How to disable Nouveau kernel driver

Question

When installing CUDA in Ubuntu 16.04 by executing cuda_8.0.44_linux.run,

I got the following error message in /var/log/nvidia-installer.log

Then I checked /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf and got

Any suggestion to disable Nouveau Kernel Driver?

I found this 2012 discussion but didn't work for me.

Solution 1

According to the NVIDIA developer zone: Create a file:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

With the following contents:

blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0

Regenerate the kernel initramfs:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Finally, reboot:

sudo reboot

Read more at: http://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-installation-guide-linux/index.html#ixzz4rQODN0jy

Solution 2

maybe it is too late ,but hope can help for others. the follow tips worked for ubuntu 16.04 and elementary os 0.4.

1. remove all nvidia packages ,skip this if your system is fresh installed

   sudo apt-get remove nvidia* && sudo apt autoremove
   

2. install some packages for build kernel:

   sudo apt-get install dkms build-essential linux-headers-generic
   

3. now block and disable nouveau kernel driver:

   sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
   

Insert follow lines to the blacklist.conf:

blacklist nouveau
blacklist lbm-nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
alias nouveau off
alias lbm-nouveau off

save and exit.

4. Disable the Kernel nouveau by typing the following commands(nouveau-kms.conf may not exist,it is ok):

   echo options nouveau modeset=0 | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/nouveau-kms.conf
   

5. build the new kernel by:

   sudo update-initramfs -u
   

6. reboot

Comments

[Zanna]

stupid question, but did you reboot and try again after you regenerated the initramfs?

[willSapgreen]

I did but didn't work.

[Sun Bear]

Is item 4 necessary? It looks to be a repeat of "options nouveau modeset=0" that was added to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf mentioned in your item 3.

[Julian Cienfuegos]

I did this, then CTRL+ALT+F1, sudo service lightdm stop,then was able to run the installer. I don't know if it was essential to do this, but I did and I was able to run the installer successfully. Thanks!

[revolutionary]

This just killed my system. After rebooting now i see an endless blackscreen, not even a darn cursor ;(

[Mariusz Jaskółka]

Better change sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf to gksu gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf :D

[Tcll]

@revolutionary that's odd, you must not have a fallback driver. do you have a spare vga monitor anywhere??

[Isengo]

@Tcll same here. My screen wont pass the Grub Bootloader. What to do now?

[Isengo]

@revolutionary what did you do to fix it?

[Tcll]

well, you can't undo your changes and rerun sudo update-initramfs -u to re-enable nouveau... I did just that like an idiot and had to reinstall xubuntu because I screwed everything up to where any nvidia driver installation failed. best thing I can recommend for @revolutionary is to grab a vga monitor (lcd, crt, doesn't matter). that should at least run off the fallback mode and help get you somewhere.

[adelindev]

This one worked perfectly, but i also had to remove the X0 lock files from /tmp.

[MewX]

It worked, thanks! BTW, in Arch Environment, the update-initramfs -u is different. You will need to find your kernel preset in /etc/mkinitcpio.d/ (e.g. linux417.preset), and run sudo mkinitcpio -p linux417, and reboot. All done!

[Nathan]

Luckily I'm installing on a GCloud Compute Virtual Instance, but I definitely think this answer hurt more than it helped. Now I'm flooded with warnings like WARNING: Unable to find a suitable destination to install 32-bit compatibility libraries. Your system may not be set up for 32-bit compatibility. 32-bit compatibility files will not be installed; if you wish to install them, re-run the installation and set a valid directory with the --compat32-libdir option. Downvote from me

[WesleyHsiung]

@frank, sorry for that, the anwser may outdated, yes, you should down vote it

[sdd]

Works perfectly in Ubuntu 18.04.03. Thank you very much!

[stiv]

Didn't work on 18.04 for me, nvidia installer still complains about this nuveau.

[Ghostranger]

after following all the steps given from this method you can install Nvidia from the .run file which can be download from the Nvidia official site and follow the on screen instruction.

[eval]

Thx, it works on ubuntu server 20.04