Cuda: NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver

I'm sorry to post a question that's been asked before, but I'm trying to configure cuda on an ubuntu 18.04 machine and am a little stuck.

I tried to install cuda 10.0 from a bash installer. I opted to install the driver too when running the install. Now, however, running nvidia-smi yields:

NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.

I attempted to completely uninstall all drivers with the following:

sudo apt-get --purge -y remove 'cuda*'
sudo apt-get --purge -y remove 'nvidia*'

I then tried to install a new driver with sudo apt install nvidia-driver-440, but I continue to get "NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver."

I'm now trying to figure out how to get my nvidia driver to work peacefully with my system and enable nvidia-smi. If that's not possible, I'd like to install a new driver. Any pointers on how to achieve either of these paths would be hugely helpful! I'm happy to provide any information along the way that might be useful...

Some clues: X seems to be disabled now (see below) but normally there's a console. Also `inxi -G1 is reporting that I'm still using the nouveau driver instead of nvidia.


The machine has two Titan RTX chips attached. Here's a screenshot of them in action yesterday before I borked the drivers:

enter image description here

Here is the result of apt-cache policy:

$ apt-cache policy
Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=LP-PPA-graphics-drivers,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Proprietary GPU Drivers,c=main,b=i386
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=LP-PPA-graphics-drivers,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Proprietary GPU Drivers,c=main,b=amd64
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable/main amd64 Packages
     release v=1.0,o=Google LLC,a=stable,n=stable,l=Google,c=main,b=amd64
     origin dl.google.com
 600 http://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu1804/x86_64  Packages
     release o=NVIDIA,l=NVIDIA CUDA,c=
     origin developer.download.nvidia.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/multiverse i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=i386
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/multiverse amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=amd64
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/universe i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=i386
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/universe amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=amd64
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/restricted i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=i386
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/restricted amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=amd64
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=i386
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-security,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=amd64
     origin security.ubuntu.com
 100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports/universe i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-backports,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports/universe amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-backports,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-backports,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-backports,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/restricted i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/restricted amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic-updates,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/restricted i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/restricted amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=i386
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=amd64
     origin us.archive.ubuntu.com
Pinned packages:
$

output of inxi -G:

Graphics:  Card-1: NVIDIA Device 1e02
           Card-2: NVIDIA Device 1e02
           Display Server: N/A drivers: fbdev,nouveau (unloaded: modesetting,vesa)
           tty size: 128x26 Advanced Data: N/A out of X

output of lsmod | grep nvidia:

i2c_nvidia_gpu         16384  0

output of grep -i "nvidia" /var/log/Xorg.0.log:

[     9.324] (II) NOUVEAU driver for NVIDIA chipset families :
[     9.912] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=8 (/dev/input/event22)
[     9.912] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=7 (/dev/input/event21)
[     9.912] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=3 (/dev/input/event20)
[     9.912] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=8 (/dev/input/event18)
[     9.913] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=9 (/dev/input/event23)
[     9.913] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=9 (/dev/input/event19)
[     9.913] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=3 (/dev/input/event16)
[     9.913] (II) config/udev: Adding input device HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=7 (/dev/input/event17)

output of dpkg -l | grep nvidia:

ii  libnvidia-cfg1-440:amd64                   440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX configuration library
ii  libnvidia-common-440                       440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               all          Shared files used by the NVIDIA libraries
rc  libnvidia-compute-390:i386                 390.116-0ubuntu0.18.04.1                         i386         NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-compute-440:amd64                440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-decode-440:amd64                 440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries
ii  libnvidia-encode-440:amd64                 440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-fbc1-440:amd64                   440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library
ii  libnvidia-gl-440:amd64                     440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD
ii  libnvidia-ifr1-440:amd64                   440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library
ii  nvidia-compute-utils-440                   440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
ii  nvidia-cuda-dev                            9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  amd64        NVIDIA CUDA development files
ii  nvidia-cuda-doc                            9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  all          NVIDIA CUDA and OpenCL documentation
ii  nvidia-cuda-gdb                            9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  amd64        NVIDIA CUDA Debugger (GDB)
ii  nvidia-cuda-toolkit                        9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  amd64        NVIDIA CUDA development toolkit
ii  nvidia-dkms-440                            440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
ii  nvidia-driver-440                          440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA driver metapackage
ii  nvidia-kernel-common-440                   440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
ii  nvidia-kernel-source-440                   440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA kernel source package
ii  nvidia-opencl-dev:amd64                    9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  amd64        NVIDIA OpenCL development files
ii  nvidia-prime                               0.8.8.2                                          all          Tools to enable NVIDIA's Prime
ii  nvidia-profiler                            9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  amd64        NVIDIA Profiler for CUDA and OpenCL
ii  nvidia-settings                            440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
ii  nvidia-utils-440                           440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA driver support binaries
ii  nvidia-visual-profiler                     9.1.85-3ubuntu1                                  amd64        NVIDIA Visual Profiler for CUDA and OpenCL
ii  xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-440              440.64.00-0ubuntu1                               amd64        NVIDIA binary Xorg driver

output of lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Root Complex
00:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) I/O Memory Management Unit
00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:01.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
00:01.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
00:01.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:03.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:03.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
00:04.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:07.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:07.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus B
00:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus B
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 59)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 51)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 5
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 6
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 7
00:19.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 0
00:19.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 1
00:19.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 2
00:19.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 3
00:19.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 4
00:19.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 5
00:19.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 6
00:19.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Data Fabric: Device 18h; Function 7
01:00.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] X399 Series Chipset USB 3.1 xHCI Controller (rev 02)
01:00.1 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] X399 Series Chipset SATA Controller (rev 02)
01:00.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] X399 Series Chipset PCIe Bridge (rev 02)
02:00.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] 300 Series Chipset PCIe Port (rev 02)
02:01.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] 300 Series Chipset PCIe Port (rev 02)
02:02.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] 300 Series Chipset PCIe Port (rev 02)
02:03.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] 300 Series Chipset PCIe Port (rev 02)
02:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] 300 Series Chipset PCIe Port (rev 02)
02:09.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] 300 Series Chipset PCIe Port (rev 02)
03:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 32)
04:00.0 Network controller: Wilocity Ltd. Wil6200 802.11ad Wireless Network Adapter (rev 02)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation I211 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
08:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2142
09:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller SM961/PM961
0a:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1e02 (rev a1)
0a:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation Device 10f7 (rev a1)
0a:00.2 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1ad6 (rev a1)
0a:00.3 Serial bus controller [0c80]: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1ad7 (rev a1)
0b:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82599ES 10-Gigabit SFI/SFP+ Network Connection (rev 01)
0c:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 145a
0c:00.2 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Platform Security Processor
0c:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) USB 3.0 Host Controller
0d:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 1455
0d:00.2 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 51)
0d:00.3 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) HD Audio Controller
40:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Root Complex
40:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) I/O Memory Management Unit
40:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
40:01.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
40:01.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
40:01.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe GPP Bridge
40:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
40:03.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
40:04.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
40:07.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
40:07.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus B
40:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
40:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus B
41:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Intel Corporation PCIe Data Center SSD (rev 01)
42:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Intel Corporation PCIe Data Center SSD (rev 01)
43:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1e02 (rev a1)
43:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation Device 10f7 (rev a1)
43:00.2 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1ad6 (rev a1)
43:00.3 Serial bus controller [0c80]: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1ad7 (rev a1)
44:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 145a
44:00.2 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) Platform Security Processor
44:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) USB 3.0 Host Controller
45:00.0 Non-Essential Instrumentation [1300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 1455
45:00.2 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 51)

output of lshw -class display:

  *-display UNCLAIMED
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: NVIDIA Corporation
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:0a:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: iomemory:480-47f iomemory:480-47f memory:ba000000-baffffff memory:4820000000-482fffffff memory:4830000000-4831ffffff ioport:2000(size=128) memory:bb000000-bb07ffff
  *-display UNCLAIMED
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: NVIDIA Corporation
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:43:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:9b000000-9bffffff memory:80000000-8fffffff memory:90000000-91ffffff ioport:4000(size=128) memory:9c000000-9c07ffff

output of find /lib/modules -type f | grep nvidia:

/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/kernel/drivers/usb/typec/altmodes/typec_nvidia.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/kernel/drivers/video/fbdev/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/kernel/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-nvidia-gpu.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/nvidia/forcedeth.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia-drm.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia-uvm.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-46-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia-modeset.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-40-generic/kernel/drivers/usb/typec/altmodes/typec_nvidia.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-40-generic/kernel/drivers/video/fbdev/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-40-generic/kernel/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-nvidia-gpu.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-40-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/nvidia/forcedeth.ko
/lib/modules/4.15.0-96-generic/kernel/drivers/video/fbdev/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/4.15.0-96-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/nvidia/forcedeth.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-45-generic/kernel/drivers/usb/typec/altmodes/typec_nvidia.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-45-generic/kernel/drivers/video/fbdev/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-45-generic/kernel/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-nvidia-gpu.ko
/lib/modules/5.3.0-45-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/nvidia/forcedeth.ko

The output of apt list --installed

The contents of /var/log/apt/history.*


Well I posted on the official NVIDIA boards, and shortly heard back that I just needed to remove a blacklist file (/lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf) from my system and reboot.

Doing so got this straightened out :)

The steps are the following:

grep nvidia /etc/modprobe.d/* /lib/modprobe.d/*

Will return you entries of files that include a statement that includes "nvidia". Look for a statement that says blacklist nvidia

In the case of this author, the file was /lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf Now remove this entire file, e.g. with:

sudo rm lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf

Just in case some one is wasting time because of brilliant nvidia drivers, I've found on the net this gist:

https://gist.github.com/espoirMur/65cec3d67e0a96e270860c9c276ab9fa

and it worked.