MX Linux fails to boot to login after updates

Other Distributions
,
1

Hi, to all!

I have been dealing with updates causing boot failure on both my Linux Mint and MX computers for more than a month. I seem to have resolved Mint and I highly suspect both are due to video drivers in the updates.

But I am not sure in MX how to force the use of a specific NVIDIA driver.

After updating LM over a month ago (remotely as it was still in my home and I am at my mother’s home–states away), it would not boot to login. Had my husband show me the screen at boot and it was in “emergency mode” as he had already packed all older wired keyboards/mice, had no way to resolve remotely, so I waited till he brought it to me last month. I did not rush to resolve since I have my laptop: MX Acer dual booting Garuda OS.

Then about 2 weeks ago, MX had major upgrades and it did the same thing: no longer could I boot to anything but emergency mode. Weirder still, using recovery mode for same kernel, could not get keyboard arrows to go beneath the 1st two options; in other words, no fsck could be done from there.

I tried booting to the other available kernels (sysv) in MX boot menu, but not a single one of them worked.

So I rolled it back via Timeshift and it booted fine. Kept using it another week in that rolled back state and let the updates continue to mount as I needed my machine.

Then I tried resolving the LM desktop this past weekend. In LM, you have the option to specify which NVidia driver is used. So after rolling it back to a bootable snapshot a few weeks before the updates caused the issue, I found I had somehow marked for it only to use ver 530 (long ago probably) whereas 580 is now recommended in LM. So I changed that setting, updated and rebooted. First it booted again into emergency mode. Then I rebooted again and it went to login. No idea why.

From there I did the updates caused by changing nvidia driver to current one and it has worked ever since.

Back to MX issue: since my research has found discussions on this topic, but nothing recent, I am unsure if this is even possible, but I need to make this distro keep using the older nvidia driver. Below are the current and available updates for them:

nvidia driver issue MX packages
nvidia driver issue MX packages1189×644 192 KB

As you can see, the current TS snapshot I rolled back to and that is booting to login is ver 555. But it is the update to 580 that is still causing issues on MX. Not sure why it got resolved in LM.

I backed up everything yesterday intent on just doing a complete new install, but that will mean some setup I would rather not have to do if I can help it.

So is there anyway to not do the updates to nvidia and all related files but update everything else?

Here is my inxi:


System:
  Kernel: 6.18.16-2-liquorix-amd64 [6.18-19mx25ahs] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.0 clocksource: tsc
    avail: acpi_pm parameters: audit=0 intel_pstate=disable amd_pstate=disable split_lock_detect=off
    BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.18.16-2-liquorix-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.48 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 with: xfce4-panel
    tools: xfce4-screensaver vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-25.1_Xfce_ahs_x64 Infinity
    January 18 2026 base: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Predator PT314-51s v: V1.08 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: TGL model: Clubman_TLM v: V1.08 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 0000000000000000
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.08 date: 07/23/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 39.4 Wh (100.0%) condition: 39.4/60.2 Wh (65.3%) volts: 16.5 min: 15.5
    model: SMP AP20A7N type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: full cycles: 128
CPU:
  Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11375H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Tiger Lake gen: core 11
    level: v4 note: check built: 2020 process: Intel 10nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8C (140) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0xBC
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 320 KiB desc: d-4x48 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 5 MiB desc: 4x1.2 MiB L3: 12 MiB desc: 1x12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 516 min/max: 400/3301 boost: enabled scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq
    governor: performance cores: 1: 516 2: 516 3: 516 4: 516 5: 516 6: 516 7: 516 8: 516
    bogomips: 52838
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection mitigation: Aligned branch/return thunks
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: old_microcode status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB: conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS: SW
    sequence; BHI: SW loop, KVM: SW loop
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915
    v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Xe process: Intel 10nm built: 2020-21 ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: DP-1 bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a49 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA106M [GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile / Max-Q] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: nvidia v: 555.58.02 non-free: 550-570.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-04; EOL~2026-12-xx)
    arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:2523 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Chicony HD User Facing driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-8:5 chip-ID: 04f2:b6dd class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa alternate: nv dri: iris gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 509x286mm (20.04x11.26") s-diag: 584mm (22.99")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-1-0 pos: primary res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 61
    size: 800x330mm (31.5x12.99") diag: 865mm (34.07") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 144 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 158
    size: 309x174mm (12.17x6.85") diag: 355mm (13.96") modes: N/A
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
    drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: iris
    inactive: wayland,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 26.0.1-2~mx25ahs glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Iris Xe Graphics (TGL GT2) device-ID: 8086:9a49
    memory: 22.72 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 10 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    (TGL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 26.0.1-2~mx25ahs device-ID: 8086:9a49 surfaces: xcb,xlib
    device: 1 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU driver: nvidia
    v: 555.58.02 device-ID: 10de:2523 surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 2 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM
    19.1.7 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 26.0.1-2~mx25ahs (LLVM 19.1.7) device-ID: 10005:0000
    surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: xfce4-display-settings
    gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl alternate: snd_soc_avs, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl, snd_hda_intel
    bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0c8 class-ID: 0401
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA106 High Definition Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228e class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.18.16-2-liquorix-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 vendor: Rivet Networks driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl
    bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX201 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1
    mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-10:7 chip-ID: 8087:0026 class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.2 lmp-v: 11
    sub-v: 21c1 hci-v: 11 rev: 21c1 class-ID: 6c010c
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept
    service-classes: rendering, capturing, audio, telephony
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd v: 0.6 port: N/A
    bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a0b rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 5.46 TiB used: 5.24 TiB (95.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 2B2QEXM7 temp: 50.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital model: WD50NDZW-11MR8S1 size: 4.55 TiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 3.2 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1
    mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1023 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 650.17 GiB size: 638.9 GiB (98.27%) used: 207.2 GiB (32.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 511 MiB size: 252 MiB (49.32%) used: 9.1 MiB (3.6%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 5 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 71.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 2462 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2430 libs: 1268 tools: apt, apt-get, aptitude, nala, synaptic
    pm: rpm pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 32
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ trixie main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security/ trixie-security main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    3: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ trixie-updates  main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.sources
    1: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ trixie main  non-free
    2: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ trixie ahs
Info:
  Memory: total: N/A available: 23.27 GiB used: 9.47 GiB (40.7%)
  Processes: 410 Power: uptime: 10h 9m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle avail: deep
    wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 9.22 GiB
    services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager Init: SysVinit v: 3.14 runlevel: 5 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Compilers: gcc: 14.2.0 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.37-release inxi: 3.3.38
Dual Init Detected
Boot Mode: UEFI
```

Thanks,

Sheila Flanagan

1 Like
2

Hi Sheila,
The standard way to NOT use a driver is to blacklist it in /etc/modules
but
I dont think you can blacklist a version? … it only takes a name

So, we are back to using apt to hold back updates on a specific package
I think the idea is , you have 550 running , and you put a hold on the nvidia driver… you dont specify versions?

I have never done it in apt ( I have in Gentoo), but it says howto here

Apparently you can use dpkg or apt or the gui.

Regards
Neville

2 Likes
3

Thanks, @nevj

I was unsure which package name to use. By naming one nvidia driver package (i.e., firmware-nvidia-graphics) will that automatically stop the other related packages such as firmware-nvidia-gst, etc.? Or do I have to name each one with the command given in that article?


apt-mark hold packagename

Thanks,

Sheila

1 Like
4

So having never used Synaptic package manger to do these things other than install a new package, I checked and if you highlight the package name, from the menus above you can choose Force Version under Package menu.

I can look at properties of each of them and see all installed/related items, but surely I do not have to go to each of them to force versions?

I am going to try each of the highlighted ones from my search for “nvidia” and mark force version to the 555 and then try updating. Some of them do not use the ver no. of nvidia but the MX AHS date. I can do them to the current one installed that is working.

I can always roll back via TS if it breaks everything. :slight_smile:

Will update after.

Thanks,

Sheila

1 Like
5

I search the web, but I also consulted ChatGPT. I feel I am pretty good at searching for answers. This is what I found on AI, so it not tested / checked out, but I hope it helps.

It mention you are able to “Hold” updates on some items and allow the rest of the updates to continue The suggestion was as follows.

ID the NVIDIA packages on you system.
dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia

Then once you see the list ‘hold’ the ones you don’t want updated. Some examples.
sudo apt-mark hold nvidia-driver
sudo apt-mark hold nvidia-kernel-dkms
sudo apt-mark hold nvidia-settings

If you have multi NVIDIA related packages you can hold them all at once.
dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia | awk ‘{print $2}’ | xargs sudo apt-mark hold

After that run your updates as usual.
To release the hold.
sudo apt-mark unhold nvidia-driver

Sheila, I use AI to solve problems and the above is a summary and not word for word from AI. I am not great at using the CLI (terminal) and never tried to hold an update, but the commands looks reasonable.

There was some important notes to be aware of that was listed.
" Holding NVIDIA packages can sometimes cause dependency conflicts if other packages expect a newer driver version.
Kernel updates may still happen, and that can occasionally break NVIDIA drivers if they’re not rebuilt or compatible.
MX Linux has its own tools (like MX Package Installer), but under the hood they still respect APT holds."
Also
" If you want a slightly safer version of this, you can hold only the core driver package (like nvidia-driver) and let smaller related tools update."

3 Likes
6

I think naming one package will hold all its dependencies to match
but
independent related packages will have to be each held separately.
Only what I think … I dont know from experience.

This is a great example of how useful timeshift snapshots can be … when you have to suck and see you need ability to rollback.

2 Likes
7

Hey, Howard!

That sounds great. By using dpkg, I got way more than I was seeing in Synaptic list. Sheesh it is a lot of packages:

dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia
ii  ddm-mx                                 25.11.04                              all          CLI app for installing nvidia drivers
ii  firmware-nvidia-graphics               20251111-1~mx25ahs                    all          Binary firmware for Nvidia GPU chips
ii  firmware-nvidia-gsp                    555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA GSP firmware
ii  glx-alternative-nvidia                 1.2.2                                 amd64        allows the selection of NVIDIA as GLX provider
ii  libcuda1:amd64                         555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA CUDA Driver Library
ii  libcuda1:i386                          555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA CUDA Driver Library
ii  libegl-nvidia0:amd64                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary EGL library
ii  libegl-nvidia0:i386                    555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary EGL library
ii  libgl1-nvidia-glvnd-glx:amd64          555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX library (GLVND variant)
ii  libgl1-nvidia-glvnd-glx:i386           555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX library (GLVND variant)
ii  libgles-nvidia1:amd64                  555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL|ES 1.x library
ii  libgles-nvidia1:i386                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary OpenGL|ES 1.x library
ii  libgles-nvidia2:amd64                  555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL|ES 2.x library
ii  libgles-nvidia2:i386                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary OpenGL|ES 2.x library
ii  libglx-nvidia0:amd64                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary GLX library
ii  libglx-nvidia0:i386                    555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary GLX library
ii  libnvcuvid1:amd64                      555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA CUDA Video Decoder runtime library
ii  libnvcuvid1:i386                       555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA CUDA Video Decoder runtime library
ii  libnvidia-allocator1:amd64             555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA allocator runtime library
ii  libnvidia-allocator1:i386              555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA allocator runtime library
ii  libnvidia-cfg1:amd64                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX configuration library
ii  libnvidia-egl-gbm1:amd64               1.1.2.1-1                             amd64        GBM EGL external platform library for NVIDIA
ii  libnvidia-egl-gbm1:i386                1.1.2.1-1                             i386         GBM EGL external platform library for NVIDIA
ii  libnvidia-egl-wayland1:amd64           1:1.1.18-1                            amd64        Wayland EGL External Platform library -- shared library
ii  libnvidia-egl-wayland1:i386            1:1.1.18-1                            i386         Wayland EGL External Platform library -- shared library
ii  libnvidia-eglcore:amd64                555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary EGL core libraries
ii  libnvidia-eglcore:i386                 555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary EGL core libraries
ii  libnvidia-encode1:amd64                555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-encode1:i386                 555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-glcore:amd64                 555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX core libraries
ii  libnvidia-glcore:i386                  555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX core libraries
ii  libnvidia-glvkspirv:amd64              555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary Vulkan Spir-V compiler library
ii  libnvidia-glvkspirv:i386               555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary Vulkan Spir-V compiler library
ii  libnvidia-gpucomp:amd64                555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary GPU compiler library
ii  libnvidia-gpucomp:i386                 555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA binary GPU compiler library
ii  libnvidia-ml1:amd64                    555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA Management Library (NVML) runtime library
ii  libnvidia-pkcs11-openssl3:amd64        555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA PKCS #11 Library (OpenSSL 3)
ii  libnvidia-ptxjitcompiler1:amd64        555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA PTX JIT Compiler library
ii  libnvidia-ptxjitcompiler1:i386         555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA PTX JIT Compiler library
ii  libnvidia-rtcore:amd64                 555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary Vulkan ray tracing (rtcore) library
ii  nvidia-alternative                     555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        allows the selection of NVIDIA as GLX provider
ii  nvidia-detect                          555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA GPU detection utility
ii  nvidia-driver                          555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA metapackage
ii  nvidia-driver-bin                      555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA driver support binaries
ii  nvidia-driver-libs:amd64               555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA metapackage (OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES libraries)
ii  nvidia-driver-libs:i386                555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA metapackage (OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES libraries)
ii  nvidia-egl-common                      555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary EGL driver - common files
ii  nvidia-egl-icd:amd64                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA EGL installable client driver (ICD)
ii  nvidia-egl-icd:i386                    555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA EGL installable client driver (ICD)
ii  nvidia-installer-cleanup               20240109+1                            amd64        cleanup after driver installation with the nvidia-installer
ii  nvidia-kernel-common                   20240109+1                            amd64        NVIDIA binary kernel module support files
ii  nvidia-kernel-dkms                     555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary kernel module DKMS source
ii  nvidia-kernel-support                  555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary kernel module support files
ii  nvidia-legacy-check                    555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        check for NVIDIA GPUs requiring a legacy driver
ii  nvidia-modprobe                        570.133.07-1                          amd64        utility to load NVIDIA kernel modules and create device nodes
ii  nvidia-settings                        550.163.01-1                          amd64        tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
ii  nvidia-smi                             555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA System Management Interface
ii  nvidia-support                         20240109+1                            amd64        NVIDIA binary graphics driver support files
ii  nvidia-suspend-common                  555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA driver - systemd power management scripts
ii  nvidia-vdpau-driver:amd64              555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix - NVIDIA driver
ii  nvidia-vulkan-common                   555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA Vulkan driver - common files
ii  nvidia-vulkan-icd:amd64                555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA Vulkan installable client driver (ICD)
ii  nvidia-vulkan-icd:i386                 555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   i386         NVIDIA Vulkan installable client driver (ICD)
ii  xserver-xorg-video-nvidia              555.58.02-2~mx25ahs                   amd64        NVIDIA binary Xorg driver

I am going to gather the info from the commands you gave me and see if by doing it this way, I don’t have to keep waiting to update everything else.

Thanks,

Sheila

2 Likes
8

Change to AMD !!!

2 Likes
9

Hi Sheila,

Wow! That’s a lot of packages. Good luck on deciding on which one you might want to place the holds onto. I have no experience in holding packages.

After reading your post again I went back to AI and asked for more info. It said the simplest way to keep MX from from updating your 555 driver was to hold the Nvidia packages.

" apt-mark hold nvidia-driver nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-kernel-support
nvidia-modprobe nvidia-settings libnvidia-glcore libnvidia-glvkspirv
libnvidia-eglcore libnvidia-encode1 libnvidia-decode1 libnvidia-compute1"

Not tested and for information only.

4 Likes
10

I dont have an answer, but read most posts with interest and learning.

We appear to have had several issues with MX linux recently and I question if the fault needs to be addressed by the makers and if a collective effort could push them

Personally My direction would be to move to another linux ship that works, dont need to say which one.

11

This is not really an MX issue , but they did fail to make sure a new nvidia driver version worked. Nvidia wrote the driver … maybe we should vote with our feet as @4dandl4 suggests and only buy AMD graphics cards.

The other MX problem recently was a boot issue. Yes , they messed that up
You cant have .iso files not booting in some machines within their target range.

1 Like
12

I read that suggestion but did not want to rejected it out of hands, but its not always practical for example laptops you cannot change graphics cards and in tower can become expensive cheaper to change linux in cost terms

1 Like
13

Yes laptops are a problem . Most of them are nvidia.
I changed an nvidia card to amd in my desktop … about $300 aust. It was definitely worth it because nvidia stopped supporting my card.
That said, mine was not an expensive high end graphics card.

I still say, when people are buying, we should encourage Linux users to choose amd or intel graphics. They are no more expensive at that point.

14

Yep, and I have an old Dell XPS that runs Nvidia and Intel!! While Linux can run the Intel GPU, only Windows will run both, for full graphics, although, I can use VirtualBox and run Linux!! The two Desktop PC’s, that I use the most. are running AMD R360 GPU cards!!

1 Like
15

I agree on AMD. That is why when my last desktop motherboard went out, I bought new with all AMD support (cpu & gpu). I call it my AMD PC since it is the only one I have. But we have had discussions on this before here in the community and I made my mind up to switch each time I purchase a new laptop or update my desktops.

But this laptop was purchased a few years ago before I knew all of this.

I have not yet done the hold of NVIDIA packages. Need some time set aside for that task.

To me, it is strange that both LM and MX have had these issues recently when I have never had them on LM before. So definitely believe it is an NVIDIA issue.

The LM desktop has an older NVIDIA card: 2060 where the laptop has 3060. Not that either of those are new by any means. But perhaps that is why I was able to resolve that machine by simply upgrading to the latest driver.

Will update once I complete this test to see if it fixes the boot to login issue.

Thanks,

Sheila

1 Like
16

Most of these laptops, were not really compatible with Linux, to start with, yes, it may run Linux, but the new kernel updates, are playing havoc with, certain hardware!! My Dell XPS is a lot older than your’s, but it is working just fine running a unsupported copy of W11!!

2 Likes
17

For most 99 % linux users they are older windows machines they try to conver rather than paying to upgrade windows so in many cases its too late

For anyone doing high end graphics or gaming they pay a fortune For graphics cards

I have never had to buy a graphics card but removed many due to problems and resorted to motherboard graphics where possible.

Although I know how to change would have no idea what to recommend without research

2 Likes
18

We have different experiance, i have never come across a laptop that i could not install a copy of linux mint on, older ones mate, underpowered xfce but over the last 5 years they have all gone to lmde with out issues.

Yes between 300 and 400 so seen most and got them on linux. Ok a fair few tower in the mix but mainly laptops

Usually the clients have got sick of windows virus issues

1 Like
19

You can get high end AMD and Intel graphics cards …you pay the same fortune so why choose nvidia?

Yes old machines are not usually worth spending money on. I did it on a 15 year old desktop but mine is an exceptional hi-spec machine.

1 Like
20

Same here. LM has never given me a problem on any laptop or desktop. One time there was a distro (forgot which one) that did not find the WiFi card in one laptop.

2 Likes