How do I install the proprietary Nvidia drivers on Ubuntu 17.10?

Question

Running Ubuntu 17.10

GPU is Asus GeForce GTX 1060 (is a NVidia GPU and the correct NVidia proprietary driver for Linux is downloaded from their website).

Have correct NVidia proprietary driver for Linux: NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.69.run

I am guessing that sudo apt install nvidia-384 does not install the proprietary NVidia driver so, how do I correctly install the proprietary Nvidia driver?

My question is not about how to install drivers using .RUN files. The question is about the correct procedure to install a NVidia driver using Ubuntu 17.10 available options.

Solution 1

Ubuntu provides an easy way to install the NVIDIA proprietary drivers. If you open the 'Software & Updates' Application and navigate to the 'Additional Drivers' tab you can install the Ubuntu provided proprietary driver. My driver is at 384.90.

Solution 2

You can't under wayland (default graphic server running under ubuntu 17.10) , well not yet. You will have to use the old server : "Xorg" on your machine. Don't worry, even with a clean install it should still be install on your computer. simply do that.

Comments

[pomsky]

Possible duplicate of How do I install .run files?

[cjclm7]

No, it is not about how to install .run files

[David Foerster]

Possible duplicate of How do I install the Nvidia drivers?

[Panther]

@DavidFoerster - yes and no on duplicate. The 'problem' is the nvidia drivers are not working well with wayland is all.

[Charles Green]

Possible duplicate of Install NVidia drivers from .run provided by geforce.com

[vidarlo]

The website says " B250 Mining Expert currently supports a total of up to eight NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. An unlimited number of GPUs will be supported following a driver update that is planned for Q4 2017." Are you sure that this is a Ubuntu/Linux problem, and not a hardware limitation?

[cjclm7]

Need more information: when I use the words ""NVidia Proprietary driver" it means means that the drivers are written by nVidia developers. Is this "Ubuntu provided proprietary driver" you are recommending to install the same as the "NVidia proprietary driver for Linux: NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.69.run" ? Is it the same driver?

[MichaelScottxyz]

The driver that Ubuntu provides appears to be newer than the one you downloaded from NVIDIA's website. Both proprietary drivers should be on par with one another. I was recommending installing the NVIDIA driver from the 'Software & Updates' Application because it is hassle-free.

[Panther]

@Jorge - In general, .run files are written by people who don't know or care to know how to properly package packages for linux (.rpm or .deb). As such the .run programs can damage system files and removal is poorly written. The "solution" is to use the .deb packages from the ubuntu repositories. The ubuntu repository provides the same nvidia proprietary binary driver as the .run file does, just properly packaged so that it does not damage teh system and can be easily removed.

[cjclm7]

Yes, I agree the solution is simple. To use the "Software & Updates" then TAB " Additional Drivers" then accept the NVidia binary driver (instead of the default Noveau display driver) is the correct procedure. It avoids the hassle of installing the downloaded .RUN file. I have followed the proposed solution and the command "inxi -G" identified correctly the GPU connected to the machine.

[JT.]

To add to this, if you get the "black screen of death" like I did after an upgrade, you can do what @MichaelScottxyz suggests from the CLI also (either by ssh-ing in, or hitting ctrl+alt+f1 to get a terminal). Once you're on a terminal, do ubuntu-drivers devices to have Ubuntu tell you what to install. In my case, after an upgrade, I had to install the kernel headers for my kernel and then sudo aptitude reinstall nvidia-384 to install the driver. A quick reboot and I was back in business.