Removing nvidia drivers linux

How can I uninstall a nvidia driver completely ?

As expected, Nvidia drivers have reduced my customizations. I can’t login to Unity 3D session. I can’t find any content to help me to uninstall the driver and I don’t know what to do as I have never uninstalled them before.

7 Answers 7

For Ubuntu 12.04-22.04

Commands can be executed to terminal. You can open a terminal with Ctrl + Alt + T keys combo.

If you remove —purge the nvidia driver you will be OK. No need to blacklist something, but sometimes maybe a force-load of the nouveau module needed.

First uninstall completely the driver.

Search what packages from nvidia you have installed.

except the package nvidia-common all other packages should be purged.

If you want to be sure that you will purge everything related to nvidia you can give this command

sudo apt-get remove --purge '^nvidia-.*' 

the .* in the end means (Purge everything that begins ( ^ ) with the name nvidia- )

above command will also remove the nvidia-common package and the nvidia-common package has as a dependency the ubuntu-desktop package.

So after above command you should also give the installation command for ubuntu-desktop package

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop 

Also sometimes the nouveau driver get blacklisted from nvidia driver. With purge command it should UN-blacklisted. If you want to be sure that nouveau will be load in boot, you can force-load it by add it to /etc/modules

echo 'nouveau' | sudo tee -a /etc/modules 

Last , search for the xorg.conf file and remove it as well

sudo apt-get remove --purge '^nvidia-.*' sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf echo 'nouveau' | sudo tee -a /etc/modules 

Although all above commands not needed, this is my way to completely purge the nvidia driver and use the open source nounveau.

Your recipe just solved for me a similar problem that kept me last night fiddling with my computer until 3 am. Not enough thanks.

On my Ubuntu 16.04 LTS there is no nvidia-common package so the extra step of sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop can be omitted. Also there is no /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Running locate xorg.conf reveals many files.

I just used the nvidia-uninstall.

In my case I got the driver directly from the nvidia website.

Thank you so much for saving my system! If this hadn’t worked, I would have probably had to reinstall my entire system.

@InfiniteLoops, that must be caused by you installing the drivers from repository. The driver that’s installed from NVidia website does have the nvidia-uninstall command in 2019.

I realize that this is an old answer, but I have to add an answer here for sake of clarity and system stability.

First off, the * is an expansion operator for the shell which will grab everything and remove a lot of files you don’t need to remove. The safest way to remove the nvidia driver is to do

Search for nvidia-xxx.xx version or nvidia-driver-xxx.xx version and then type

$ sudo apt purge nvidia-xxx.xx 

$ sudo apt purge nvidia-driver-xxx.xx 

It will only remove that package but will also flag its dependencies for removal.

To remove the dependencies is easy.

$ sudo apt autoremove $ sudo apt autoclean 

So for example, if you have the 390.xx package installed, it would be.

$ dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia ii libnvidia-cfg1-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX configuration library ii libnvidia-common-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 all Shared files used by the NVIDIA libraries ii libnvidia-compute-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA libcompute package ii libnvidia-compute-390:i386 390.48-0ubuntu3 i386 NVIDIA libcompute package ii libnvidia-decode-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries ii libnvidia-decode-390:i386 390.48-0ubuntu3 i386 NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries ii libnvidia-encode-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVENC Video Encoding runtime library ii libnvidia-encode-390:i386 390.48-0ubuntu3 i386 NVENC Video Encoding runtime library ii libnvidia-fbc1-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library ii libnvidia-fbc1-390:i386 390.48-0ubuntu3 i386 NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library ii libnvidia-gl-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD ii libnvidia-gl-390:i386 390.48-0ubuntu3 i386 NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD ii libnvidia-ifr1-390:amd64 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library ii libnvidia-ifr1-390:i386 390.48-0ubuntu3 i386 NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library ii nvidia-compute-utils-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA compute utilities ii nvidia-dkms-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA DKMS package ii nvidia-driver-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA driver metapackage ii nvidia-kernel-common-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 Shared files used with the kernel module ii nvidia-kernel-source-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA kernel source package ii nvidia-prime 0.8.8 all Tools to enable NVIDIA's Prime ii nvidia-settings 390.42-0ubuntu1 amd64 Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver ii nvidia-utils-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA driver support binaries ii xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-390 390.48-0ubuntu3 amd64 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver 

$ apt-cache search nvidia | grep driver nvidia-settings - Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver ubuntu-drivers-common - Detect and install additional Ubuntu driver packages vdpau-driver-all - Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (driver metapackage) xserver-xorg-video-nouveau - X.Org X server -- Nouveau display driver nvidia-340-dev - NVIDIA binary Xorg driver development files nvidia-384 - Transitional package for nvidia-driver-390 nvidia-384-dev - Transitional package for nvidia-driver-390 nvidia-driver-390 - NVIDIA driver metapackage nvidia-utils-390 - NVIDIA driver support binaries xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-390 - NVIDIA binary Xorg driver bumblebee-nvidia - NVIDIA Optimus support using the proprietary NVIDIA driver kubuntu-driver-manager - Driver Manager for Kubuntu kubuntu-driver-manager-dbg - Driver Manager for Kubuntu -- debug symbols nvidia-common - transitional package for ubuntu-drivers-common nvidia-304 - NVIDIA legacy binary driver - version 304.137 nvidia-304-dev - NVIDIA binary Xorg driver development files nvidia-340 - NVIDIA binary driver - version 340.107 nvidia-387-dev - Transitional package for nvidia-driver-390 nvidia-387 - Transitional package for nvidia-driver-390 nvidia-390-dev - Transitional package for nvidia-driver-390 nvidia-390 - Transitional package for nvidia-driver-390 nvidia-driver-396 - NVIDIA driver metapackage nvidia-utils-396 - NVIDIA driver support binaries xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-396 - NVIDIA binary Xorg driver 

Once you’ve targeted the package to remove, do

$ sudo apt purge nvidia-390 (nvidia-driver-XXX) -y $ sudo apt autoremove -y $ sudo apt autoclean 

Make sure to install whatever driver you plan on using right after you do this and if you don’t have livepatch because of whatever reason, just reboot your system and you should be good to go.

This way you don’t ever have to worry about removing system dependencies while clearing out your drivers. You’ll have a sane and stable system afterwards and don’t have to worry about re-installing other packages that your system may depend on. That’s apt s job, not yours.

Источник

How to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux

In this tutorial, you will learn how to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux, hence switch back to the open source Nouveau Nvidia drivers. Typically the proprietary drivers from Nvidia will offer better performance, but the Nouveau drivers are a good alternative if you run into issues.

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to uninstall the Ubuntu repository and PPA NVIDIA drivers
• How to uninstall the Official Nvidia driver
• How to switch to Nouveau driver

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions

Category	Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System	Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish
Software	N/A
Other	Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions	# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu 22.04 step by step instructions

Uninstall the Ubuntu repository and PPA NVIDIA drivers

1. First thing you will need to do is open a command line terminal. Then, executing the following commands will remove the proprietary Nvidia driver:

$ sudo dpkg -P $(dpkg -l | grep nvidia-driver | awk '') $ sudo apt autoremove

$ sudo apt update $ sudo apt install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

Alternatively, the above switch from Nvidia to Nouveau driver can also be performed from GNOME GUI Software & Updates application window.
Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

$ lsmod | grep nouveau nouveau 1949696 4 mxm_wmi 16384 1 nouveau ttm 106496 1 nouveau drm_kms_helper 184320 1 nouveau drm 491520 7 drm_kms_helper,ttm,nouveau i2c_algo_bit 16384 1 nouveau wmi 32768 3 wmi_bmof,mxm_wmi,nouveau video 49152 1 nouveau

Uninstall the official NVIDIA drivers

For Nvidia drivers downloaded and installed from the official Nvidia website follow the below steps for Nvidia driver uninstall and to switch back to Nouveau opensource driver.

Locate the installation script used to install the Nvidia driver. In case you cannot locate the original installation script simply re-download it again.

$ ls NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-440.44.run

$ sudo bash NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-XXX.XX.run --uninstall

$ sudo nvidia-xconfig --restore-original-backup

$ sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia-nouveau.conf

Closing Thoughts

In this tutorial, you saw how to uninstall Nvidia drivers on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux. You also saw how to switch back to using the default Nouveau driver, which is an open source alternative.

Related Linux Tutorials:

Источник

How to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux

In this tutorial you will learn how to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux, hence switch back to the opensource Nouveau Nvidia drivers.

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to uninstall the Ubuntu repository and PPA NVIDIA drivers
• How to uninstall the Official Nvidia driver
• How to switch to Nouveau driver

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions

Category	Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System	Installed or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa
Software	N/A
Other	Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions	# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu 20.04 step by step instructions

Uninstall the Ubuntu repository and PPA NVIDIA drivers

$ sudo dpkg -P $(dpkg -l | grep nvidia-driver | awk '') $ sudo apt autoremove

$ sudo apt install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

The above switch from Nvidia to Nouveau driver can also be performed from GNOME GUI Software & Updates application window.

$ lsmod | grep nouveau nouveau 1949696 4 mxm_wmi 16384 1 nouveau ttm 106496 1 nouveau drm_kms_helper 184320 1 nouveau drm 491520 7 drm_kms_helper,ttm,nouveau i2c_algo_bit 16384 1 nouveau wmi 32768 3 wmi_bmof,mxm_wmi,nouveau video 49152 1 nouveau

Uninstall the official NVIDIA drivers

For Nvidia drivers downloaded and installed from the official Nvidia website follow the below steps for Nvidia driver uninstall and to switch back to Nouveau opensource driver.

Locate the installation script used to install the Nvidia driver. In case you cannot locate the original installation script simply re-download it again.

$ ls NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-440.44.run

$ sudo bash NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-XXX.XX.run --uninstall

$ sudo nvidia-xconfig --restore-original-backup

$ sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia-nouveau.conf

Related Linux Tutorials:

Источник