Xubuntu 11.04 and Nvidia drivers on Dell XPS L502X

Question

I have Xubuntu 11.04 installed. It detected my Nvidia video card and i have the driver, but it says the driver is not in use and i should run nvidia-xconfig

So i ran nvidia-xconfig as root, it backed up my xorg.conf, but when i restart, X doesn't starts. And i get the commands and not the X screen. I have to login in command line and restore my xorg.conf. I have also tried to add BusID "PCI:1.0.0" but it didn't help, X won't start.

Here is my xorg.conf that doesn't work with Nvidia:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier     "Monitor0"
VendorName     "Unknown"
ModelName      "Unknown"
HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier     "Device0"
Driver         "nvidia"
VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
BusID          "PCI:1.0.0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier     "Screen0"
Device         "Device0"
Monitor        "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth    24
SubSection     "Display"
    Depth       24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Here is the relevant Xorg.log

[    10.761] (II) Module glx: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[    10.762]    compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[    10.762]    Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    10.762] (II) NVIDIA GLX Module  275.28  Wed Aug 31 17:15:37 PDT 2011
[    10.762] (II) Loading extension GLX
[    10.762] (II) LoadModule: "record"
[    10.762] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/librecord.so
[    10.762] (II) Module record: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    10.762]    compiled for 1.10.1, module version = 1.13.0
[    10.762]    Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    10.762]    ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 5.0
[    10.762] (II) Loading extension RECORD
[    10.762] (II) LoadModule: "dri"
[    10.762] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so
[    10.762] (II) Module dri: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    10.762]    compiled for 1.10.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    10.762]    ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 5.0
[    10.762] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
[    10.762] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
[    10.762] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri2.so
[    10.762] (II) Module dri2: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    10.762]    compiled for 1.10.1, module version = 1.2.0
[    10.762]    ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 5.0
[    10.762] (II) Loading extension DRI2
[    10.762] (II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
[    10.763] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module nvidia
[    10.763] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
[    10.763] (II) Unloading nvidia
[    10.763] (EE) Failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0)
[    10.763] (II) LoadModule: "mouse"
[    10.763] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/mouse_drv.so
[    10.763] (II) Module mouse: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    10.763]    compiled for 1.9.99.902, module version = 1.6.99
[    10.763]    Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
[    10.763]    ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 12.3
[    10.763] (II) LoadModule: "kbd"
[    10.763] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module kbd
[    10.763] (II) UnloadModule: "kbd"
[    10.763] (II) Unloading kbd
[    10.763] (EE) Failed to load module "kbd" (module does not exist, 0)
[    10.763] (EE) No drivers available.
[    10.763] 
Fatal server error:
[    10.763] no screens found
[    10.763] 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
     at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[    10.763] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.1.log" for additional information.
[    10.763] 

10x

Answer 1

If your configuration is Nvidia Optimus enabled then, you'd have to add the PPA of bumblebee project that handles Optimus for Linux.

Actually, in the Dell XPS 15, you have an onboard graphics chipset INTEL HD 3000 and a discrete graphics card NVIDIA GT525M or GT540M (or even GT550 or 555M). Optimus swtiches between the two cards to save power and battery life.

Google : Bumblebee project (Linux Nvidia Optimus ) Go to their launchpad site and add the PPA to your software sources....

Anyway, follow the instructions in the website. At the end, you'll be able to use the Nvidia card properly. No need to download and install Nvidia legacy drivers! Bumblebee will take care of everything.

Bumblebee is free and open source.