So I’d been running the nvidia 390 driver just fine until yesterday. After a software update, somehow I got reset back to the default nouveau driver. After reinstalling the driver from the nvidia repository, the OS broke. So, I reinstalled the whole OS.
But now, everything I’d done previously (to be listed in the following links) to get the drivers installed isn’t working.
1.) https://askubuntu.com/questions/1030867/how-to-diagnose-fix-very-slow-boot-on-ubuntu-18-04
2.)https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-disable-nouveau-nvidia-driver-on-ubuntu-18-04-bionic-beaver-linux
Before, all I had to do was do updates, install drivers, and then blacklist nouveau. At the time it made boot times excessively long (up to 2 minutes on a 960 evo) while windows boots were nowhere near that length. Then I found a link to something that sortof resolve that, apparently some network service was taking too long to start. Boot times were then 50 seconds-1 minute (still not ideal)
I dealt with that for a while until the 4.18 kernel update dropped, and then poof! Everything worked normally. After a software update just a day ago, it all broke. And now, I cannot successfully install the drivers and fix the long boot times with all the previous methods. I’ve even tried installing other driver revisions to no avail.
Any ideas what the workaround is for this? Do i just run content with the default driver?
Makes sure you install the current 18.04.1 version. Saves many updates, if nothing else.
I recall an issue with very slow boot times that I believe has been dealt with. In any case, I’ve routinely installed Ubuntu on multiple Samsung NVME’s via the normal installer without any problems or needing to fuss with fstab after the install.
Stick with the Nvidia driver available from Canonical via Additional Drivers AND with the current stock Ubuntu kernel. You aren’t guaranteed that a mainline kernel (like 4.18) and the Nvidia driver will coexist happily. (Ask a Fedora user.)
(There is a potential advantage for users of AMD cards in using a mainline kernel that’s newer than the stock Ubuntu kernel. There is no advantage if you are using Nvidia and the proprietary driver. Check the readme’s for each Nvidia driver release at their site to see what’s changed. Odds are high it won’t impact you.)
Oh… if you install via Additional Driver, you should not need to manually blacklist nouveau or manually rebuild initramfs.
Shouldn’t need to do it, no. But I’ve tried going through additional drivers as well as the terminal installation on two different GPUs (I have a 780 and a 960 I swapped in there). No matter what both installations will result in dramatically increasing the boot time.
When you say the driver from canonical, do you mean the “nvidia driver metapackage” or just the x.org driver? Regardless, i’ve tried the 390 package they offer there as well as the nvidia 340 binary driver and always get the same results. If I switch back to the xorg driver it boots fine.
I mean the Nvidia proprietary driver, which is the non-Xorg one. Both are “from” Canonical, i.e., in Ubuntu repos. Canonical packages the proprietary driver from Nvidia for distribution for Ubuntu. The driver is also available from Nvidia with a different install method. The “meta-package” bit means it’s a package deliberately built to pull in all the packages that are part of the driver installation as dependencies.
It often helps to be sure a proprietary Nvidia install is completely backed out before trying again.
Check out AskUbuntu.com and ubuntuforums.com about that boot delay.
Fresh install several separate occasions, several attempts to install the drivers via multiple methods. Installing via “additional drivers” from software and updates causes the same issues as installing via the repository. The curious thing is that I’ve never been able to successfully remove a driver except this most recent time where I switched back from the nvidia proprietary to the nouveau xorg driver.
“Additional drivers” is the repos. It’s just a convenience to help users match the appropriate driver with the running kernel. It is not unusual for Nvidia to release drivers that do not build or work on the latest stable kernel (which needs to be distinguished from the latest kernel Canonical supports and packages Nvidia’s driver for.)