NVIDIA driver won't install under 13.04, wants to reboot without X, not so easy

Question

NVIDIA complains that it cannot install with x running.

All I want to do is kill the X server, but I can't do that. If I kill it, it simply restarts. I found an article claiming I could change the grub parameter of the kernel to:

text_$vt_handoff

but this doesn't work with 13.04, it boots as usual into X.

I tried init 1, but it warned me not to install in single user mode either.

I would probably prefer the proprietary NVIDIA driver, though this process is difficult and seems much, much worse than it used to be under Fedora Core 4, a giant step backward in ease of installation. Why is it so hard to come by instructions for something so mainstream? Why is it now so hard to shut down the X server?

As an alternative I would be willing to use the nvidia_current package, but want to be able to use dual screens, twinview to nvidia. Does the open software driver support that? Does it also support rotating monitors by 90 degrees?

Answer 1

The several features you are asking are supported in the Proprietary Drivers. For your case you need to follow How do I install the Nvidia drivers?

The open source Nvidia (Nouveau) drivers does not yet support Twinview, rotating correctly or Dual screen in all Nvidia models. For the time being, we Nvidia users are stuck with the proprietary drivers.

Please follow the link I have mentioned and let us know if doing the steps provided in it solves your problem. Know that if you are trying to install the Nvidia drivers that are found on the Nvidia site I recommend to not do that (It is explained on the link as to why not to use the official one from the Nvidia site). Use the ones that come in the PPA if you really want to have the most stable and updated version available for Ubuntu.