Cannot get rid of nvidia drivers, restore nouveau driver and get desktop working

Solution 1:

Had the same problem.

sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-core libgl1-mesa-glx

This actually fixed it. Ubuntu 13.10 x64 + nVidia 740M. Thank you very much!

You did not mention your GPU. If you've had that problem on a laptop, I'd suggest its because of the so-called "Fusion" system (which uses your integrated GPU in lieu of discrete one when you don't need it).

Solution 2:

Ultimate fix:

sudo stop lightdm
sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
sudo apt-get purge bumblebee
sudo reboot now

Do not remove xorg.conf file, I repeat do not remove xorg.conf.

Solution 3:

Be sure you remove all blacklist entries involving nouveau from /etc/modprobe.d as well.

Otherwise even if the system is configured to use it, it will not. I believe blacklist-local, and the nvidia backlists will be of primary concern.

Solution 4:

I had the same issue. Mine turned out to be a badly configured bumblebee.conf referencing nvidia-304 in one place and nvidia-current in another.

Solution 5:

Try this:

cd /etc/modules-load.d/ 
mv nvidia.conf nvidia.conf.backup

cd /etc/modprobe.d/
mv nvidia-blacklists-nouveau.conf nvidia-blacklists-nouveau.conf.backup
mv nvidia.conf nvidia.conf.backup
mv nvidia-kernel-common.conf nvidia-kernel-common.conf.backup

Good luck!