been installed and yet the installation somehow blacklisted the nouveau driver. I don't know how to do undo that and can only find commands for blacklisting the nouveau driver.
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Joepie Es avatar
eg flag
Joepie Es
Try to remove the driver with ```sudo apt-get --purge NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137```. You need to use the exact name of the driver. It will remove the driver and the setting it may have applied.
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gb flag
nekton
Not terribly helpful to report, but I purchased a new nvidia/asus video card and installed the proprietary drivers for it through Gnome's Software Update (470). It worked! So problem resolved. Thanks for everyone's help. I learned a lot.
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cc flag
ubfan1
Answer your own question and after a few days, accept it to mark it solved -- helping others and gaining you some rep points.
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