[Bug 1793920] [NEW] software-properties-gtk prompts me to install the nVidia proprietary drivers on a system using Xen, leading to no video on the next boot

[Adam Novak]

Public bug reported:

nVidia's proprietary drivers don't work when the kernel is running under
the Xen hypervisor; nVidia knows this and has chosen not to implement
Xen support. However, I did not know this.

On my Ubuntu Xen dom0 system, I went into Ubuntu's "Software & Updates",
on the "Additional Drivers" tab, and selected "Using NVIDIA driver
metapackage from nvidia-driver-390" as my GPU driver. The driver was
available, with no warning associated with it, and it seemed to install
correctly. However, upon rebooting, I had no video output. I had to mess
about in Grub to boot the system without Xen, and now I'm going to have
to uninstall the nVidia proprietary drivers.

The "Additional Drivers" UI should not present the option to install the
proprietary nVidia drivers if the system is running under Xen, because
doing so renders the system unusable in that configuration until the
drivers are removed.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: software-properties-gtk 0.96.24.32.5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-34.37-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-34-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.2
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sat Sep 22 15:09:38 2018
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-08-06 (412 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Release amd64 (20170412)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: software-properties
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to bionic on 2018-05-29 (116 days ago)

** Affects: software-properties (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug bionic

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1793920

Title:
  software-properties-gtk prompts me to install the nVidia proprietary
  drivers on a system using Xen, leading to no video on the next boot

Status in software-properties package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  nVidia's proprietary drivers don't work when the kernel is running
  under the Xen hypervisor; nVidia knows this and has chosen not to
  implement Xen support. However, I did not know this.

  On my Ubuntu Xen dom0 system, I went into Ubuntu's "Software &
  Updates", on the "Additional Drivers" tab, and selected "Using NVIDIA
  driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-390" as my GPU driver. The
  driver was available, with no warning associated with it, and it
  seemed to install correctly. However, upon rebooting, I had no video
  output. I had to mess about in Grub to boot the system without Xen,
  and now I'm going to have to uninstall the nVidia proprietary drivers.

  The "Additional Drivers" UI should not present the option to install
  the proprietary nVidia drivers if the system is running under Xen,
  because doing so renders the system unusable in that configuration
  until the drivers are removed.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
  Package: software-properties-gtk 0.96.24.32.5
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-34.37-generic 4.15.18
  Uname: Linux 4.15.0-34-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair nvidia_modeset nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.2
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
  Date: Sat Sep 22 15:09:38 2018
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-08-06 (412 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Release amd64 (20170412)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=xterm-256color
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: software-properties
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to bionic on 2018-05-29 (116 days ago)

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