Cannot make NVIDIA driver work with Ubuntu 12.10

I seem to have a problem similar to many but I didn't manage to get it solved:

• have a Lenovo N581 with an NVIDIA GeForce 610M
• have just installed a fresh Ubuntu 12.10 64 bits, + KDE
• and am trying to have my NVIDIA card work.

Have tried all workarounds posted: purge nvidia, install kernel source/headers and then reinstall nvidia-current-updates (or just nvidia-current), do "sudo nvidia-xconfig".

It does create a xorg.conf but does not much (no Module Section by the way). The result is that my system (jokey) tells me that the driver is there but not in use and I only get a 640x480 resolution. If I try to launch nvidia-settings it does indeed tell me that the nvidia driver is not used.

I do all this under kde but I guess it does matter at this stage.

Any hint of how to resolve this? I feel stuck and cannot use any of the acceleration which is partly why I got that laptop in the first place...

thanks for any help/advise you may provide!

Solution 1:

The working solution can be found at the link below:

• Make sure to have the system up to date first (so the new kernel is applied first).

https://askubuntu.com/a/202680/111057

It allows nVidia driver deb to compile the kernel boot module as it's installing, but it fails without the correct packages (that are not included by default and not a dependency of the nVidia drivers deb/package directly). After I did the above fix I had full resolution on Ubuntu 12.10, Mint v14 and Kubuntu 12.10.

Solution 2:

The modules should install and work to some extent. There may be other problems such as performance or corruption, but that's another issue. You do have to reboot, or at least re-start X for the module to take effect. Are you being impatient and not giving it a chance to load the drivers? To recap the procedure:

sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

or

sudo apt-get install nvidia-current-updates

then

sudo reboot

or just log out and log back in again to re-start X. (Given your problems, maybe a fresh boot wouldn't hurt, though theoretically a re-start of X is all that is required.)

Next try

nvidia-settings

If the driver is working well enough for you to see, it should load the settings program. Having a laptop default to some really low-res mode is darned odd. It should not be happening, even (especially) with the nouveau driver.

I take it you installed Ubuntu and then added KDE? Maybe just try the default Unity for a while. I don't use KDE so I'm not aware of any specific problems with it that might be making your job harder. Maybe get rid of /etc/X11/xorg.conf and start fresh.

Solution 3:

I had the same problem with my Lenovo G780... Could not understand why the nvidia-drivers weren't working.

THEN... I discovered the notebook relies on Optimus technology. Hybrid graphics where the nvidia chip is "piggybacked" onto the intel graphics. Useful for saving a lot of power, the nvidia only comes into play when using graphics intensive programs.

This is a great feature... when you are running Windows. Linux has yet to catch up but there are open source measures being taken.

The project is called Bumblebee. It works for me so far.

I wish I had known this before. I'm not sure if this applies to your scenario but from what I've read, the technology is used greatly by Sandy/Ivy bridge chipsets.

--edit--
You can check for Optimus by running the following command:

lspci -vnn | grep '\''[030[02]\]'

If it outputs two lines, you're likely having an Optimus laptop.