New laptop install not recognising GTX980M

I have just installed Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64bit on my laptop, which has an internal Intel video for the internal monitor and a GeForce GTX980M for an external monitor.

Unfortunately Ubuntu does not see the GeForce card at all.

I have a Windows install alongside Ubuntu and the card works fine if I load up in Windows.

I have downloaded the latest driver but can't figure out how to install it. Usually people give a summarised description of what to do, but being an Ubuntu noob I need details :(

What steps do I need to do to install this driver - bearing in mind, so far the GTX card is not recognised at all so has no drivers installed.

3 Answers

Your new Nvidia adapter needs new drivers. You can install them by running in terminal

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-352 nvidia-prime
sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

and reboot.

The driver that comes with Ubuntu 14.04.3 nvidia-340 or the previous nvidia-331 do not support that adapter.

Actually,Ubuntu recognizes your card.The problem here is that your gtx 980M card is very new.And there is no graphics driver that supports your card in the UBUNTU repository. your only option is to install the latest driver from the NVIDIA,which is recomended by ubuntu

I think you didn't install it correctly.Installing nvidia drivers from nvidia website in ubuntu is little tricky.

here is a detail explanation of how to install it.

Run these commands to install nvidia newest drivers.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

If using open source video drivers (fglrx, nouveau) generate xorg.conf to improve performance.

 ctrl+alt+F1 sudo service lightdm stop sudo Xorg -configure sudo mv xorg.conf.new xorg.conf sudo mv xorg.conf /etc/X11/ sudo reboot 

You can also launch the driver-settings from terminal

sudo software-properties-gtk