How I fix this issue NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running

install_nvidia_driver.md

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@fabrizioschiano did you find a solution? I have the same setup and same issue

@guadoc, A colleague told me that he installed a new OS called POP_OS that comes already with the NVIDIA drivers installed. That will be my solution.

Same Issue as @fabrizioschiano, cant seem to make nvidia driver to work

Disabling secure boot from the BIOS settings worked for me

I am asking because after doing:

sudo apt-get purge nvidia-*
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get autoremove

and

sudo apt install libnvidia-common-470
sudo apt install libnvidia-gl-470
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-470
nvidia-smi

and I get

NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.

I then rebooted and I have still the same problem.

I have secure boot enabled. Does it need to be disabled?

As @tuokor said

If you have secure boot enabled, remember to "enroll mok" after reboot. Otherwise nvidia drivers won't be loaded. At least this happened to me.

I did enroll MOK but that did not change anything. I still have the same error.

Any update? I still have the same problem as you.

to anyone who has this problem with 3080:
do a fresh install and then just download 460.84 driver...have fun...

I am asking because after doing:

sudo apt-get purge nvidia-*
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get autoremove

and

sudo apt install libnvidia-common-470
sudo apt install libnvidia-gl-470
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-470
nvidia-smi

and I get
NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.
I then rebooted and I have still the same problem.
I have secure boot enabled. Does it need to be disabled?
As @tuokor said

If you have secure boot enabled, remember to "enroll mok" after reboot. Otherwise nvidia drivers won't be loaded. At least this happened to me.

I did enroll MOK but that did not change anything. I still have the same error.

Any update? I still have the same problem as you.

In my case, it's caused by secure boot, even through it has been set as disable. Just do enable -> reboot -> disable -> reboot, everything works.

In my case I updated from 20 to 21 ubuntu, installed new nvidia drivers and it didn't work. The solution was to disable secure boot.
Thanks lyh458

worked with 510 drivers, thanks

Disabling secure boot worked on ubutu 20.04, nvidia gtx 1650. Thanks @faustAbc

Worked without changing secure boot. Thank you!!!

Disabling secure boot and worked on ubuntu 20.04, nvidia 1080Ti. Thanks!

Thanks, it worked for ubuntu 22.04 as well - the secure boot option in UEFI was the source!

Works on Ubuntu 22.04.1, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. Original error: "NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running."

thanks @tuokor !!

sudo apt-get purge nvidia-*
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get autoremove
and

apt search nvidia ( check latest version)

sudo apt install libnvidia-common-<version>
sudo apt install libnvidia-gl-<version>
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-<version>

Worked for me (Ubuntu 22.04 on a dell inspiron 5510) after I did the reboot on secure mode on, but with a slight detail: The BIOS Audit Mode for the secure boot must be checked instead of the other (default) mode. If this default mode is checked, the drivers still does not load. After booting up with this config on, the driver is loaded and I could switch back the secure boot off again (maybe I could even leave it with secure boot on).

In my case I updated from 20 to 21 ubuntu, installed new nvidia drivers and it didn't work. The solution was to disable secure boot. Thanks lyh458

This is it!!

Worked for me (Ubuntu 22.04 on a dell inspiron 5510) after I did the reboot on secure mode on, but with a slight detail: The BIOS Audit Mode for the secure boot must be checked instead of the other (default) mode. If this default mode is checked, the drivers still does not load. After booting up with this config on, the driver is loaded and I could switch back the secure boot off again (maybe I could even leave it with secure boot on).

thanks

work！

Disabling secure boot from the BIOS settings worked for me

it worked. Thank you !

Here is what worked for me ( I use Ubuntu 22.04)

1. Create a config file to blacklist the Nouveau driver:
   sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf <<EOF blacklist nouveau options nouveau modeset=0 EOF
2. Regenerate the initial RAM filesystem:
   sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo apt purge 'nvidia-*' sudo apt update sudo ubuntu-drivers devices sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall sudo reboot

thanks! worked for Ubuntu 25.04 and nvidia-driver-570

Disabling secure boot and nvidia-driver-570 work for me. Thanks!

Thanks! Disabling Secure Boot fixed the issue with nvidia-driver-570 on Ubuntu 24.04.

Was all about disabling secure boot since unsigned modules can't be loaded with secure boot.

it works for me, thank you!

go to device manager -> click on display adapters -> click on nvidia gpu -> enable
This worked for me

@srisaisubramanyam Can you be a little bit more specific ?

how i install nvidia driver for 570 with cuda 12.90 supported