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Installing downloaded NVIDIA drivers in GNU/LINUX
Installing downloaded NVIDIA drivers in GNU/LINUX ? Then this might turn out to be a headache for novice GNU/LINUX users. Yes, that did for me and many of my friends as well. So am sharing this with you guys.
Why do I need to manually install drivers ?
"Hey wait a sec. I can install the drivers from the software repositories. So why do i need to download the drivers manually and install them running all the command, all going through the hardship ?" - Is this the question you are asking ? Then here are your answers :- Drivers provided in the software repository are a bit outdated and may miss important bug fixes and updates ( This proved to be a disaster for me )
- Drivers download from NVIDIA's website are the latest ones and come with important bug fixes and updates ( even if they are minor, they increase your card's performance )
- Sometimes, you may want to install the drivers yourselves ( The geeky fellow )
So, how to install it ?
There are three steps in installing the driver downloaded from NVIDIA website :- Download the driver from NVIDIA Drivers download page ( If you already have the driver, then make sure it is the latest one )
- Install dkms if not installed. You can do this by issuing the following command :
- Deactivating the default driver ( This process is automatic, you don't need to break a sweat ) NOTE : Needs a restart
- Installing the driver NOTE : Needs a restart
sudo apt-get install dkms
Deactivating the default driver :
- Press 'Ctrl+Alt+F1'
- Now login using your username and password
- Enter the following :
sudo telinit 3 echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP ( Note the output for this command ) sudo service DesktopManager stop ( NOTE : Replace DesktopManager with the replacement term from the following table )
Replacement Terms Desktop Environment Replacement Term Unity lightdm GNOME gdm KDE kdm LXDE lxdm - Now press 'Ctrl + Alt + F2'
- Again login using your username and password
- Then enter the following :
cd DriverPath ( Replace the DriverPath with the path to the driver file ) [ For e.g cd Downloads/ ] chmod +x driverfile ( Replace driverfile with the name of the driver file ) [ For e.g. chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-331.20.run ] sudo ./driverfile [For e.g ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-331.20.run ]
- Accept the license terms
- If the installation states something like 'Preinstallation script was not successful ' or something of similar sort, click on 'OK' and continue with the installation
- The installation will detect the default driver ( in my case , it was Nouvea ) and the installer will prompt to disable the default driver. Click on OK
- Again the installer will pop a message saying 'One or more files were created for disabling ***** /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf. Click on OK
- The installer will finish with a failure message. Dont panic. Click on OK. Then just reboot the system using
sudo reboot now
Installing the Driver
Now its time to wrap things up and finish the game.- Press 'Ctrl+Alt+F1'
- Now login using your username and password
- Enter the following :
sudo telinit 3 echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP ( Note the output for this command ) sudo service DesktopManager stop ( NOTE : Replace DesktopManager with the replacement term )
- Now press 'Ctrl + Alt + F2'
- Again login using your username and password
- Then enter the following :
cd DriverPath ( Replace the DriverPath with the path to the driver file ) sudo ./driverfile ( Replace driverfile with the driver file name)
- Accept the license terms
- If the installation states something like 'Preinstallation script was not successful ' or something of similar sort, click on 'OK' and continue with the installation
- Then the Installation will compile the required kernel modules
- After that, the installer will prompt whether to replace 'Xorg' files. It is upto you to make that choice. I do not know what is the benefit in making either of the choices
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