I ran into this working through an Nvidia issue on my main system. It is a different issue than you are experiencing but I have the same situation: both 595 and 590 packages are installed. Here’s a link referring to the dual package issue: Ubuntu packaging changes for 590+, branch and version locking for Debian/Ubuntu — NVIDIA Developer Forums. As noted there, it is an issue with how they changed the packaging. I have not removed either at this point as I am still investigating the issue.
In any case, a clear indicator in your specific situation is the fact video is frozen and audio (sometimes) continues. That, combined with the fact you can ssh in, clearly identifies the issue as a video freeze not a system freeze – again pointing at the Nvidia driver.
I am not familiar with specifics of Zorin but it is Ubuntu based (right?) so the following should work for it as it does for Linux Mint (also Ubuntu based).
- Do a backup (TImeShift, fsarchiver, *zilla, etc.)
- Check that there is no
/etc/modprobe.d/file that blacklists nouveau. Some Nvidia packages have done this in the past. If it is there, remove it so you can get nouveau after the reboot. - Purge both Nvidia driver packages.
- Reboot – it will come up in nouveau.
Leave it with nouveau for a while to see whether the issue manifests again. It won’t be as performant for gaming but will work for video nonetheless.
At some point, you can just install the latest Nvidia if you choose to go that route. That will get rid of the dual package issue. But running on nouveau for a while would be informative as to whether it happens at all there compared to when running Nvidia.