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As described in this question, I am facing the login loop after installing nvidia-364 driver. Note that UEFI secure boot has been disabled before I tried any of this, so it's not a secure boot issue. I also tried setting the default display manager to gdm3 instead of lightdm, but then if I reboot, I get only a black screen and I cannot get the GUI login screen to appear at all unless I do ctrl-alt-F1, then reconfigure lightdm to be the default, then reboot again.

I've repeatedly done the process of sudo apt-get purge nvidia-*, then re-installing (and also tried installing nvidia-current, which also doesn't work) and rebooting, from a command prompt login, and it doesn't help. The GUI login still stays in the loop.

I also checked that I have correct permissions for .Xauthority, and even moved .Xauthority to a backup copy, and neither thing worked.

I'm close to my wit's end on this one. Any other idea for how to get the nvidia drivers working and avoid the login loop issue?

If I merely do sudo apt-get purge nvidia-* and then reboot, the system goes back to normal and I can login (but, obviously, can't use my external display).

Community
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  • Disable Secure Boot in BIOS. – Pilot6 Oct 12 '16 at 13:46
  • I mentioned that this had already been disabled in the second line of my post. I ensured it was disabled before beginning any work on the drivers or displays. –  Oct 12 '16 at 14:09
  • What is the card? – Pilot6 Oct 12 '16 at 14:10
  • It's just an Intel HD Graphics 520. I tried many things to get it to detect the second display before considering whether nvidia stuff would help. I updated the kernel to a slightly newer version with supposedly better display support (4.4.21). I set up gdm as the default display manager and got that working. No matter what I do, it refuses to detect the second display. The second display is a Dell U2715H, from a loaner Windows machine it immediately works as a second monitor, and it's connected via mini DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort cable to my Linux machine. –  Oct 12 '16 at 14:25
  • Why are you trying to install Nvidia drivers if you do not have an Nvidia adapter? It can't help. – Pilot6 Oct 12 '16 at 14:26
  • The nvidia settings stuff can help with detecting displays. As I said, it's a last gasp. Regardless, the question as it stands is useful to know, since it seems none of the standard remedies are fixing the login loop. If you have suggestions for my larger question, about getting Ubuntu 16 to detect a second display, that's also welcome. –  Oct 12 '16 at 14:30
  • Can you log into the guest session (if so, problem in some other of your dot files). What does the Nvidia Settings say under the GPU item for Graphics Processor (maybe you actually have Nvidia HW)? Some laptops (Lenovo for one) do disable external monitors when not using Nvicia. – ubfan1 Oct 12 '16 at 15:20

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Installing Nvidia drivers can't be helpful if you don't have an Nvidia adapter.

It makes no sense to install them.

Pilot6
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  • This is unhelpful. You seem to desire to be antagonistic. That's OK, but at least explain why it can't be helpful. Just because a machine doesn't possess nvidia hardware doesn't mean nvidia driver and settings software can't be useful. In fact, in Ubuntu 12 on an old Dell machine, it was useful for me in exactly this situation. The display managers would not detect the second monitor, but with nvidia settings manager installed, it would, despite no nvidia hardware in the mix. These types of things are generally at least worth a try. Deriding even trying them is not helpful. –  Oct 12 '16 at 14:34
  • Nvidia driver can work only with Nvidia adapters. You can try to install only nvidia-settings if you think that it may help. – Pilot6 Oct 12 '16 at 14:37
  • And login loop with a wrong driver is an expected behavior. You'd better ask a question with a real problem. – Pilot6 Oct 12 '16 at 14:40
  • I disagree that login loop with wrong driver is expected. I can install other wrong drivers and not get the login loop. Older nvidia drivers, for example. –  Oct 12 '16 at 14:51