Ubuntu Desktop VNC Connection Failing After Nvidia Driver Update
If you're using RealVNC to connect to your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop and recently updated your Nvidia drivers to version 535, you may have encountered an issue where you're unable to connect to the desktop. This article will provide a detailed context on the topic, covering key concepts and subtitles, and will help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue.
Background
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a graphical desktop sharing system that uses the Remote Frame Buffer protocol (RFB) to remotely control another computer. It is particularly useful for accessing a graphical desktop environment over a network connection.
Nvidia is a leading manufacturer of graphics processing units (GPUs) and provides drivers for Linux-based operating systems, including Ubuntu. Updating the Nvidia drivers can sometimes result in issues with VNC connections, as was the case with version 535.
Troubleshooting the Issue
If you're unable to connect to your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop using RealVNC after updating the Nvidia drivers to version 535, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:
- Check that the VNC server is running on the Ubuntu desktop. You can do this by opening a terminal and running the command
systemctl status vncserver@:1(replace:1with the display number you're using). - Check the VNC server logs for any error messages. The logs are typically located in the
/var/log/vncserverdirectory. - Try restarting the VNC server. You can do this by running the command
systemctl restart vncserver@:1(replace:1with the display number you're using). - Try connecting to the VNC server using a different VNC client. This will help you determine if the issue is specific to RealVNC or if it's a more general issue with the VNC server.
- Try rolling back the Nvidia drivers to the previous version. This can be done by purging the current Nvidia drivers and installing the previous version.
Rolling Back the Nvidia Drivers
To roll back the Nvidia drivers to the previous version, you can follow these steps:
- Purge the current Nvidia drivers by running the command
sudo apt-get purge nvidia-driver-535. - Add the graphics-drivers PPA to your system by running the command
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa. - Update the package list by running the command
sudo apt-get update. - Install the previous version of the Nvidia drivers by running the command
sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver-470(replace470with the version number of the previous drivers). - Reboot your system.
In this article, we've covered the issue of VNC connections failing after updating the Nvidia drivers to version 535 on Ubuntu 18.04. We've provided detailed troubleshooting steps and shown you how to roll back the Nvidia drivers to the previous version. By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the issue and successfully connect to your Ubuntu desktop using VNC.