Blank screen after installing nvidia restricted driver
- by LaMinifalda
I have a new machine with a MSI N560GTX Ti Twin Frozr II/OC graphic card and MSI PH67A-C43 (B3) main board. If i install the current nvidia restricted driver and reboot the machine on Natty (64-bit), then i only get a black screen after reboot and my system does not respond. I can´t see the login screen.
On nvidia web page i saw that the current driver is 270.41.06. Is that driver used as current driver?
Btw, i am an ubuntu/linux beginner and therefore not very familiar with ubuntu. What can i do to solve the black screen problem?
EDIT: Setting the nomodeset parameter does not solve the problem. After ubuntu start, first i see the ubuntu logo, then strange pixels and at the end the black screen. HELP!
EDIT2: Thank you, but setting the "video=vesa:off gfxpayload=text" parameters do no solve the problem too. Same result as in last edit. HELP. I would like to see Unity.
This is my grub:
GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="video=vesa:off gfxpayload=text nomodeset quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=" vga=794"
EDIT3: I dont know if it is important. If this edit is unnecessary and helpless I will delete it. There are some log files (Xorg.0.log - Xorg.4.log). I dont know how these log files relate to each other. Please, check the errors listed below. 
In Xorg.1.log I see the following error: [    20.603] (EE) Failed to initialize GLX extension (ComIatible NVIDIA X driver not found)
In Xorg.2.log I see the following error: [    25.971] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfb.so
[    25.971] (**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
[    25.971] (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
[    25.971] (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[    25.971] (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[    26.077] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA GPU at PCI:1:0:0.  Please
[    26.078] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     check your system's kernel log for additional error
[    26.078] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     messages and refer to Chapter 8: Common Problems in the
[    26.078] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     README for additional information.
[    26.078] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
[    26.078] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
[    26.078] (II) Unloading nvidia
[    26.078] (II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
[    26.078] (II) Unloading wfb
[    26.078] (II) UnloadModule: "fb"
[    26.078] (II) Unloading fb
[    26.078] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[    26.078] Fatal server error:
[    26.078] no screens found
[    26.078] Please consult the The X.Org Found [...]
In Xorg.4.log I see the following errors: [    15.437] (**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
[    15.437] (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
[    15.437] (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[    15.437] (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[    15.703] (II) NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA GPU GeForce GTX 560 Ti (GF114) at PCI:1:0:0 (GPU-0)
[    15.703] (--) NVIDIA(0): Memory: 1048576 kBytes
[    15.703] (--) NVIDIA(0): VideoBIOS: 70.24.11.00.00
[    15.703] (II) NVIDIA(0): Detected PCI Express Link width: 16X
[    15.703] (--) NVIDIA(0): Interlaced video modes are supported on this GPU
[    15.703] (--) NVIDIA(0): Connected display device(s) on GeForce GTX 560 Ti at
[    15.703] (--) NVIDIA(0):     PCI:1:0:0
[    15.703] (--) NVIDIA(0):     none
[    15.706] (EE) NVIDIA(0): No display devices found for this X screen.
[    15.943] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
[    15.943] (II) Unloading nvidia
[    15.943] (II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
[    15.943] (II) Unloading wfb
[    15.943] (II) UnloadModule: "fb"
[    15.943] (II) Unloading fb
[    15.943] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[    15.943] Fatal server error:
[    15.943] no screens found
EDIT4 There was a file /etc/X11/xorg.conf. As fossfreedom suggested I executed 
sudo mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup
However, there is still the black screen after reboot. 
EDIT5 Neutro's advice (reinstalling the headers) did not solve the problem, too. :-( Any further help is appreciated!
EDIT6 I just installed driver 173.xxx. After reboot the system shows me only "Checking battery state". Just for information. I will google the problem, but help is also appreciated! ;-)
EDIT7 When using the free driver (Ubuntu says that the free driver is in use and activated), Xorg.0.log shows the following errors:
[     9.267] (II) LoadModule: "nouveau"
[     9.267] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nouveau_drv.so
[     9.267] (II) Module nouveau: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[     9.267]    compiled for 1.10.0, module version = 0.0.16
[     9.267]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[     9.267]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 10.0
[     9.267] (II) LoadModule: "nv"
[     9.267] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module nv
[     9.267] (II) UnloadModule: "nv"
[     9.267] (II) Unloading nv
[     9.267] (EE) Failed to load module "nv" (module does not exist, 0)
[     9.267] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[...]
[     9.399] drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card14
[     9.402] drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card15
[     9.406] (EE) [drm] failed to open device
[     9.406] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[     9.406] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[     9.406] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[     9.406] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
EDIT8 In the meanwhile i tried to install WIN7 64 bit on my machine. As a result i got a BSOD after installing the nvidia driver. :-) For this reason i sent my new machine back to the hardware reseller. I will inform you as soon as i have a new system. Thank you all for the great help and support.
EDIT9 In the meanwhile I have a complete new system with "only" a MSI N460GTX Hawk, but more RAM. The system works perfect. :-) The original N560GTX had a hardware defect. Is is possible to close this question? THX!