I've been enjoying Linux for over a month now and tried out various distributions on different computers. However, I'm really struggling to install drivers for my main laptop, which has 32GB DDR5 RAM, an AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor, and an RTX 5070 GPU. Every time I attempt to install a distribution, I end up with a black screen. I can get into safe mode, but once I install the Nvidia drivers, it goes black again. I've tried around 10 different distributions, and I just can't figure this out. Any advice?
2 Answers
Black screen issues can definitely be tricky. One method is to switch to another terminal using Ctrl-Alt-F# (F1 to F6) after a problematic boot, and from there, you can manually reinstall your Nvidia drivers. For Ubuntu or Debian, you can run these commands:
sudo apt-get purge nvidia-*
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo apt update && sudo apt install nvidia-driver-latest
This should clean things up and get the latest drivers in place. Just make sure you're getting the right version for your setup!
Yeah, cleaning up first should help a lot. Let me know how it goes!
It sounds like the issue could be related to the graphics drivers. If you haven’t mentioned which distribution you’re using, that could be a factor. Have you tried Manjaro? It's known for handling Nvidia drivers well right out of the box and often manages to uninstall the open-source drivers that might be causing problems. Also, using a driver installer without removing the existing Xorg drivers can lead to black screens too.
That's good to know! I’ll give Manjaro a shot.
Yeah, that's a solid point! Maybe uninstalling those first will help.
Thanks! That's definitely worth a try!