Installing nVidia drivers from website

Question

My Toshiba laptop has an nVidia graphics card which is not supported in Ubuntu, and there is no Entry in "Additional Drivers"

I tried installing the driver from the nVidia website (Which does have a Linux 64bit version) but nothing happens zwhen I click the .run file (I have made it executable).

Solution

The file should be executed in the terminal, not through the file browser. Please make a backup (preferably using disk-cloning software like Clonezilla before proceeding, better safe than sorry. I have had bad experience with the proprietary drivers because my Optimus card is not supported.

1. Blacklist the nouveau driver by editing the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf as root and add the next lines:

   blacklist nouveau
   blacklist nvidiafb
   

   Alternatively, open a terminal and run the next command:

   printf 'blacklist nouveau\nblacklist nvidiafb\n' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
   

2. Update the modules dependencies map and the initial ramdisk to remove the nouveau drivers by running the next commands in a terminal.

   sudo depmod -a
   sudo update-initramfs -u
   

3. Reboot the machine, and before GRUB is booting, hold the Shift key to make the menu appear.
4. Select the (recovery mode) entry.
5. Choose root shell

6. Assuming you've downloaded the file to /home/user/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-260.19.44.run, run the program:

   /home/user/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-260.19.44.run
   

   (root permissions is required because the program needs to write drivers and programs to privileged locations)

7. Follow the on-screen instructions

Comments

[Calixte]

Thanks! It tells me that I am using an X server so I can't install, even when I am using the terminal by typing ctrl+Alt+1 and not logged in graphically. How do I quit the X server?

[Lekensteyn]

@Calixte: even if you're not using the graphical server, it remains active in the background. Please make a backup before proceeding!. To make things easier, I would just reboot into recovery mode. You should have the file ready at some locatio.

[Calixte]

Thanks for the help. The installation failed however. Apparently, the Nouveau has to be disabled first, but there were no instructions on how to do that.

[Lekensteyn]

@Calixte: updated the answer again!

[Calixte]

Everything works perfectly, but then I can't reboot: * starting load fallback graphics devices [fail] Thanks for all the help, your instructions are great

[Lekensteyn]

@Calixte: at what step does the error occur? Step 7? You might need to update your modules list and initial ramdisk by running depmod -a && update-initramfs -u in a root shell (recovery mode).