Preface: I am running Ubuntu 16.04 (kernel 4.15.0) in an ESXi virtual machine (version 6.7), and using PCI passthrough for a GTX 1080Ti. I am attempting to install the CUDA 10.1 toolkit, with Nvidia-418 drivers. I have tried 384 as well, and using apt install nvidia-current. Same result every time.
When I finish the CUDA installation and restart the machine, I am stuck at the login screen and cannot get to the desktop. Every time I type in my password, the login manager disappears for a few seconds, then a black screen, and then I am prompted again to enter my password. I even specified in the Ubuntu install to "Log in automatically", yet I always hit the login screen post CUDA installation.
I need the desktop to work, with the Nvidia drivers, in order to run a specific piece of software.
What I have tried so far:
- Changing ESXi settings. I have tried using ESXi 6.7, 6.5, and 6.0. I have also specified "hypervisor.cpuid.v0 = false". Additionally, I have disabled secure boot, and changed the boot option settings from "BIOS" to "EFI". No change with any of these adjustments.
- Installing VMware tools on the host machine
- Restarting the lightdm service
- Reconfiguring X server via this guide. It is important to note when I followed the guide, I did get two displays that showed up. The "Device" section of the xorg.conf file had the right BusID, but did not have the right driver. I changed it from "noveau" to "nvidia". Still no results
- Installing and running gdm3
- Running
startxfrom a tty session - (Attempting to) connect to the desktop using VNC
- Adding "nomodeset noveau.modeset=0" to GRUB
- Installing CUDA using both the runfile and the .deb
- Adding
+iglxto Xserver commands
Oddly enough, I am able to run nvidia-smi post installation and see the graphics card appear. Unfortunately, I am unable to run the software I need to test without a GUI, so running it from tty is not an option.
I am not sure what log files to post, but here is my .xsession-errors log:
How should I proceed? I have been troubleshooting this issue for days and I have hit a wall. I cannot figure out what else to try.
Thank you!