Table of Contents

Ubuntu - GPU - Nouveau - Blacklist the Nouveau driver

To prevent the host OS from loading the built-in nouveau driver for NVIDIA GPUs.

Check if the Nouveau driver is loaded

lsmod | grep nouveau

returns: 

nouveau              1949696  0
mxm_wmi                16384  1 nouveau
video                  49152  1 nouveau
i2c_algo_bit           16384  2 mgag200,nouveau
ttm                   106496  2 drm_vram_helper,nouveau
drm_kms_helper        184320  4 mgag200,nouveau
drm                   491520  6 drm_kms_helper,drm_vram_helper,mgag200,ttm,nouveau
wmi                    32768  5 wmi_bmof,dell_smbios,dell_wmi_descriptor,mxm_wmi,nouveau

Blacklist the nouveau driver

sudo bash -c "echo blacklist nouveau > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf"
sudo bash -c "echo options nouveau modeset=0 >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf"

NOTE: The /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf could also be created manually, if required.

  • The blacklist nouveau line suggests that the module loading system should not load the Nouveau driver automatically.
  • The options nouveau modeset=0 line aims to prevent Nouveau from initializing display modes early in the boot process.

Confirm the content of the newly created modeprobe file blacklist-nouveau.conf

cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

returns: 

blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0

Udate kernel initramfs

sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot the system

WARNING: After the reboot you may end up without GUI at all.

  • Be sure that you have the SSH enabled on your system to be able login remotely or use CTRL+ALT+F2 to switch TTY console and continue with the installation of an alternative GPU driver.
sudo reboot