20

Running ubuntu 18.04 with nvidia-driver-390. How can I switch to nouveau and make the change persistent between reboots?

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
21

You can switch drivers by running the GUI Additional Drivers from the Software and Update app.

Or you can do it from the terminal commandline by running these commands:

$ ubuntu-drivers devices

This will show you your available drivers. Then pick the nouveau driver found and switch to it with this command:

$ sudo apt install [xserver-xorg-video-nouveau]

The [xserver-xorg-video-nouveau] is an example a nouveau driver that might be found.

If for some reason you have removed your nouveau drivers, you can reinstall them with (for example):

$ sudo apt install nouveau-firmware

You can verify the available nouveau drivers from the repository with this command:

$ apt search nouveau
Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    I cannot find any explanation of what nouveau-firmware is needed for exactly. It is not listed among dependencies of xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, and selecting xserver-xorg-video-nouveau with GUI Driver Manager does not install nouveau-firmware. Could it be useful to install nouveau-firmware manually? Does the Nvidia card model matter?
    – Alexey
    Feb 16, 2019 at 19:09
  • You may be right that the particular driver may not be needed. The command lines (which I edited the answer to clarify) are intended as examples for installing drivers.
    – L. D. James
    Feb 17, 2019 at 9:33
  • When I try to install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau it says: The following packages have unmet dependencies: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau : Depends: xorg-video-abi-23 Depends: xserver-xorg-core (>= 2:1.18.99.901)
    – Lucas Bustamante
    Jul 2, 2019 at 17:23
  • That means your library configuration is broken. There are quite a few Q&A's that addresses fixing unmet dependencies issues. This is a carefully filtered Google search of this site that may help you get started: google.com/… The first one (currently) on the list will likely resolve your issue.
    – L. D. James
    Jul 2, 2019 at 21:27
8

Run

sudo apt purge nvidia-driver-390
sudo apt autoremove

and reboot.

Another way is to do it in "Software & Updates" -> Additional Drivers tab.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    I've tried that but then when rebooting it doesn't enter to desktop.
    – Smeterlink
    May 5, 2018 at 11:02
  • 2
    That may mean that your video card is not perfectly supported by nouveau.
    – Pilot6
    May 5, 2018 at 11:24
1

Answer my own question: ubuntu-drivers and "Software and Update > Additional drivers" are broken on ubuntu 18.04. We'll have to wait until developers fix it. For now just use the proprietary nvidia driver which works ok.

Improve this answer
1

On Xubuntu 18.04, "Software and Update > Additional drivers" worked for me, but I had to replace the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file by the original one, /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original, which in my case is just a blank file.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .