Kali Linux 1.1.0 kernel 3.18 – Install proprietary NVIDIA driver – NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver

Troubleshooting

You might get a black screen after installing NVIDIA Driver. Following are your options to fix it:

Troubleshooting step A: Fixing black screen with a cursor problem

Simply press CTRL + ALT + F1 and login. Type the following

root@kali:~# nvidia-xconfig 
root@kali:~# reboot

You should now be able to log in using the GDM3 GUI.

Troubleshooting step B: Delete xorg.conf file

Press CTRL + ALT + F1 and login. Type the following

root@kali:~# rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
root@kali:~# reboot

After reboot, you should be able to log in using the GDM3 GUI.

Troubleshooting step C: remove NVIDIA Driver

Press CTRL + ALT + F1 and login. Type the following

root@kali:~# apt-get remove nvidia-kernel-dkms
root@kali:~# reboot

After reboot, you should be able to log in using the GDM3 GUI.

Step 8: A proposed solution for black screen

Douglas Riese was kind enough to post this in the comment section. This might be applicable to those who had black screen after following this guide.

Douglas Riese

April 30, 2015 at 6:58 pm Edit

I spent about a week trying to install the nvidia driver. Every step worked for me up until I generated the xorg file. Once I generated that, I would get a black screen with a blinking cursor.

If anyone else is having that problem, here is how you fix it:

Before you do the very first step of this guide, enter “apt-get remove –purge nouveau,” and it should finally work. The reason it wasn’t working is because nouveau is a bitch to disable, and blacklisting nouveau in every way I could think of wasn’t working, so I had to completely remove it. Then it worked :)

I hope the same works for others who read this :)

Conclusion

This concludes my general instructions on how to install proprietary NVIDIA driver – NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver Kali Linux 1.1.0 kernel 3.18 ono.

NVIDIA Optimus users, use the guide on Kali forums provided by staticn0de.

(Guide) Installing Nvidia + Bumblebee + CUDA for Optimus enabled Laptops

But do not mix-match these two guides. You will break things and end up reinstalling.

For those curious minds, try installing nvidia-settings and see how that goes. NVIDIA Settings will remove NVIDIA Driver but I did manage to make it work with some tinkering. NVIDIA Settings presents you with a GUI X Config Window and you can see GPU Temperature and more info.

For normal users, guide ends here. If you want to run applications that uses NVIDIA Kernel Module CUDA, Pyrit and Cpyrit for GPU processing then you will also need to install CUDA drivers, replace official Pyrit and install Cpyrit. Find out if your Graphics Card supports CUDA in the following page from NVIDIA

• CUDA GPUs

Next guide will show you how to Install NVIDIA Kernel Module CUDA and Pyrit in Kali Linux – CUDA, pyrit and cpyrit.(pending)

Thanks for reading. Please share.