Ubuntu – How to install Nvidia drivers from source if the packages don’t work

driversnvidiasoftware installation

I have just installed Xubuntu on a pretty old (12 years of age) PC and I am struggling to install the correct drivers for the GPU NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420…

I have managed to get "additional drivers" but the app does not show in the menu, I went through a few procedures which ended up in my screen going no higher than 640×480, and tried all the sudo apt-get variations with nvidia-current and current updates…

I think I got the right version of the drivers ( 93.43.07 ) but they won't install from terminal as they say I am running an X server.
So I shut the xserver but then I try and install them from terminal but after I write the exact same command

sudo home/username/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.07.pkg1.run

nothing happens and the terminal says something like command not found.

. There are lots of similar topics on installing nvidia drivers but I seem to understand that current drivers are no good for my old GPU. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! 🙂

Best Answer

I just finished installing the latest Nvidia drivers and here's how I did it:

  1. Stop your Display Manager Service (I use Linux Mint 14, so my display manager is MDM - if you're running Ubuntu 12.10, then yours is LightDM): sudo service lightdm stop

  2. If it doesn't do it automatically, press CTRL + ALT + F1 to bring up the Terminal. Login with your username and password.

  3. Become root by entering the following command, followed by your password: sudo -i

  4. Navigate to the folder where your drivers are: cd/home/username/Downloads

  5. I took the liberty of looking up the latest drivers for you on the Nvidia website. Type this command to download the latest Nvidia drivers for Your GT 440: wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/310.19/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-310.19.run

  6. Run the installer: sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-310.19.run

  7. Follow the installer. Please note that it may say that you have the nouveau driver installed. If that is the case, say yes to having the installer create a .conf file that will disable it. Reboot your machine to implement it.

  8. Repeat steps 1-5 to successfully install your drivers.

  9. Reboot after you're done.

Related Question