cannot install drivers NVIDIA

Open a Terminal from the menu Applications → Accessories → Terminal and type:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

you may need to reboot. after that go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers and enable any restricted drivers you have available.

Hi,
Please, can you tell us which version of Ubuntu do you have and which model of NVIDIA card do you have.

Im using Ubuntu 8.10
and my NVIDIA card is ....I don't know :S
how do you check what hardware you have?

Hi,
Open a terminal, send the following commands:
 lspci
and paste the result here.

ah ok
I have Ubuntu 8.10

00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a2)
00:04.1 Modem: nVidia Corporation CK804 AC'97 Modem (rev a2)
00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev f2)
00:07.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
01:06.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
01:06.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 0a)
01:06.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev ff)
01:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8185 IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 20)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
07:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce Go 7900 GS (rev a1)
user@user-laptop:~$

Hi,
Go to:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_180.22.html
and download the package NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22.pkg1.run
The link is on the step 2 of the guide.
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/180.22/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
When the download finish, double click on the downloaded file.
Hope this helps, let me know.

I ran the file but I get an error saying "ERROR: nividia-installer must be run as root"

0k, no problem
Then, we must go to open a terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), go to the directory where you download the file and type:
 sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
and then press <Enter>.
You'll be asked for a password, give yours (the one you used to log in).
Hope this helps, let me know.

hello again,

I did what you suggested but now I get this error "can't open NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run",

thanks for your help by the way, it's much appreciated

Hi,
Please, open a terminal and execute this:
 which NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
and paste the result here.

ok I type this "which NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run"

and this happends:

user@user-laptop:~$ which NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
user@user-laptop:~$

so I typed the other thing and this happends

user@user-laptop:~$ sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
[sudo] password for user:
sh: Can't open NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
user@user-laptop:~$

0k,
Can you tell me where you download the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
If you didn't know, open a terminal and run:
 cd Desktop
 sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run
Then, please can you paste the error you have when execute those commands?

By the way,
Please note that all in Ubuntu is case sensitive.

  ERROR: You appear to be running an X server; please exit X before
         installing. For further details, please see the section INSTALLING
         THE NVIDIA DRIVER in the README available on the Linux driver
         download page at www.nvidia.com.

Hi,
That's great!
You've downloaded the drivers just on your desktop.
Now, I preparing further instructions about closing X to install the drivers. I'm on the way.

thank you!

Thanks Ariel Cabral, that solved my question.

thanks a bunch!