rm_init_adapter fails at X startup for Ubuntu drivers more recent than 304 (`nvidia-current` package) [GeForce GT 750M, Dell XPS 15 9530 laptop]

I’ve been trying to get a recent CUDA toolkit working on 16.04 but whenever I install a driver more recent than 304, the X fails to get the GPU going. I get a dialogue box with this text:

The system is running in low-graphics mode
Your screen, graphics card, and input device settings could not be detected correctly. You will need to configure these yourself.

…but no mouse pointer that I can see, hitting enter takes me to another dialogue box with text:

What would you like to do?

  • Try running with default graphical mode
  • Reconfigure graphics
  • Troubleshoot the error
  • Exit to console login

Without the mouse pointer, I can do nothing but hit escape which takes my back the previous dialogue.

Logging in to one of the frame-buffers, I find that the Xorg.0.log contains these errors:

[ 527.567] () NVIDIA(0): Option “AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration” “on”
[ 527.567] (
) NVIDIA(0): Option “IgnoreDisplayDevices” “CRT”
[ 527.567] (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling 2D acceleration
[ 527.589] (EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA GPU at PCI:2:0:0. Please
[ 527.589] (EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): check your system’s kernel log for additional error
[ 527.589] (EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): messages and refer to Chapter 8: Common Problems in the
[ 527.589] (EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): README for additional information.
[ 527.589] (EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
[ 527.589] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failing initialization of X screen 0
[ 527.589] (II) UnloadModule: “nvidia”
[ 527.589] (II) UnloadSubModule: “wfb”
[ 527.589] (II) UnloadSubModule: “fb”

[…]

[ 528.229] (II) Module shadow: vendor=“X.Org Foundation”
[ 528.229] compiled for 1.18.4, module version = 1.1.0
[ 528.229] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
[ 528.229] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[ 528.229] (EE)
Fatal server error:
[ 528.229] (EE) no screens found(EE)
[ 528.229] (EE)
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.x.org
for help.
[ 528.229] (EE) Please also check the log file at “/var/log/Xorg.0.log” for additional information.
[ 528.229] (EE)
[ 528.295] (EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

dmesg contains errors like:

[Mon Oct 24 08:50:30 2016] sddm[31374]: segfault at 7f2300000073 ip 00007f2300000073 sp 00007ffdaf3382d8 error 14
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] vgaarb: this pci device is not a vga device
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x25:0x40:1050)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:31 2016] NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] vgaarb: this pci device is not a vga device
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x25:0x40:1050)
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:32 2016] NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0
[Mon Oct 24 08:50:33 2016] sddm[31502]: segfault at 40 ip 0000000000000040 sp 00007ffc6fff3a78 error 14 in sddm[400000+69000]

/var/log/syslog contains errors like:

Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide kernel: [ 842.670414] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x25:0x40:1050)
Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide kernel: [ 842.670435] NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0
Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide systemd[1]: Starting NVIDIA Persistence Daemon…
Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: Verbose syslog connection opened
Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: Now running with user ID 128 and group ID 136
Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide systemd[1]: Started NVIDIA Persistence Daemon.
Oct 24 08:50:30 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: Started (31441)

[…]

Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide kernel: [ 844.801790] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide kernel: [ 844.801822] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide kernel: [ 844.802323] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: device 0000:02:00.0 - registered
Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: Local RPC service initialized
Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide kernel: [ 844.820936] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x25:0x40:1050)
Oct 24 08:50:32 bigslide kernel: [ 844.820994] NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide sddm[31502]: Running display setup script “/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup”
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: Received signal 15
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide systemd[1]: Stopping NVIDIA Persistence Daemon…
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: Socket closed.
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide nvidia-persistenced: PID file unlocked.

[…]

Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.651199] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.651219] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.651252] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.651272] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.651748] ACPI Warning: _SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20160422/nsarguments-95)
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.670398] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x25:0x40:1050)
Oct 24 08:50:33 bigslide kernel: [ 845.670419] NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0

NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x25:0x40:1050)
NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0

I originally hit this on a fairly new install of Ubuntu 16.04. Since then I’ve tried reinstalling with Ubuntu 16.10 but that hasn’t helped.

I’ve tried using both EFI and BIOS/legacy boot modes, which hasn’t helped.

I have tried installing various different drivers in different ways. My initial attempt was the driver that comes with cuda-repo-ubuntu1604-8-0-local_8.0.44-1_amd64.deb. I’ve also tried using Ubuntu packages and NVIDIA run files.

The machine is a Dell XPS 15 9530 laptop and according to lspci, its card is:
02:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 750M] (rev a1)

I will attempt to attach the following files:

  • nvidia-bug-report.log.gz - An example bug report file
  • nvidia-bug-report.log.old.gz - Another example bug report file
  • dmesg.nvrm - The ‘NVRM’ lines grepped out of dmesg output, with a few lines of context
  • syslog.nvrm - The ‘NVRM’ lines grepped out of /var/log/syslog, with a few lines of context
  • Xorg.0.log.errors - The ‘EE’ lines grepped out of Xorg.0.log, with a few lines of context

Many thanks for any help you can offer.
nvidia-bug-report.log.gz (71.5 KB)
nvidia-bug-report.log.old.gz (72.9 KB)
dmesg.nvrm.log (275 KB)
syslog.nvrm.log (641 KB)
Xorg.0.log.errors.log (2.39 KB)