Ubuntu – Installing nvidia driver

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I have ubuntu 12.04 running on my laptop. I've been trying to install a 2nd monitor on it, but ubuntu does not detect the second monitor. I have an nvidia card on my laptop, and ubuntu was using the nvidia driver.

So after reading a few articles on this site, one suggestion made was that the nvidia driver could be the problem and suggested not using them. So I removed them and rebooted my computer.

Well, it looks like a bad idea? Well, I turned on my computer, and I did see both screens display a login prompt and both screens looked fine. Then, shortly after, I see mostly black on the 2nd monitor, and a blocky purple background on my laptop monitor. I basically can't use my laptop, because I can't see anything.

So, how do I get myself out of this? Like, how can I restore my nvidia driver, when I don't even know what's going on in my screen?

thanks!

Best Answer

You can drop to a terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1) and install the nvidia driver from there. Run the following commands:

sudo jockey-text -u
sudo jockey-text -a
sudo shutdown -r

That should download/install it for you, then reboot. After that, run

sudo nvidia-xconfig

and reboot again.

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