best way to update nvidia drivers in debian
 

Hello all. I have instlaled debian on my main pc. Previously it was xandros which was based off of debain so I figured I would move to the real thing. I need to install the nvidia drivers. I have downloaded the latest and greatest. Now I need to install them.

I was planning on installing them the old way just sh NV etc but I was wondering if there was a better way to do it with debian. SuSe can update the drivers so I figured debain may have something like that.

If I need to do it the old way how can i get to boot with out going to x. When I run the driver in failsafe mode it says i need the source kernel. Where can I get this? I have done the internet sarge install.

Is the source kernel problem exsisting because i am trying in fail safe mode?

thanx

Add a line like this to your /etc/apt/sources.list;
deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib
Then apt-get update and then find the relevant source for your kernel and apt-get install it. To go into command line - at the kde login select menu and do consol login.

The easiest way I know of to install nvidia drivers is with a script from Kano found here:

http://kanotix.com/files/

wget http://kanotix.com/files/install-nvidia-6106-debian.sh
chmod +x install-nvidia-6106-debian.sh
CTRL+ALT+F1
su
/home/username/install-nvidia-6106-debian.sh

It will stop X, download the driver and build the it against your kernel source. Of course your kernel source needs to be in /usr/src/

Be sure to keep that script so that the next time you build a new kernel simply boot the new kernel and rerun the script.

BTW these scripts work with any Debian installation as well as Kanotix.

So i did apt-get update and i see the one i think i need

Hit ftp://debian.crosslink.net testing/main Sources

now how would i install this?

Please remember i am completely new to apt-get. (debian in genreal actually.)


gonus

oh I got the script I just need to know hwo to get that source thing. thanx all.

If you were using Slackware, it would only take 15 min or less to update that driver...........NOT 7 hours..........LOL

apt-get install src_file_name.deb

Make sure it has been placed in /usr/src and then soft link the .../linux file to /usr/include/linux e.g. if the file is /usr/src/kernel_version_src/linux do ln -s /usr/src/kernel_version_src/linux /usr/include/linux. I personally create the header file from the source and then use the header file.

Ok here is were i am now. I do apt-get update and get this

Get:1 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Packages [3023kB]
Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Packages
Hit http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Release
Get:2 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Release [81B]
Get:3 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Sources [1187kB]
Get:4 http://ftp.debian.org testing/main Release [83B]

from here I am lost. What do i do to get my kernal source?

It sounds like you are not really comfortable with the command line yet so I suggest installing synaptic which is a gui for apt. do apt-get install synaptic. Login as root and open a consol (little black screen on the your menu bar) then issue the command synaptic. Explore the options. It quite self explanatory. If you want to use the command line do apt-cache search kernel-source and from the list pick the one you want and do apt-get install your_choice_.deb

Thats what i needed was how to search. i prefer learning the command line. I did kernelversion and I get 2.4
When i do apt-cache search kernel-source i do not see a 2.4 there are 2.4.19 thand 2.4.17 etc.

Which would I use? I am thinking that the .17 or .18 are gonna make a differance. apprecaite the help.

The source must match your kernel else you'll pick up problems. Do uname -r to find out which kernel version you are using then install the source for that.

that worked. Now i see I have 2.4.25-1-386 on this (this is a work pc that i am working on now with same problem I will use info posted here to fix the home pc 2night.) I can't get to ftp sites from work. So i am off to google and see if i can find some http sites containing this.

edit

well i can now :) and i am install the kernel source. Thanx for the help on gettign that. i will be attempting to install the video drivers in a a few. We shall see how that goes.

I tried to install the drivers with out the script as the script is unable to downlaod the drivers. When i run the drivers though, they tell me that there are no precompiled kernels on my pc. i have kernel-source-2.4.25.tar.bz2 in my /usr/src folder. Any help here is apprecaited. Debian is seeming pretty kewl so far :)

do this as root or su

apt-get install kernel-source-2.4.25

i have never had to edit my sources.list file or run any kind of scripts
if the nvidia installer says something is missing, just install it with apt-get install
for instance on a new install i usually need the kernel source and binutils. once those are installed the nvidia installer works like a champ
you might get an error about the rivab stuff but it is safe to ignore

As I said above I use the header files. I suggest linking the /usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.25-386/linux to /usr/include/linux. Alternatively you must point the script at the source file. Have a look at the readme for directions on how to do this. Else just download and install the header files for your kernel.