Linux Nvidia Display Driver Install...

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: xtknight
To enable the NVIDIA driver you just need to replace 'nv' with 'nvidia' in Xorg.conf. I'm unfamiliar with XvMCConfig or what it does, but you don't need it for general 3D acceleration.

I'd just edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf, save it, then reboot. That's the easiest thing to do. Or you can restart gdm from a virtual terminal:

<Ctrl+Alt+F2>
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

Thats what I did. But when I go to edit the xorg.conf there is nothing there. It is just a blank gedit.

I can remove both the nvidia-glx and nvidia-kernel-common and then install them again to make sure it worked the first time.

-Kevin

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Ya the official Nvidia binary drivers will work.

They should work but it's a bad idea since the install/uninstall scripts mess with files in /usr and will confuse the package manager.

I've been using them for a long time (not anymore so I don't know if anything changed).

You can use the package'd drivers OR use the nvidia package installer. They always seemed mutually exclusive things to me.

To me the nvidia driver installer was superior because you could get updates for the latest kernels quicker and get bugfixes then what was possible through using the package management system. The only downside was that you'd have to reinstall them after every update.

 

[xtknight]

Report the results of this terminal command:

user@localhost:~$ ls -al /etc/X11

Do remember the Linux file systems are case sensitive, so xorg.conf may exist, but Xorg.conf may not. Ubuntu uses xorg.conf.

user@localhost:~$ sudo modprobe nvidia

See what this does as well. If it does nothing, great, the module loaded without errors. If there are warnings paste them here. Even if it loaded, somehow we need to get X to use that module.

 

[Gamingphreek]

HEY THERE IT IS. Lol i forgot about the case sensitive, as a result i typed x11.

Thanks so much.Ill try manually enabling it now and let you know how it goes.

-Kevin

Edit: Ok there is no 'nv' in here. Under Display Identifier and what not I have:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic Video Card"
Driver "vesa"
BusID "PCI:5:0:0"

But checking in the package manager the two components are definitly installed.

Edit 2:

I ran the second command you did resulted in this:

FATAL: Module nvidia not found.

 

[xtknight]

Alright, it would either be vesa or nv, but it needs to be nvidia. Save, exit, reboot (or restart gdm), and it should work. I guess the last part (modprobe) only works if you downloaded the installer from nvidia.com.

Don't forget to enable the "glx" module at the top of xorg.conf (add a Load line if needed). If you find a Load line that says "dri" delete it.

 

[stupidkid]

Btw do you know about tab completion? If you type something lets say /etc/x<tab twice> and nothing appears, it means there is no such thing as /etc/x*. But if you type /etc/X<tab> bash will automatically fill the 11 for you to get /etc/X11. This is a very very useful trick that sooner or later, a new Linux user will learn.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Ok i replaced the vesa with Nvidia, and now KDE wont load. Im in the bash console. How do i edit files without using gedit? I need to edit it back to effectively work this...or at least do the rest of what you told me to do.

If you want I can also tell you the error i get when i try to load gdm from the bash console.

-Kevin

(Yeah, i know about the tab completion too)

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Ok i replaced the vesa with Nvidia, and now KDE wont load. Im in the bash console. How do i edit files without using gedit? I need to edit it back to effectively work this...or at least do the rest of what you told me to do.

If you want I can also tell you the error i get when i try to load gdm from the bash console.

-Kevin

(Yeah, i know about the tab completion too)

Try 'nano' editor.

It's command line and you use ctrl-key combos do do stuff.
Like if it says ^x to exit then you'd hit ctrl-x.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: drag

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Ok i replaced the vesa with Nvidia, and now KDE wont load. Im in the bash console. How do i edit files without using gedit? I need to edit it back to effectively work this...or at least do the rest of what you told me to do.

If you want I can also tell you the error i get when i try to load gdm from the bash console.

-Kevin

(Yeah, i know about the tab completion too)

Try 'nano' editor.

It's command line and you use ctrl-key combos do do stuff.
Like if it says ^x to exit then you'd hit ctrl-x.

Alright I managed to fix it. I cant replace VESA with Nvidia...it tells me it cant find the Nvidia-Kernel for some reason. I can replace it with NV, but I dont think that gets me anywhere.

-Kevin

Edit: Ok there is a load line at the top that is loading "dri". You told me to delete that, so ill delete it. Then ill replace it with "Load "glx""? Is that how I am supposed to enable the glx module?

Also there is:

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666

At the bottom. I noticed it says "DRI" should I just ignore that?

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: drag

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Ok i replaced the vesa with Nvidia, and now KDE wont load. Im in the bash console. How do i edit files without using gedit? I need to edit it back to effectively work this...or at least do the rest of what you told me to do.

If you want I can also tell you the error i get when i try to load gdm from the bash console.

-Kevin

(Yeah, i know about the tab completion too)

Try 'nano' editor.

It's command line and you use ctrl-key combos do do stuff.
Like if it says ^x to exit then you'd hit ctrl-x.

Alright I managed to fix it. I cant replace VESA with Nvidia...it tells me it cant find the Nvidia-Kernel for some reason. I can replace it with NV, but I dont think that gets me anywhere.

-Kevin

Edit: Ok there is a load line at the top that is loading "dri". You told me to delete that, so ill delete it. Then ill replace it with "Load "glx""? Is that how I am supposed to enable the glx module?

Also there is:

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666

At the bottom. I noticed it says "DRI" should I just ignore that?

You don't need to delete any DRI stuff.


The Nvidia kernel is required for the 3d acceleration drivers to work.


I am confused about what is going on here, and I think some people got mixed up with what is going on.


So right now could you please re-cap what you've done so far? That way I can figure out what you've done and what is going on.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: drag

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Ok i replaced the vesa with Nvidia, and now KDE wont load. Im in the bash console. How do i edit files without using gedit? I need to edit it back to effectively work this...or at least do the rest of what you told me to do.

If you want I can also tell you the error i get when i try to load gdm from the bash console.

-Kevin

(Yeah, i know about the tab completion too)

Try 'nano' editor.

It's command line and you use ctrl-key combos do do stuff.
Like if it says ^x to exit then you'd hit ctrl-x.

Alright I managed to fix it. I cant replace VESA with Nvidia...it tells me it cant find the Nvidia-Kernel for some reason. I can replace it with NV, but I dont think that gets me anywhere.

-Kevin

Edit: Ok there is a load line at the top that is loading "dri". You told me to delete that, so ill delete it. Then ill replace it with "Load "glx""? Is that how I am supposed to enable the glx module?

Also there is:

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666

At the bottom. I noticed it says "DRI" should I just ignore that?

You've got it. The nvidia 3d driver won't function with the 'dri' module loaded.

You can safely remove the whole section "DRI" clause as well. I don't have it in mine. Also module names are case sensitive so I hope you mean you replaced vesa with nvidia.

Try

sudo apt-get --reinstall install nvidia-kernel-common
sudo apt-get --reinstall install linux-restricted-modules-`uname -r`

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well i changed it back to nv for now.

Here is my xconfig file:

I changed Load "dri" to Load "glx".

But whenever I change driver to nvidia, it refuses to load Kubuntu.

Ill try it again, double checking my work along the way.

-Kevin

 

[drag]

He still isn't going to get anywere with this unless he actually has the drivers installed.

xtKnight, Do you know why is he getting this:

Edit 2:

I ran the second command you did resulted in this:

FATAL: Module nvidia not found.

I cant replace VESA with Nvidia...it tells me it cant find the Nvidia-Kernel for some reason.

I beleive you haven't had to remove dri entries from your xorg.conf configuration for years now (it doesn't hurt anything though) Nvidia has gotten rid of the conflicts with dri stuff.

If he doesn't have the kernel module installed correctly then no editing of the xorg.conf going to help at this point.

I think your barking up the wrong tree. I don't think he has successfully installed the drivers at this point.

 

[drag]

I want to know what exactly he's done so far... I'm confused about what is going on.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Ok well it booted up this time but the drivers have done nothing from what i can see other than change to "nvidia".

The splash logo came up and all, but it wont detect my card (7900GT) or my monitor (1905FP).

I have done as follows:

sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx
sudo apt-get install nvidia-kernel-common

After that i manually edited the xorg.conf to read nvidia under the driver. I also got rid of Load "dri" and replaced it with Load "glx".

That is where I am right now

Thank you so much for helping me!

-Kevin

 

[Nothinman]

FATAL: Module nvidia not found.

Either he needs to run 'depmod -ae' or he hasn't actually installed the kernel module.

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Ok well it booted up this time but the drivers have done nothing from what i can see other than change to "nvidia".

The splash logo came up and all, but it wont detect my card (7900GT) or my monitor (1905FP).

So the 'nvidia logo' comes up now? If you get the Nvidia logo then it's installed.

If your talking about the Ubuntu spash screen and no 'nvidia' logo then maybe they are installed and maybe not.


If you have seen the Nvidia logo and X tries to start, but it's misconfigured in some way then you probably need to change something in your xorg.conf file, then ignore the rest of this and post your configuration file and somebody will tell you what changes you need to make. If that is the case then also explain what you mean that the things 'wasn't detected'


_However_:
If you haven't seen the Nvidia logo when X starts up yet continue on below...

I have done as follows:

sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx
sudo apt-get install nvidia-kernel-common

cool. Did those commands complete correctly with no errors?
I notice that you had a broken package error in a previous post. But if installing the nvidia-glx and nvidia-kernel-common via apt-get worked...

Try going:
sudo modprobe nvidia

That should 'just work' in your console you may have a message show up.

If it seems like it worked try going:
lsmod | grep -i nvidia

And if you get any output. The lsmod shows currently loaded drivers the | is the 'pipe' which is usually located above the enter key. The 'grep -i nvidia' will only the output the lines with 'nvidia' in them.

If nvidia shows up in lsmod then the kernel module is correctly installed.

If the kernel is loaded check out your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file. These contain the output from the X server.

It's full of information that may or may not be usefull to you. Lines that begin with [EE] show errors. Errors will cause your X system not to run sometimes. Lines that begin with [WW] show warnings which may be caused by driver issues or misconfigurations. Warnings usually can be ignored, but they may indicate a problem.

Also post your X configuration and maybe somebody can indicate a problem you may have to fix.

 

[Gamingphreek]

WOw that is very informative!!

Ok to clarify what I have going on right now:

The Nvidia splash screen does pop up however when I go and look at the display drivers it doesn't show up as 7900GT or anything. I dont have any Nvidia settings. Also, my monitor isn't detected. It just shows up as custom configuration 1 not 1905FP. Finally, I dont have any resolutions higher than 1024x768.

Ill try some of the detection commands you listed just now and post back with my findings.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well scanning through it at some point it recognizes the names and stuff but two things jumped out at me:

(EE) Failed to load /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libGLcore.so

(EE) Failed to load module "GLcore" (loader failed, 7)

Could that be where my problem exists?

xorg.conf is attached also

-Kevin

 

[drag]

oops you posted it already! let me look at it for a bit.

 

[drag]

Try out these changes. Make a backup file of /etc/X11/xorg.conf so that you can copy the original back over the edited version to undo the changes if they don't work out.

Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "int10"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
load "glx"
# load "GLcore" <---- comment this out The # causes the line to be ignore.
load "v4l"
EndSection

With this get rid of the modelines stuff and put in the HorizSync and VertRefresh.

Find out the correct values for your monitor (should be aviable online or in the user manual) and put them in there. (this is for a ancient Dell 17 inch crt so obviously yours is going to be different!)

Section "Monitor"
identifier "Generic Monitor"
modelname "Custom 1"
# put correct values for horizontal and vertical refresh rates here:
HorizSync 30.0 - 85.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
EndSection

On this part put in what resolutions you want. on the 'modes' line.
This will tell X what resolutions you'd like to run.

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Generic Video Card"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
depth 24
# put the correct resolutions sort of like what follows .
# Choose what you want, obviously more then what I put is allowed.
modes "1280x854" "1024x768" "1152x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

See if those changes help.

 

[Gamingphreek]

No change. Actually I had to add the "Modelines" back into the config because it wouldn't boot up.

Do you have any ideas on why this is happening. This doesn't happen to anyone else when they try to install linux...

-Kevin

 

[Nothinman]

What does /var/log/Xorg.0.log say after a failed attempt to start with the nvidia driver?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well when I changed it to what drag said the problem occurred when i tried to change the modelines to what he said. It said it failed to initialize modes. And that the screen was there but unusable.

So all i did was put the "modeline" back in and it went went back to the way it was.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Alright this is crap. In the log file everything is identified correctly. But somewhere between that point and initialization it just goes away??

Here is the entire log file:

I honestly don't know where everything gets lost at.

-Kevin