I recently updated to Linux Mint 17.3 and am having some issues. At first, the GUI wouldn't load at all. I finally got the GUI to load, but it is now running in software rendering mode. I've tried a couple of different nvidia drivers, to no avail. The system is quite old. It's my first pc build, recently revived. It was runnig pretty well before the udpate. Thanks in advance for the help.

System: Host: XXXXX-System-Product-Name Kernel: 4.4.0-116-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
Desktop: Cinnamon 2.8.8 Distro: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa
Machine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: A8N-SLI Premium v: 1.02
Bios: Phoenix v: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 1303 date: 08/10/2006
CPU: Dual core AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 (-MCP-) speed: 2613 MHz (max)
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA GK107 [GeForce GT 740]
Display Server: X.Org 1.15.1 drivers: fbdev (unloaded: vesa) FAILED: nouveau
Resolution: 1024x768@76.0hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.4, 128 bits)
GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.1.3
Network: Card-1: NVIDIA CK804 Ethernet Controller driver: forcedeth
Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR5212/5213/2414 Wireless Network Adapter
driver: ath5k
Card-3: Marvell 88E8001 Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: skge
Drives: HDD Total Size: 620.1GB (16.2% used)

It sounds like a similar situation that I had myself, in that; a update breaks the nouveau open-source driver for NVIDIA cards - I built my rig myself as well. I installed the proprietary driver from NVIDIA themselves which solved the issue and I must say, seems to be working thus far, quite well.

Your video card is supported by NVIDIA's proprietary binary blob, I'd suggest you look into installing it.

1 members found this post helpful.

It sounds like a similar situation that I had myself, in that; a update breaks the nouveau open-source driver for NVIDIA cards - I built my rig myself as well. I installed the proprietary driver from NVIDIA themselves which solved the issue and I must say, seems to be working thus far, quite well.

Your video card is supported by NVIDIA's proprietary binary blob, I'd suggest you look into installing it.[/QUOTE]

I must be doing something wrong with driver installation. I've tried installing nvidia drivers (a number of them) both using the driver manager and from the terminal, however, after restarting, inxi -b still shows the nouveau driver failed.

You should be able to install it using the command-line if nothing else. This guide will tell you how to install and remove it if necessary. From what I'm reading, it seems you need to install a PPA software repository and install the pre-compiled driver from there.

Why don't you tell us exactly what you have tried doing, and what happened when you tried doing it?

Post any error messages you got, using CODE tags.

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I wouldn't use driver manager to install the nvidia driver. You must be getting some errors. I know you must have the kernel headers installed to use the nvidia driver.

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After becoming frustrated attempting to install drivers following various guides, I opted for a clean install of Mint 18.3. This had its own set of issues, but I was able to work through them and the old potato is sizzling once again. I'm not sure whether to mark this thread as solved or not, please let me know the etiquette. I appreciate the helpful responses.

Well, glad to hear you have got it working. Since a clean install is a solution, yes mark it as SOLVED.

1 members found this post helpful.