Fix for "Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module" on Ubuntu

I struggled with my NVIDIA drivers after a kernel update, and no matter what I tried; I edited my xorg.conf, reinstalled drivers from source or with apt-get, nothing worked, until I found a great solution to this error (you can maybe fix this with similar errors):

"(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module!"

So, the fix:

First, go here: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us to get the latest NVIDIA drivers. Install them as root after you've reset x (ctrl+alt+backspace). Then reboot.

Then remove the xorg.conf that the NVIDIA install created and start X with default options.

Edit /etc/modprobe.d/lrm-video with a text editor and put a # in front of the line containing something like

install nvidia /sbin/lrm-video nvidia $CMDLINE_OPTS

There might be one or more lines like that, so it could look like this:

# Make nvidia/nvidia_legacy and fglrx use /sbin/lrm-video to load
install fglrx /sbin/lrm-video fglrx $CMDLINE_OPTS
#install nvidia /sbin/lrm-video nvidia $CMDLINE_OPTS
#install nvidia_legacy /sbin/lrm-video nvidia_legacy $CMDLINE_OPTS
#install nvidia_new /sbin/lrm-video nvidia_new $CMDLINE_OPTS'

Add the line:

nvidia

to /etc/modules file. This file contains the list of kernel modules that should be always loaded when your machine boots. After you've done this, run:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

to make a new xorg.conf and restart X. Good luck!