Ubuntu won't start after updating nvidia drivers from X-swat PPA

To remove the obviously non-working driver, which will get you back to the previous stage:

1. Boot to a root shell

2. Install ppa-purge to remove the x-updates ppa:

   apt-get update && apt-get install ppa-purge
   ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
   

3. Reboot

   reboot
   

This should replace the updated nvidia-current driver with the version from the repositories.

Alternatively (or if you don't trust ppa-purge) you can also purge the nvidia-current driver, remove the ppa, and then reinstall the proprietary driver from the repositories from within a root-shell:

apt-get purge nvidia-current
add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
apt-get update
apt-get install nvidia-current

^{Note: no sudo needed in the root shell}

To fix a similar issue with 16.04 and nvidia-375 I did the following:

• Pressed Shift to get access GRUB menu Logged into recovery mode (I had to use previous kernel version)
• Enabled networking
• Accessed root shell
• Typed the following to help me identify which package I needed to uninstall

ubuntu-drivers devices

• Typed the following to uninstall the driver package

apt-get purge nvidia-375

Then I was able to restart and boot regularly. Phew!

you can remove them by first finding out their name with

ubuntu-drivers list

that will tell you their names. Then you can use

sudo apt-get remove *******

to remove any of them that are installed.