Ubuntu 11.04 Recent X11 Update Broke OpenGL

Question

After installing the most recent X11 updates (using the update manager) it would appear that OpenGL support has vanished from my computer. I have an NVIDIA GeForce 9600M graphics card, and have the proprietary NVIDIA drivers installed (270.41.06). Through prior research (specifically this post on the Ubuntu forums) I have come to believe that some combination of the recent update to X11 and my re-installation of the NVIDIA graphics driver has broken a link to the OpenGL libraries on my computer.

Output of glxinfo:

$ glxinfo
name of display: :0.0
Error: couldn't find RGB GLX visual or fbconfig

A listing of the OpenGL libraries installed on my system (I think):

$ find /usr -name libGL.*
/usr/lib/nvidia-173/libGL.so
/usr/lib/nvidia-173/libGL.so.173.14.30
/usr/lib/nvidia-173/libGL.so.1
/usr/lib/libGL.so
/usr/lib/nvidia-current/libGL.so.270.41.06
/usr/lib/nvidia-current/libGL.so
/usr/lib/nvidia-current/libGL.so.1
/usr/lib/mesa/libGL.so.1.2
/usr/lib/mesa/libGL.so
/usr/lib/mesa/libGL.so.1
/usr/lib/libGL.so.1

I get the same output when running as root. I think the answer may lie somewhere in the link I posted - unfortunately I couldn't parse what was being discussed. I would classify my knowledge of Linux as "enough to be very dangerous".

Any ideas how to fix this?

UPDATE: As requested, some more information

$ldd /usr/bin/glxinfo

linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0xb7830000)
libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 (0xb77c4000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6 (0xb76a9000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0xb7547000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libXext.so.6 (0xb7538000)
libXdamage.so.1 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libXdamage.so.1 (0xb7534000)
libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libXfixes.so.3 (0xb752e000)
libXxf86vm.so.1 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libXxf86vm.so.1 (0xb7528000)
libdrm.so.2 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libdrm.so.2 (0xb751d000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0xb7504000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 (0xb7500000)
libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 (0xb7415000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 (0xb73ef000)
libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 (0xb73d2000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0xb7831000)
libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libxcb.so.1 (0xb73b9000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/i386-linux-gnu/librt.so.1 (0xb73b0000)
libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libXau.so.6 (0xb73ac000)
libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libXdmcp.so.6 (0xb73a6000)


$lsmod | grep nvidia
Module                  Size  Used by
cryptd                 19801  0 
aes_i586               16956  2 
aes_generic            38023  1 aes_i586
binfmt_misc            13213  1 
parport_pc             32111  0 
ppdev                  12849  0 
vesafb                 13449  1 
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     27535  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   255882  1 
nvidia               9766978  32 
snd_hda_intel          24140  4 
snd_hda_codec          90901  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              13274  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                80042  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi           13132  0 
arc4                   12473  2 
snd_rawmidi            25269  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event     14475  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                51291  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              28659  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         14110  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
iwlagn                284778  0 
iwlcore               148965  1 iwlagn
mac80211              257001  2 iwlagn,iwlcore
cfg80211              156212  3 iwlagn,iwlcore,mac80211
snd                    55295  17     snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
psmouse                59039  0 
uvcvideo               66851  0 
videodev               75143  1 uvcvideo
soundcore              12600  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         14073  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
video                  18951  0 
serio_raw              12990  0 
joydev                 17322  0 
lp                     13349  0 
parport                36746  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
usbhid                 41704  0 
hid                    77084  1 usbhid
usb_storage            43946  0 
uas                    17676  0 
ahci                   21591  3 
atl1e                  32576  0 
libahci                25548  1 ahci

Let me know if there is any other information that I can provide.

Answer 1

Unfortunately Ubuntu tends to be like Windows, so I'd recommend you uninstall and then re-install the nvidia drivers. You can do this 2 ways.

1) Uninstall the Nvidia drivers, then let Ubuntu re-install them. I usually do this from a terminal

sudo su
dpkg --get-selections | grep -i nvidia
apt-get --purge remove nvidia-pkg

Note: nvidia-pkg should be replaced with the output of the get-selections.

Then I would reboot, and Ubuntu should prompt you to install restricted drivers from NVidia. I like nvidia-current (There's like 5 versions to pick now).

2) You could try using the installer from Nvidia.com, this will probably get everything going, but it's going to overwrite stuff Ubuntu manages. Generally I try to avoid installing anything outside of the package manager if I can avoid it, but the Nvidia drivers are one thing I generally break this rule for.

Hope that gets it working for you.