Problems in Sony Vaio / Nvidia drivers
 

This seems to be a very universal and general problem.

Ubuntu-10.04 is just refusing to display itself on these machines. Going by various threads, on similar machines, even in Ubuntu forums, it is high time someone come up with a single patch for all related issues - because not all solutions given are addressing this issue. Most affected people are novices - so a single "update" sort of patch is most welcome. As for the experts, I am sure they are able to "solve" their own individual problems. I am posting a similar thread in Ubuntu forums too.

well..
 

Hi!

Its early and I may be missing it....but. What EXACTLY is your problem? Another note:
Since a geforce card can be manufactured by various vendors there is always a chance that some conflict will arise. You should take that into consideration. I have found that a large part of learning how to fix something is understanding WHAT to ask. I would like to help you. However, please consider this: At what point does a question stop being a question and become a declaration?

Please post you EXACT problems.

Sorry, I get your point. (Actually, I have been seeking a solution for this but to no avail..)

I had a dual boot - win-7 and ubuntu-9.10 on my Sony Vaio laptop.

I tried upgrading to ubuntu-10.04. After rebooting, the screen goes blank.

I read various post in forums - and that's when it occurred to me that most sony laptops have problems with nvidia drivers - with Ubuntu. However, in one of the posts I found a sort of method - where I could remove the nvidia drivers, and operate Ubuntu in low resolution mode. Not satisfactory, but could manage.

Then I did an update of Ubuntu. It updated successfully, but on reboot - the same old problem. Blank screen. I tried many suggestions mentioned in the forums - unsuccessfully. Now, even in recovery mode, the screen goes totally blank. Would be happy if I can make ubuntu-10.04 work on my laptop.

Thanks in advance.

well, I guess I should ask, did anyone have you check the nouveau driver? From the sounds of things, you have already done a bunch of stuff. Can you post the specs of your machine ( specific not sony vaio mdl) like your actual video card.

Your machines current status is FUBAR? Lots of personal data? Just screw it and reinstall status?

I have installed ubuntu 10.04 on both i5 integrated graphics and nvidia with little or no problems. Your frustration I understand.

If your willing to reinstall, well there is a way to go about that to avoid this next time around.
If you dont want to reinstall, that can be done too.
Whats your poison? New install or try to fix what you got and save your data?

NOTE: I am work so I will get back to ya...just got to give a second.

Hi,

First preference is obvious - (besides, there's a kick in getting things to work!) - and also would like to know the magic in the method of new install - just in case! Now for the specs :


I must also add that the sound is also pretty low in this. Hope there is a work around for this!

Cool.

Ok, first step is kinda straight forward with the install. You mentioned a Win 7 partition; so, make sure and look for it. If your not sure or you think you may have wiped it out with a previous install it wont matter much at this point. Either way, I would recommend setting up your partitions yourself. You will want to select "Specify Partitions Manually" ( see screen shot of partition manager ). Once you start making the partitions you will need ( in this order ):

1. /boot make this a PRIMARY partition( I set mine at 500/MB which I have been told is twice what i need. You can research that yourself)
2. / ( this is the root partition. I set mine up for 8GB or 8000/MB. Once again, research that to see what you need. )
3. SWAP ( just multiply your RAM by 1.5 and use the sum)
4. /usr (I have had no problems on my laptop with 15GB. Your case may not be the same, adjust as needed. This will be the = of a windows c:/PROGRAMS folder.)
5. /usr/local (You may not need this one. I use it to keep anything that I install from source or that is not in the Ubuntu repositories)
6. /home (This is where all your documents, pics, vids will )
7. /var ( being that you'll be writing logs a lot, and Debian writes a lot of them , set this to at least 5GB)
8. /tmp ( I set mine to twice the amount of ram I have. Research it to see what you think you'll need. I use twice the amount of my RAM due to the way suspend works)

You may want to think ahead and set up a little space for a windows partition, thats up to you.
You can read more on the subject partition layouts HERE
Dont worry , its really easy.

Once you get your partitions laid out you just go ahead with the install.
Now for the important part. I would suggest letting the machine boot on its own to see if you get the blank screen again. If you do then try the following:
While your machine is booting like this, you will need to press shift in order to get to the grub menu. Now hit "e" Once in the grub boot menu (it will look like this. In the next screen you will need to use your arrow keys to get to the line that starts with "LINUX"; edit out 'quiet splash' and replace with 'nosplash nomodeset'. Once you do that just hit ctrl+x to finish loading Ubuntu.

Let me know once you get to that point. I should be home by then; however, you will have your desktop to play with at that point I imagine. Just keep in mind that you will still need to edit /etc/defaults/grub.conf to make this stick and to get some nvidia drivers loading correctly.

as to your sound issue. I MAY ( MAY ) be able to help you get in the ball park of a fix. I have had the same issues with my sound card. I got it sorta louder. lol. that is a step or two down the road.

Hi there...

Wow - this is magic!!

I just edited the menu. In my case, the line ended as "ro quiet splash" and like you suggested, I changed it to "nosplash nomodeset". It just booted and here I am! This is just great!

Now, the resolution is [1280x720] -instead of [1366x768] - which would be nice to correct too, along with the sound, of course. When I tried to configure the display - it does not identify the monitor and the refresh rate-[reading 0(zero)] or resolution cannot be changed.

Thanks for your detailed instruction, my overall knowledge about Linux has increased by about 50%!!! - (I was under the false impression that I knew all about setting up partition till now!!!).

Best regards.

Hi there...

Wow - this is magic!!

I just edited the menu. In my case, the line ended as "ro quiet splash" and like you suggested, I changed it to "nosplash nomodeset". It just booted and here I am! This is just great!

Now, the resolution is [1280x720] -instead of [1366x768] - which would be nice to correct too, along with the sound, of course. When I tried to configure the display - it does not identify the monitor and the refresh rate-[reading 0(zero)] or resolution cannot be changed.

Thanks for your detailed instruction, my overall knowledge about Linux has increased by about 50%!!! - (I was under the false impression that I knew all about setting up partition till now!!!).

Best regards.

"ro quiet spalsh"? you should google that. That usally means read only. YOu performed the install first correct?
Any way, your not done setting up your video just yet. do the following:

hit alt+f2 and type terminal, then selct the radio ( little + sign button) and select the terminal application. Then type the following in the terminal:
NOW You should see something like this:
I highlighted the lines you will need to change. In short, just add blacklist=nouveau. You should not need to do this but it wont hurt.

NEXT: Type
After that go ahead and install nvidia-current with
Let me know how that goes.

If you do find this was helpful mark the post as helpful. It may help someone else having the same issue. Everything I have shown I found by reading and google and help here.

Hi there,

Yes, did all the above successfully - (installed nvidea current ..etc). small correction?

Also edited the grub file as below :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash blacklist=nouveau"
however, after rebooting - the "ro" in the menu is persisting and reads:
"........... ro quiet splash blacklist=nouveau"

Laptop booted normally. The resolution is still the same (1280x720)

When I checked monitor setting, I got the message as in the msg01.png file.
[It appears that your graphics ddriver does not support the necessary extension to use this tool. Do you want to use your graphics driver vendor's tool instead? No/Yes]

When I clicked "Yes" - I got message as in msg02.png file
[You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run 'nvidia-xconfig' as root, and restart the X server.]

Please let me know what it means, or how it has to be done?

Thanks again.

ps - could not upload the snap shots..

First: Did you check System>Administration>Hard Ware Drivers? Did you run If you did you should see a driver called nvidia-current listed under Hardware Drivers. About to head to work, if you can respond real fast i can try to help before i head out. Otherwise I will take a look on my break.

Second: POst the output of so we can see if the nvidia driver is showing up.

Third: Post the outpput of This willl show us if nvidia is installed.

Also, you performed the system update / upgrade first then everything else right?

Hi,

Sorry, I was busy elsewhere ... To answer your queries,

Yes, in the hardware NVIDEA is listed as installed and "activated but not currently in use"

Output of "lsmod"

Output of "dpkg --get-selections | grep nvidia"
All system upgrades, and updates have already been performed. No current updates are available now.

Regards. (It is nearing midnight here, so if delayed, I will come back early morning)