Nvidia binary drivers not functioning after update

[Robert Osowiecki]

Binary package hint: xorg

After updating many packages (don't know which ones) nvidia drivers are not functioning.
All packages seems to bee in right place, but Xorg fails to load them.

root@baban:/lib/modules# dpkg-query -l nvidia*
ii nvidia-173-modaliases 173.14.22-0ubuntu11 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
un nvidia-185-kernel-source <brak> (brak dostępnego opisu)
un nvidia-185-libvdpau <brak> (brak dostępnego opisu)
ii nvidia-185-modaliases 195.36.15-0ubuntu3 Transitional package for nvidia-185-modaliases
ii nvidia-96-modaliases 96.43.17-0ubuntu1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
ii nvidia-common 0.2.23 Find obsolete NVIDIA drivers
ii nvidia-current 195.36.15-0ubuntu3 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
ii nvidia-current-modaliases 195.36.15-0ubuntu3 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
un nvidia-glx <brak> (brak dostępnego opisu)
un nvidia-glx-185 <brak> (brak dostępnego opisu)
ii nvidia-settings 195.36.08-0ubuntu2 Tool of configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver

root@baban:/lib/modules# cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.31-20-generic-pae (buildd@palmer) (gcc version 4.4.1 (Ubuntu 4.4.1-4ubuntu8) ) #58-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 12 06:25:51 UTC 2010

root@baban:/lib/modules# find . -name nvidia*
./2.6.32-21-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia
./2.6.32-21-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
./2.6.32-21-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/char/agp/nvidia-agp.ko
./2.6.32-22-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia
./2.6.32-22-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
./2.6.32-22-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/char/agp/nvidia-agp.ko
./2.6.32-22-generic-pae/updates/dkms/nvidia-current.ko
./2.6.31-20-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia
./2.6.31-20-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
./2.6.31-20-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/char/agp/nvidia-agp.ko

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: xorg 1:7.5+5ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-20.58-generic-pae
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-20-generic-pae i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Sat Jun 5 17:45:29 2010
DkmsStatus: nvidia-current, 195.36.15, 2.6.32-22-generic-pae, i686: installed
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
MachineType: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic-pae root=UUID=31946796-6f2e-4463-81c6-17003442e68a ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=pl_PL.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
dmi.bios.date: 07/20/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 080015
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.vendor: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.version: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr080015:bd07/20/2009:svnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:rvnTobefilledbyO.E.M.:rnTobefilledbyO.E.M.:rvrTobefilledbyO.E.M.:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: i686
 kernel: 2.6.31-20-generic-pae

[Robert Osowiecki (robert-osowiecki)]

I found workaround for my problem. I suppose it's not related to xorg or nvidia drivers.

The main cause seems to be that I still had legacy grub from Ubuntu version 9 not updated to grub2. Because of that, the running kernel version (2.6.31-20) was not the latest istalled (2.6.32-22); grub-update had no effect on grub menu and nvidia drivers package did not care about old kernel.

[Robert Osowiecki (robert-osowiecki)]

Seems to be a duplicate of #470490, because I hand-edited grub configuration before too.