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Ubuntu version: 24.04.2 LTS

Kernel version: 6.8.0.65-lowlatency

Video card / driver version: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 / 535.230.02 or 535.247.01

After an apt update/upgrade and reboot over the weekend, my dual-monitor machine is only displaying on one of the monitors. The desktop normally uses both monitors. I'm wondering if this might be some funkiness between the NVIDIA driver, X11 and Gnome, because my mouse pointer will show up on the second monitor if I move my mouse to that portion of the desktop, but nothing else renders - just a black screen - no background/taskbar/etc. If I move windows to the second display, the windows don't render - just the mouse pointer.

lspci shows the video card is still recognized.

I'm not sure if this is the source of the problem, but there appears to be an inconsistency between the NVIDIA driver module that's being loaded by the kernel and version that is expected:

From dmesg:

[   19.148159] NVRM: API mismatch: the client has the version 535.247.01, but
               NVRM: this kernel module has the version 535.230.02.  Please
               NVRM: make sure that this kernel module and all NVIDIA driver
               NVRM: components have the same version.

DKMS thinks the NVIDIA driver version is the newer one:

$ dkms status | grep nvidia
nvidia/535.247.01, 6.8.0-65-lowlatency, x86_64: installed
nvidia/535.247.01, 6.8.0-71-generic, x86_64: installed

dpkg shows NVIDIA components running at a few different versions:

$ dpkg -l | grep nvidia
ii  libnvidia-cfg1-535:amd64                       535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX configuration library
ii  libnvidia-common-535                           535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                all          Shared files used by the NVIDIA libraries
ii  libnvidia-compute-535:amd64                    535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
rc  libnvidia-compute-535-server:amd64             535.129.03-0ubuntu0.22.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-decode-535:amd64                     535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries
ii  libnvidia-egl-wayland1:amd64                   1:1.1.13-1build1                           amd64        Wayland EGL External Platform library -- shared library
ii  libnvidia-encode-535:amd64                     535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-extra-535:amd64                      535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        Extra libraries for the NVIDIA driver
ii  libnvidia-fbc1-535:amd64                       535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library
ii  libnvidia-gl-535:amd64                         535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD
ii  nvidia-compute-utils-535                       535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
rc  nvidia-compute-utils-535-server                535.129.03-0ubuntu0.22.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
ii  nvidia-dkms-535                                535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
ii  nvidia-driver-535                              535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA driver metapackage
ii  nvidia-firmware-535-535.247.01                 535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        Firmware files used by the kernel module
ii  nvidia-kernel-common-535                       535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
rc  nvidia-kernel-common-535-server                535.129.03-0ubuntu0.22.04.1                amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
ii  nvidia-kernel-source-535                       535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA kernel source package
ii  nvidia-prime                                   0.8.17.2                                   all          Tools to enable NVIDIA's Prime
ii  nvidia-settings                                510.47.03-0ubuntu4                         amd64        Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
ii  nvidia-utils-535                               535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA driver support binaries
ii  screen-resolution-extra                        0.18.3                                     all          Extension for the nvidia-settings control panel
ii  xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-535                  535.247.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1                amd64        NVIDIA binary Xorg driver

nvidia-smi doesn't launch because of version mismatches.

$ nvidia-smi
Failed to initialize NVML: Driver/library version mismatch
NVML library version: 535.247

Settings > Ubuntu Desktop doesn't find any settings and directs me to report a bug in Launchpad.

I'm wondering if I need to force a downgrade or purge / fresh install of all of the nvidia drivers or if there is a known bug in the drivers that might be causing this behavior. I haven't found any bug reports that seem to match what's happening.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

user68186
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JMS
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  • Uninstall everything "nvidia" then reinstall the proper version in the proper way (i.e. from the Ubuntu repository). – ChanganAuto Aug 04 '25 at 14:15
  • Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. I am very happy that you found a solution to your question and answered your own question. In this Q&A site please do not put SOLVED in the question title. After the required wait time click on the gray check mark next to your answer and turn it green ✅. This mark your problem as solved and will help others. – user68186 Aug 09 '25 at 18:12

1 Answers1

1

Thank you. I was able to get the second monitor working properly again.

I wiped out all of the nvidia components that were installed:

sudo apt --purge remove '*nvidia*535*'

The nvidia-settings package wouldn't uninstall for some reason, even after specifically attempting to remove just that package and then did an apt autoremove to clear out any other remaining packages that were no longer needed. nvidia-settings was still there, but I opted to proceed with reinstalling the drivers anyway.

sudo ubuntu-drivers install

followed by an apt update/upgrade and a reboot.

After the reboot, the second monitor was no longer being used at all. Tried to launch nvidia-smi and it couldn't communicate with the driver. lsmod showed the nvidia kernel modules weren't loaded when I rebooted.

On a hunch, I forced a reinstall of the version of the nvidia drivers that were installed by "ubuntu-drivers install" above. I could see the kernel moduled being generated.

sudo apt install --reinstall nvidia-driver-575

After rebooting one more time, the nvidia kernel modules loaded, the second monitor works again, and the nvidia settings are accessible again.

JMS
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