Nvidia drivers update causes Ubuntu 18.04 desktop fail to load (can't even log in)

My system was stable until a recent software update. All hardware and OS previously was working fine.

After a recent software update Ubuntu couldn’t detect the external monitor.

I did the following after some research:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-450 (have also tried version 430 and 390)
sudo apt install nvidia-prime
sudo prime-select nvidia
sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo reboot

After this Ubuntu boots but fails to load the desktop. I cannot login. The only option is to boot into recovery mode, sudo apt remove --purge '^nvidia-.*', sudo apt autoremove, then return to boot sequence. The desktop loads fine with no Nivdia drivers installed.

I also tried these recommended actions:

sudo rm  /etc/X11/xorg.conf (but I have no such file)
sudo rm /lib/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-
nvidia.conf (I do not have these files either)

I tried these from here:

sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvidia-drm.modeset=1"

sudo update-grub2

but it didn’t help. I have also tried this.

It seems that I am not the only person to have this problem but other solutions have not helped me.

This is a Tuxedo laptop Ubuntu 18.04 and nvidia RTX 2070 High-Q.

Here is the requested listing:

Linux MEANMACHINEX 5.4.0-42-generic #46~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 10 07:21:24 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

dkms status

oem-audio-hda-daily, 0.201808050301~ubuntu18.04.1: added
tuxedo-cc-wmi, 0.1.4, 5.3.0-62-generic, x86_64: installed
tuxedo-cc-wmi, 0.1.4, 5.4.0-42-generic, x86_64: installed
tuxedo-keyboard, 2.0.5, 5.3.0-62-generic, x86_64: installed
tuxedo-keyboard, 2.0.5, 5.4.0-42-generic, x86_64: installed

package sources

/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic main restricted universe multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu bionic-cran35/
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu bionic-cran35/
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bionic contrib
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bionic contrib
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu bionic stable
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu bionic stable
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel.list:deb http://intel.tuxedocomputers.com/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/tuxedo-computers.list:deb http://deb.tuxedocomputers.com/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers.list:deb http://graphics.tuxedocomputers.com/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cran-ubuntu-imagemagick-bionic.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/cran/imagemagick/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cran-ubuntu-imagemagick-bionic.list.save:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/cran/imagemagick/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list.save:deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list.save:deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list.save:# deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ beta steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list.save:# deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ beta steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-x-swat-ubuntu-updates-bionic.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/updates/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-x-swat-ubuntu-updates-bionic.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/updates/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list.save:deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/teams.list.save:deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/ms-teams stable main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel.list.save:deb http://intel.tuxedocomputers.com/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/tuxedo-computers.list.save:deb http://deb.tuxedocomputers.com/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list:deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ bionic-pgdg main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers.list.save:deb http://graphics.tuxedocomputers.com/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list.save:deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ bionic-pgdg main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list:deb http://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/ubuntu18.04/amd64 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list:deb http://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-container-runtime/ubuntu18.04/amd64 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list:deb http://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/ubuntu18.04/amd64 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/deadsnakes-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/deadsnakes/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list:deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list:deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list:# deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ beta steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list:# deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ beta steam
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/deadsnakes-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/deadsnakes/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-x-swat-ubuntu-updates-bionic.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/updates/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-x-swat-ubuntu-updates-bionic.list.save:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/updates/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list.save:deb http://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/ubuntu18.04/amd64 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list.save:deb http://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-container-runtime/ubuntu18.04/amd64 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list.save:deb http://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/ubuntu18.04/amd64 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list.save:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cuda-10-1-local-10.1.168-418.67.list.save:deb file:///var/cuda-repo-10-1-local-10.1.168-418.67 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cuda-10-1-local-10.1.168-418.67.list:deb file:///var/cuda-repo-10-1-local-10.1.168-418.67 /
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/teams.list:deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/ms-teams stable main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cran-ubuntu-imagemagick-bionic.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/cran/imagemagick/ubuntu bionic main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cran-ubuntu-imagemagick-bionic.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/cran/imagemagick/ubuntu bionic main

sudo apt-mark hold linux-image-unsigned-5.4.0-42-generic
     
sudo apt purge linux-image-5.4.0-42-generic
     
sudo apt-mark hold linux-image-5.4.0-42-generic