Ubuntu – Nvidia – Graphics interface not loading at startup

11.10nvidiaunityxorg

When I start up Ubuntu (11.10), no graphical interface loads. This is the case both in normal and recovery mode. Instead I'm being presented with a console, logged as 'root@ubuntu'. From there I can call exit and then log into my default (and only) account, and once there I can load the unity with the command startx but to get to unity I have to repeat above everytime I start up the PC.

I hope some of the details below might be able to indicate what's exactly the problem. I tried several solutions I found on the web, but to no avail.

My graphics card: Nvidia GeForceGT 540M

Result of typing in console:

unity
WARNING: no DISPLAY variable set, setting it to :0
    unity-panel-service: no process found
    compiz (core) - Fatal: Couldn't open display :0

Result of typing

nvidia-settings

ERROR: The control display is undefined; please run 'nvidia-settings --help' for usage information.

Content of default xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
    Identifier    "Default Device"
    Option    "NoLogo"    "True"
EndSection

Content of xorg.conf created with nvidia-xconfig

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 280.13  (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-03.nvidia.com)  Wed Jul 27 17:15:58 PDT 2011

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Unknown"
    HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
    VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

The problem occurs with both xorg.conf versions.
I tried installing, purging, reinstalling nvidia drivers, editing blacklist as per
NVIDIA drivers not working after upgrade. Why can I only see terminal?
all to no avail. I would greatly appreciate any pointers that would help me resolve the issue.

The reason I tried messing with nvidia drivers in the first place is that some gtk/OpenGL stuff didn't work correctly. In particular, the Xorg.0.log contains the following error:

(EE) Failed to initialize GLX extension (Compatible NVIDIA X driver not found)

Well, fixing the lack of any desktop whatsoever is the priority, but should you happen to know how I might be able to resolve the GLX extension problem, I would be happy to keen to hear you out.

Best Answer

You could try running lspci in a terminal, if you see:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation      Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)

you will need to install bumblebee (the instructions on the git wiki are quite clear). It's needed to switch between the intel and nvidia optimus card.

The correct xorg.conf is the first one, and remove nvidia driver from the blacklist.