Linux crashed?

Graphics / Linux Linux
1

My MATLAB program was crashing every day, so MathWorks suggested I update my NVIDIA driver according to this link:
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/137276/en-us

Linux X64 (AMD64/EM64T) Display Driver

I exited out of GUI mode using Alt-Ctrl-F1
The first time I ran the installer, I was instructed to close my X Server.

I was able to close my x server using the command
sudo service lightdm stop

I ran the NVIDIA installer twice.
The first time I was conservative with the options and selected the “no” option a few times.
The installation failed.

So I ran it again and selected the "yes"option on everything.

After that, my computer got trashed.
All I have now is a low res 40x25 CGA display that continuously reboots.

Is there a way to recover?

2

snicker
Which distro are you running? Model of your graphics card?
Did you already try to add ‘3’ to the grub command line to be dropped to a text login?
If you manage to log in, please run nvidia-bug-report.sh as root and attach the resulting .gz file to your post. Hovering the mouse over an existing post of yours will reveal a paperclip icon.
[url]https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1043347/announcements/attaching-files-to-forum-topics-posts/[/url]
To upload from command line, you can use pastebinit.

  • install pastebinit (sudo apt install pastebinit [in case of debian/ubuntu etc.])
  • unzip logfile (gunzip nvidia-bug-report.log.gz)
  • upload logfile (pastebinit -i nvidia-bug-report.log)
  • note down and post the url you’re given
3

Okay, I’m thick as a plank.

I was able to get to a text login by hitting Alt-Ctrl-F1.

Where can I find nvidia-bug-report.sh?

4

And explain what you mean by adding a ‘3’ to the grub command line?

5

Since you managed to get to a login, it’s not necessary to manually switch to runlevel 3 anymore. That would have worked this way:
[url]https://www.if-not-true-then-false.com/2012/howto-change-runlevel-on-grub2/[/url]
nvidia-bug-report.sh should have been installed alongside the nvidia driver, so you should be able to run it using
sudo nvidia-bug-report.sh
You can also just unzip the .run installer using the -x option, e.g:
./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run -x
It then creates a directory containing the script to execute
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87/nvidia-bug-report.sh

6

Using the command lsb_release -a
it says I am running Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS

Using the command lspci -v -s $(lspci | grep ’ VGA ’ | cut -d" " -f 1)
it says the video card is
NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL (Quadro M4000)

7

I tried sudo nvidia-bug-report.sh
Did not work.
Is there a specific folder I need to be in?

8

Sorry, my mistake.
It’s now running.
Stand by for the gz file.

9

How do I attach the file?

10

To upload from command line, you can use pastebinit.

  • install pastebinit (sudo apt install pastebinit [in case of debian/ubuntu etc.])
  • unzip logfile (gunzip nvidia-bug-report.log.gz)
  • upload logfile (pastebinit -i nvidia-bug-report.log)
  • note down and post the url you’re given
11

Hovering the mouse over an existing post of yours will reveal a paperclip icon.
[url]https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1043347/announcements/attaching-files-to-forum-topics-posts/[/url]

12

http://paste.ubuntu.com/p/bfhG7PRFv2/

13

Sorry for the delay.
I have to jump between a Windows machine, which is where this Forum is open, and the broken Linux machine.

nvidia-bug-report.log (2.88 MB)

14

Takes forever to scan a 2,953 KB log file…

15

You installed the .run installer over the Ubuntu provided driver so you now have a mixed-up system. Please uninstall the .run installer using the --uninstall option, e.g.

sudo  ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run --uninstall

Then add the Ubuntu graphics ppa:
https://launchpad.net/~graphics-drivers/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt-get update

and install the driver from there:

sudo apt install nvidia-415

then reboot.

16

don’t I need to run
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run --uninstall

my history shows I ran the file originally using
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run

17

I tried the ./ method.
Did not work.
It said command not found.

18

sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run --uninstall
only works if you made it executable after downloading, either by gui or running
chmod ogu+x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run
Otherwise, you’ll have to use
sudo sh (-c) NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.87.run --uninstall

19

I had to go to the Downloads folder where the NVIDIA installer resided.
It’s running now.

I’m being given options while uninstalling…

Would you like to run ‘nvidia-xconfig --restore-original-backup’ to attempt restoration of the original X configuration file? Yes No

20

NO