LinuxVideoDriver

Install Linux graphics drivers

Download the latest drivers

To begin, go to the official website of your graphics card manufacturer (in this example we’ll install an Nvidia driver). Find the most up-to-date version of the correct driver for your graphics card, and then download it. If the drivers are in a compressed file, extract them into your Downloads folder. Next, open up the terminal and make the .run drivers file executable with the following command: chmod 777 ~/Downloads/NVIDIA- Linux-*-340.24.run

Make sure you replace ‘NVIDIA-Linux-*-340.24. run’ with the name of the drivers you installed.

Out with the old, in with the new

Now exit out of the graphical user interface with Ctrl + Alt + F1 (or F2). Log in with your username and password, then uninstall any existing drivers with the following: sudo apt-get purge nvidia*

If you’re using an AMD/ATI card, enter ‘ati’ rather than ‘nvidia’. If Ctrl + Alt +F1 just brings up a blank screen, press Ctrl + Alt + F7 to return to the graphical interface, then type sudo sed -i -e ‘s/#GRUB_TERMINAL/GRUB_ TERMINAL/g’ /etc/default/grub sudo update- grub Reboot, then stop the current X session with: sudo service lightdm stop If that doesn’t work, try sudo service gdm stop or possibly kdm in place of gdm.

Install the new driver

Now type sudo sh ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-340.24.run

Then follow the instructions to install. Again, make sure you enter the correct file name for the .run file you are going to install. Next, type sudo reboot to restart. Your new driver should be installed, and if you check your system settings, it should display the correct GPU make and model.