Ubuntu 16.04 "Nvidia GPU Driver" can not use proprietary driver

Question

After a fresh install (16.04) to my notebook which have Nvidia GT 750m, I want to change GPU driver from "Software & Updates" --> "Additional Drivers". System identifies my graphic card, no problem but when I select a proprietary driver and apply changes. After a few seconds, change bar stops and nouveau selected by default again.

I tried from terminal;

sudo apt-get install nvidia-361

but output says "you have held broken packages"

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 nvidia-361 : Depends: lib32gcc1 but it is not going to be installed
              Depends: libc6-i386 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Then issue is not about nvidia-361, all drivers are same.

Solution 1

16.04 is new and all packages are not ready to use in all servers. The problem is not about nvidia drivers or anything about broken pacages.

Using Main Server to download packages solve my problem.

1. System Settings
2. Software & Updates
3. Select "Main Server" from "Download from" section

Solution 2

In ubuntu 16.04, if Software & Updates -> Additional Drivers, is started from menu or Unity launcher, choosing a proprietary driver doesn't work. Upon selecting a new driver and clicking apply changes, progress bar moves forward for sometime, then goes back and the previous driver is selected again.

It looks like the issue is that Software & Updates is initialized without super user privileges. The solution is, open a terminal and type:

$ sudo software-properties-gtk

And type password if required. Then select the proprietary driver and click apply changes.

This method solved me the problem.

PS : Edited after seeing the comments.

Comments

[Mark Kirby]

Please don't copy other peoples answers from the site as yours, leave a comment below the question saying it is a duplicate -1

[Dugi]

This isn't a duplicate, he's not asking about broken packages, but about problems installing a driver with some diagnostics.

[al0s]

It is not works.. "sudo apt-get install -f nvidia-361" gives broken packages error.

[Dugi]

Try to use Synaptic Package Manager, if it finds broken packages, it will ask you if you want it to fix them for you.

[Mark Kirby]

Then why did you link another question on the site as your source if it is not the same answer?

[Dugi]

Because it wasn't obvious that it was the answer.

[Mark Kirby]

You said "This isn't a duplicate, he's not asking about broken packages" but your answer says "Another possible solution is to use synaptic package manager to fix the broken packages" and the OP error is "you have held broken packages" I don't see how a question about fixing broken packages is not an obvious fix for a broken packages error, also you tell me it is not about broken packages but your answer says it is, do you see my confusion here?

[Dugi]

Brilliant, let's start a flamewar here.

[Mark Kirby]

I'm not starting anything, just asking you to explain why you copy pasted someone else's answer as your own, then you tell me it is not about broken packages but your answer says it is, I just want to make sure I make the best use of my votes, you are under no obligation to explain. Copying other peoples answers, even if you provide a link to that answer is not allowed, you should leave a comment saying it is a duplicate, that is my concern, your other comments just confused me.

[Dugi]

You know what I think? That if something is voted down, it's harmful advice, something a reader should not try. If you think I did something morally wrong, you should attack me, not the reply.

[Mark Kirby]

There are many reasons to downvote, I downvoted this because you took someone else's answer and presented it as your own, we have a system for presenting other answers to the OP. Why should I attack you? Thats ridiculous, I don't know you or anything about you, my issue is with this answer, not you as a person. I gave you the chance to defend it, thats more than most users would. "morally wrong" Thats not my point, low rep users often just don't understand how the site works, had you just taken that on board, I would of just said "OK be careful in future" changed my vote and moved on.

[Dugi]

I have not presented it as my own, I have even written where I took it from. And does it even matter? The purpose of this website is to provide helpful answers. The answer is more helpful as it is, it would be worse if I simply marked this question as a duplicate. When you vote an answer down, it makes it appear as not useful. It would make sense if I lost reputation, but I don't. This discussion itself is not helpful to anyone here, just edit my reply if you can think of a better way of telling it.

[Mark Kirby]

"It would make sense if I lost reputation, but I don't" yes you do. "I have not presented it as my own" Yes you have, if this was voted up you would make rep off someone else's work. "it would be worse if I simply marked this question as a duplicate" No, we keep one version of each question to keep the site clean and organized, that is how this site works. I am done with this, you seem to think that presenting someone else's work as your own is OK, it is not.

[Dugi]

I have explained why it's not a duplicate.

[Star OS]

Please make your answer more complete.

[Videonauth]

You might be able to improve this answer with providing the steps needed in more detail and maybe even adding screen-shots of different parts to make it a rock solid answer.

[Soren]

I get nvidia-390: Depends: x11-common (>= 1:7.0.0) but 1:7.7+13ubuntu3 is to be installed Depends: libgl1 but it is a virtual package Depends: xorg-video-abi-24 but it is not going to be installed