How do I install the NVIDIA driver for a GeForce 6200?

Question

I have been recently trying to find a solution for this on the web but did not find something useful or accurate for Ubuntu 11.10. I also consulted the NVIDIA help, but things there did not work for me.

I installed the additional drivers from system settings but they are not fully compatible with my GeForce 6200. First I tried finding how to stop the X server. I succeeded, but another problem was the nouveau kernel.

This is really frustrating. Can anybody tell me an accurate and authentic way to install NVIDIA drivers?

Solution 1

I just did this last night. Here is what I did.

1. Copy all instructions down somewhere or cut & paste to a text file you can read on a virtual console - you will be completing this without a graphical user interface.
2. Download the appropriate Linux driver from nvidia.com. It comes as a "self extracting archive" that you run just like a shell script. I changed permissions on the file after download was complete to make it executable (chmod +x << name of download file >>).
3. Run sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r` in a terminal.
4. At this point I switched to a virtual console (hold down Ctrl+Alt+F6 at the same time). By default Ubuntu seems to preconfigure 5 virtual consoles ... might come in handy to switch back and forth at some point. Just replace F6 with any function key from F1 to F5.
5. Shutdown X-Windows: sudo service lightdm stop
6. Remove old version drivers: sudo apt-get --purge remove $(dpkg -l | grep nvidia | awk '{print $2}')
7. Run the downloaded script from NVIDIA and follow all of its prompts: sudo <script>
8. Reboot.

At one point the NVIDIA script complained about some pre-install script having an error and gave me the option to continue or not - I continued. Seems to be working.

No warranties expressed or implied - use at your own risk. :)

Solution 2

This for me worked perfectly. I simply followed the steps and unity was running after a quick restart. Quick Authentic way to install Proprietary Drivers in Ubuntu

Solution 3

I'm using nvidia-current driver with Ubuntu 12.10 for the GeForce 6200 card. I think the nvidia-current driver (in the main repository) is available for Ubuntu 11.10 but you probably should update to either 12.04 or 12.10 anyway.

Solution 4

1) You must blacklist nouveau:

sudo touch /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf

Add the following two lines, save then close:

blacklist nouveau

options nouveau modeset=0

2) Restart Ubuntu into recovery mode. See the NOTE on the bottom.

3) Boot to a different run level: sudo init 3

4) Stop X: sudo services lightdm stop

5) Manually edit the xorg configuration file. If it doesn't exist, skip this step: use locate xorg.conf to check.

Remove the line:

  Driver "nv"

(or Driver "vesa") (or Driver "fbdev") and replace it with the line:

Driver "nvidia"

Remove the following lines:

Load "dri"
Load "GLCore"

In the Module section of the file, add the line (if it does not already exist):

Load "glx"

6) cd to the driver file and then install the driver: sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-<version>.run

Make it an executable first if necessary: chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-<version>.run

7) If you did not have an xorg.conf file to edit earlier, let the installer create a configuration file for you when it asks.

8) Startup X and restart Ubuntu: sudo services lightdm start

The steps above are what I have used and got it running successfully. You should see an NVIDIA logo on startup, just after the Ubuntu one.

Source: http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/290.10/README/index.html

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Comments

[Hannes]

Which drivers have you installed using the additional driver installation in system settings? Maybe you should just install an older version for your graphics card. I think the older version is version 96.

[2d4skt]

i dont know why but the third step was not executing, however using another way i installed the nvidia drivers successfully(by disabling nouevau and stopping x server) but now the problem is that ubuntu is showing flashing symbol( _ ) which appears everytime i boot into ubuntu. by pressing ctrl+alt+F1 . i am able to boot into text mode but how to boot into graphical mode??

[Don]

You will likely find in /var/log/Xorg.0.log some indication that the x server failed during start up. You could also try manually starting from your virtual console (what you called "booting into text mode") and typing sudo service lightdm start. I expect it to fail. As far as "step 3 failing" something wonky happened to the formatting of the command I typed. the "uname -r" part was supposed to be in single back quotes. The command uname-r is evaluated (telling you which kernal version you are running) and appended to the app-get command so you get the right version of headers.