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Preface: I am running Ubuntu 16.04 (kernel 4.15.0) in an ESXi virtual machine (version 6.7), and using PCI passthrough for a GTX 1080Ti. I am attempting to install the CUDA 10.1 toolkit, with Nvidia-418 drivers. I have tried 384 as well, and using apt install nvidia-current. Same result every time.

When I finish the CUDA installation and restart the machine, I am stuck at the login screen and cannot get to the desktop. Every time I type in my password, the login manager disappears for a few seconds, then a black screen, and then I am prompted again to enter my password. I even specified in the Ubuntu install to "Log in automatically", yet I always hit the login screen post CUDA installation.

I need the desktop to work, with the Nvidia drivers, in order to run a specific piece of software.

What I have tried so far:

  • Changing ESXi settings. I have tried using ESXi 6.7, 6.5, and 6.0. I have also specified "hypervisor.cpuid.v0 = false". Additionally, I have disabled secure boot, and changed the boot option settings from "BIOS" to "EFI". No change with any of these adjustments.
  • Installing VMware tools on the host machine
  • Restarting the lightdm service
  • Reconfiguring X server via this guide. It is important to note when I followed the guide, I did get two displays that showed up. The "Device" section of the xorg.conf file had the right BusID, but did not have the right driver. I changed it from "noveau" to "nvidia". Still no results
  • Installing and running gdm3
  • Running startx from a tty session
  • (Attempting to) connect to the desktop using VNC
  • Adding "nomodeset noveau.modeset=0" to GRUB
  • Installing CUDA using both the runfile and the .deb
  • Adding +iglx to Xserver commands

Oddly enough, I am able to run nvidia-smi post installation and see the graphics card appear. Unfortunately, I am unable to run the software I need to test without a GUI, so running it from tty is not an option.

I am not sure what log files to post, but here is my .xsession-errors log:

Xsession-errors log

How should I proceed? I have been troubleshooting this issue for days and I have hit a wall. I cannot figure out what else to try.

Thank you!

liams1
  • 11

0 Answers0