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I asked how I can install my nvidia card and got forwarded to How do I install the Nvidia drivers?.

So I did the basic commands (ppa, update...) , but nothing seemed to happen. I read the tutorial couple of times, for being a very basic user I dont understand it and I m afraid of making it worse.

$ apt search nvidia - | egrep "^nvidia-[0-9]+\/"

gave out

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

nvidia-304/xenial 304.137-0ubuntu0~gpu16.04.1 amd64 nvidia-331/xenial 340.106-0ubuntu0+gpu16.04.2 amd64 nvidia-340/xenial 340.106-0ubuntu0+gpu16.04.2 amd64 nvidia-346/xenial 352.63-0ubuntu3 amd64 nvidia-352/xenial 361.42-0ubuntu2 amd64 nvidia-361/xenial-updates,xenial-security 367.57-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 amd64 nvidia-367/xenial-updates,xenial-security 375.66-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 amd64 nvidia-375/xenial 384.130-0ubuntu0~gpu16.04.1 amd64 nvidia-384/xenial 384.130-0ubuntu0~gpu16.04.1 amd64 nvidia-387/xenial 390.48-0ubuntu0~gpu16.04.3 amd64 nvidia-390/xenial,now 390.48-0ubuntu0~gpu16.04.3 amd64 [installed] nvidia-396/xenial 396.18-0ubuntu0~gpu16.04.2 amd64

and

$ ubuntu-drivers devices gave out literally nothing.

$ sudo lspci | grep -i vga gave out:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4th Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06)

(which might be my onboard graphic... (?))

$ sudo lshw -C display gave out:

*-display               
   Beschreibung: VGA compatible controller
   Produkt: 4th Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller
   Hersteller: Intel Corporation
   Physische ID: 2
   Bus-Informationen: pci@0000:00:02.0
   Version: 06
   Breite: 64 bits
   Takt: 33MHz
   Fähigkeiten: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
   Konfiguration: driver=i915 latency=0
   Ressourcen: irq:28 memory:f7800000-f7bfffff memory:e0000000-efffffff ioport:f000(Größe=64) memory:c0000-dffff

How can I fix this?

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  • It is not seeing your NVIDIA card. Try reinserting your card and possibly checking your BIOS if there is something about the card not being enabled. If lspci cannot see it, then installing the drivers do not make any difference. Also, make sure that your monitor is plugged into the new video card.
    – Terrance
    Apr 24, 2018 at 17:29
  • this is possible, my monitor is still plugged to my motherboard... cuz GPU is not runnin?
    – PortWein
    Apr 24, 2018 at 21:37
  • Yes, that is a very big possibility. Plug it into the video card itself. Some systems can detect where the monitor is plugged in and activate that video card.
    – Terrance
    Apr 24, 2018 at 21:38
  • Turn off the system first, move the cable over then boot it up.
    – Terrance
    Apr 24, 2018 at 21:42
  • Card didnt get activated when I plugged it...
    – PortWein
    Apr 25, 2018 at 17:14

1 Answer 1

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There is, indeed, a "control panel" in Ubuntu. It's called System Settings. You can launch most applications by typing part of the name or description in the Unity Launch Button. It's on the top of the Sidebar Launcher.

Once you have brought up System Settings, click on Software & Updates. Then click on the Additional Drivers Tab.

The app will analyze your configuration and give you the results you are asking for. This will include a list of your installed drivers. It's also flag a recommended driver based on the drives you have installed. And, of course, as you have asked, it will show you the driver that you are currently using. Usually, if there is a detected problem with the driver, you'll see a message to that effect.

You can also use this GUI app for changing and testing some of the other drivers you have installed.

The links in your question show you resources for locating and installing Nvidia drivers. The installation for installing the drivers are usually in the form of a PPA provided by the vendor. At times it will be a file that is run from the commandline. They also provide *.deb files, which can be installed by clicking on them.

If you install a driver that is causing problems getting your GUI screen, you can use the commandlines (which is also included in the links you posted) from a terminal console (Ctrl+Alt+F2 to fix it by running the command line version of the drivers install utility.

The commanline version is:

Check for available drivers

$ ubuntu-drivers devices

Install a different driver

$ sudo apt install nvidia-###

(The ### is replaced by the version of the available drivers you have on your machine.)

Show which driver is currently in use

$ lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A3

Driver install commands are included in the Links you posted in your question, plus this link - Switching NVidia Drivers.

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  • the additional drivers tab shows me no drivers were found (I installed $ sudo apt-get install nvidia-390). You mean the .deb file from here? So I just purge the nvidia-390 I just installed, and run the .deb by mouseclick? :)
    – PortWein
    Apr 23, 2018 at 21:51
  • @PortWein If the Additional Drivers comes up blank you are missing the part of adding the correct PPA. In that answer that you were forwarded to, all the commands that they are having you type in you need to be doing from a Terminal Window. Best is to copy and paste. Without the PPA setup, you shouldn't have been able to run sudo apt install nvidia-390 as it should have given you an error about not found.
    – Terrance
    Apr 23, 2018 at 21:59
  • Will you edit your question and paste the output of this command (from the answer) sudo ubuntu-drivers devices? Did you get an error message when you run the sudo apt install nvidia-390 command? @Terrance Maybe right that you never completed the PPA configuration, which must include the command sudo apt update after you have added the PPA. The deb file method should suffice to add the available drivers to your system. Apr 23, 2018 at 22:05
  • @terrance: I did sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa and sudo apt-get update before I installed nvidia-390...
    – PortWein
    Apr 24, 2018 at 14:49
  • @L.D.James: sudo ubuntu-drivers devices gives out nothing. Shall I just reinstall nividia-390 without any further actions? It's weird...
    – PortWein
    Apr 24, 2018 at 14:52

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