Hello!

I am determined to stick with Linux and climb the steep learning curve but a little bit of a nudge up would be most welcomed.

I am having all sorts of problems trying to install the drivers for my GTX 970. I have tried a couple of things I have found on forums such as installing via sudo apt-get install Nvidia-current but that led to a black screen (which I panicked over and re-installed the whole thing).

If anyone could give me step by steps on how to get the drivers installed so I can have two screens again I would be so grateful.

Thanks ,

Chris

No problems, but the learning curve is just as steep learning ANY new OS than Linux.
Well, all we know from what you posted is, you have a GTX970 card...you don't tell us what things you tried, what formus you found them on, what those results were, what desktop environment, or even what version/distro of Linux you're using. Without ANY details, there is very little we'll be able to tell you, aside from very obvious things.

Based on the command you posted, you could be using Ubuntu, Debian, or Mint...which is it?
Happy to help, but please read the LQ Rules and the "Question Guidelines" link in my posting signature. We aren't going to type up step-by-step guides for you, mainly because there are many that can be easily found with a Google search, such as:
http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/...n-ubuntu-1404/
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...untu-14041204/

This assumes you're using Ubuntu>=12.04. Drivers (along with complete installation instructions), can also be found at nVidia's webiste:
http://www.geforce.com/drivers

...just select the right boxes under the Manual Driver Search pane. Personally, I'd install from nVidia source. It's not difficult, and if you already have your kernel source installed, the installer routine will perform things for you, and just shovel things in. The DOWNSIDE to that, is whenever your kernel gets updated, your driver won't be...so you'll have to re-compile (granted, only takes a minute or two, but can be annoying).

From what I read about that card, though, it appears that folks can have trouble getting dual-monitors to work, even under Windows, unless they're using displayport.

Thanks for your reply and sorry I was a bit vague.

I am on Ubuntu 15.04

Yes I have tried running through official Nvidia website but I was hit with "There was a problem opening the file "/home/chris/Downloads/NV...A-Linux-x86_64-352.63.run"
"The file you opened has some invalid characters ..."

Ok...but you aren't telling us what you're doing to get that message.

That .run file *IS* the driver. From the README file, included with what you downloaded:
Did you do that?

I ran it and it came back with "Can't open NVIDIA-linux-x86 64-173.14.12-pkg#.run" ?

Hi...

Welcome to the forum

It would probably be the easiest just to go to "Software & Updates ---> Additional Drivers" in your copy of Ubuntu and install the Nvidia driver that way. You can see instructions here. Just go to the section called "Installation." You shouldn't need to do anything else after installing the driver.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards...

Hi,

So I did that and everything installed fine but upon reset I'm black screened with "starting version 219"

I then says"BUG:soft lockup - CPU stuck for 22s! [xorg:" numbers "]"
This is a problem I keep getting whenever I try to install the driver. What do I do to get off the black screen?

Hi...

Hmmm, some different things to look at here. Please see this thread for some possible solutions. Also, you can try disabling "C-States" in the BIOS (if yours has that option) and see if that helps.

If those don't help, you can go through my Google search here.

Regards...

You want 2 screens, is that not possible with native drivers?

Hi:

With a .run file you have to run it in the terminal and upon doing so the installer should start and a Wizard should walk you through the installation of the driver.

1.-Navigate to the directory of the .run file.
2.-If you have your *.run in your desktop then type the following in terminal to get into Desktop and press Enter. ...
3.-Then type chmod +x filename.run and press Enter.

http://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-execut...file-in-ubuntu
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingRunPackage

If the Nvidia x86_64.run was in my Downloads directory I would cd to that directory and than as root run:
-::-If it fails it's because it's not executable and you would have to use the chmod +x cmd to make it executable and than run it again with ./name of Nvidia driver.run.

If you can't get out of the black screen you might have to execute Ctrl+Alt+F2 and use the Virtual Terminal as root to install the driver. In other words drop to a root shell prompt.

You can also go into Recovery Mode if necessary and go to a root shell prompt that way too.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/92556...o-a-root-shell

Is this the driver in this link that you downloaded?
http://www.nvidia.com/download/drive...px/77844/en-us

Hope that helps-

Hey all. I am having some problems installing my nVidia driver in Debian 8, also. My issue is this: when I press Ctrl + Alt + F2, or Ctrl + Alt + F1, or when I run from within a login session or when I logout, I get a blank screen, with no CLI. I just found out that I can press Ctrl + Alt + F7 and get the GUI back, but if I cannot stop X, I cannot proceed with the install of Debian drivers.

I have searched the Debian forums (and found a bunch of rude jerks who would rather flame the newbie than help him), debianadmin.com, this forum, and several others, and I just cannot find a way to stop x without the blank screen, without rendering my system unusable.

At this point, I am not beyond scrapping Debian for a distro that has an easier road to installing drivers for my new graphics card. My goal is playing high end games in linux, not endless frustration, nor many hours spent learning how to do something I will only do ONCE.

Thanks in advance for any assistance that can be provided.

ardvark71 and Ztcoracat, I'd like to commend y'all on your demeanor when responding to this person who is in an obvious state of frustration and feeling of helplessness...there is at least one other 'expert' in this forum who could learn from your patience and people skills...

Ubuntu has a "Restricted Drivers" interface. I suggest looking for that.

Hi...

Thank you but praise God for what you see, I didn't always have that ability. Before I came to Him, I could (and would) get easily angered and extremely rude at the drop of a hat. He's changed me quite a bit since then.

Regards...