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nvidia drivers in Squeeze

Before I start, I must say that I'm very much a Linux rookie so please bear with me.

I'm hoping someone could help me with installing the current nvidia drivers in Debian 6.0.5 Squeeze - amd64. I've followed the instructions found here http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers/ to the letter, but I always encounter the same problem. X refuses to restart, and I have to reboot into recovery mode and delete the xorg.conf file to get back to the desktop. I've pulled this error out of the Xorg log file:

Code:

(II) LoadModule: "nvidia"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so

(II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"

        compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0

        Module class: X.Org Video Driver

(II) NVIDIA dlloader X Driver  195.36.31  Thu Jun  3 08:27:29 PDT 2010

(II) NVIDIA Unified Driver for all Supported NVIDIA GPUs

(II) Primary Device is: PCI 00@00:02:0

(EE) No devices detected.



Fatal server error:

no screens found

After hours of searching for answers, and retrying the installation using various different approaches, I've hit a brick wall. Does anyone have a solution?

If it's any help, I'm running what I think is a GeForce 525M (I've tried using lspci | grep VGA but it just returns 'nVidia Corporation Device 0df5 (rev a1)').

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

The driver's version included in the stable repo (195.36) is probably too old for your gpu, thus it does not support it at all.
Install the one from the backports repo which is on version 295.x.

Btw, is this some optimus thing? The intel+nvidia switchable graphics thing?

Perhaps it might be your card causing problems - what model is it?

You could also try this install script here, I have used it successfully in the past.

The GF525M is to new for the drivers in Squeeze, as jim_p already pointed out.
Install the drivers from the backports repository: http://backports-master.debian.org/
Add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

Code:

deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main contrib non-free

After that launch the commands:

Code:

apt-get update

apt-get -t squeeze-backports install nvidia-glx

Firstly, thanks for the replies.

Tobi, I tried what you suggested but I'm getting the same error:

Code:

(II) LoadModule: "nvidia"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so

(II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"

        compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0

        Module class: X.Org Video Driver

(II) NVIDIA dlloader X Driver  295.59  Wed Jun  6 21:21:24 PDT 2012

(II) NVIDIA Unified Driver for all Supported NVIDIA GPUs

(II) Primary Device is: PCI 00@00:02:0

(EE) No devices detected.



Fatal server error:

no screens found

I can see that the 259.59 driver is now installed. Do I need to go back and rebuild the kernel, and if so what's the best way to do that? I'm working right at the limits of my understanding now and I'm not sure how to move forward.

Thank you everyone for your help so far.

No need to recompile the kernel. Please post the output of

Code:

lspci

and the manufacturer and exact model number of this laptop.

Do you need an xorg.conf file?

Do you have a specific need to use an xorg.conf file? I'm playing with Squeeze right now, using a GeForce GT 550M and driver version 302.17.

I deleted /etc/X11/xorg.conf and created /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia.conf

contents of 10-nvidia.conf

Code:

Section "Device"

    Identifier    "Device0"

    Driver        "nvidia"

    Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

    VendorName    "NVIDIA Corporation"

EndSection

My laptop does not have Optimus. The RegistryDwords option allows me to control the brightness of my laptop's screen.

Post the outputs

Code:

$ apt-cache policy linux-headers-`uname -r` nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-glx

@Cheesesteak: The file you've created in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ is identical in function to an xorg.conf file located in /etc/X11/ or a whatever.conf located in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/. X11 looks for configuration files on all of those locations. The short version is: you may as well have an xorg.conf - nvidia and amd proprietary drivers need it anyway.

Tobi, my laptop is a Dell XPS 15 (L502x).

lpsci returns:

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge DRAM Controller (rev 09)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)

00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point HECI Controller #1 (rev 04)

00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Cougar Point High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)

00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5)

00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5)

00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b5)

00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b5)

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point LPC Controller (rev 05)

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Cougar Point SMBus Controller (rev 05)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0df5 (rev a1)

03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000

04:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)

06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)

Here's the output you asked for caravel:

Code:

nvidia-glx:

  Installed: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Candidate: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Version table:

 *** 295.59-1~bpo60+1 0

        100 http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports/ squeeze-backports/non-free amd64 Packages

        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    195.36.31-6 0

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/non-free amd64 Packages

linux-headers-2.6.32-5-amd64:

  Installed: (none)

  Candidate: 2.6.32-45

  Version table:

    2.6.32-45 0

        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/main amd64 Packages

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/main amd64 Packages

    2.6.32-44 0

        500 http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates/main amd64 Packages

    2.6.32-39 0

        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze-updates/main amd64 Packages

nvidia-kernel-dkms:

  Installed: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Candidate: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Version table:

 *** 295.59-1~bpo60+1 0

        100 http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports/ squeeze-backports/non-free amd64 Packages

        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    195.36.31-6 0

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/non-free amd64 Packages

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesesteak (Post 4722637)

My laptop does not have Optimus.

Yes, it does. Dell XPS 15 L502x models with 'sandy bridge' CPUs and nVidia GPUs are all optimus setups.

Code:

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0df5 (rev a1)

That is a typical lspci output for an optimus laptop.

To get the nVidia GPU going with linux, you'll need bumblebee (or one of the other projects)-

http://bumblebee-project.org/

And in case you are looking for a repo with bumblebee > http://suwako.nomanga.net/
I hope it works properly. However, if I was in your position, I would stick with windows since nvidia does not officially support optimus on linux.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim_p (Post 4722780)

And in case you are looking for a repo with bumblebee > http://suwako.nomanga.net/
I hope it works properly.

Possibly better to link to the offical debian wiki on bumblebee?-

http://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim_p (Post 4722780)

However, if I was in your position, I would stick with windows since nvidia does not officially support optimus on linux.

While its not exactly fun to setup, bumblebee works in most cases (and should work on a L502x).

As for 'nvidia does not officially support optimus on linux'.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_36yNWw_07g

(yeah, I know Linus is mostly talking about nVidia + android).

The problem is apparent:

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbx (Post 4722752)

Code:

linux-headers-2.6.32-5-amd64:

  Installed: (none)

  Candidate: 2.6.32-45

  Version table:

    2.6.32-45 0

        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/main amd64 Packages

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/main amd64 Packages

    2.6.32-44 0

        500 http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates/main amd64 Packages

    2.6.32-39 0

        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze-updates/main amd64 Packages

Install the kernel headers and reinstall the nvidia driver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbx (Post 4721927)

I've followed the instructions found here http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers/ to the letter

It would appear not...

Quote:

Originally Posted by NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

All you need to do is install the kernel headers package for the Linux image that you're running (usually named linux-headers-<version> where <version> is whatever version of kernel you're running) and then install nvidia-kernel-dkms or the nvidia-kernel-legacy-...-dkms package for the legacy version of the drivers that you need.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caravel (Post 4722894)

It would appear not...

Fair point. I was following the instructions for the first method and, since nothing appeared to go wrong during the installation process, proceeded to the next step.

Anyway, I've installed the headers and reinstalled the driver. It appears I now have drivers that correspond to the kernel module version, and headers that match my kernel.

Code:

apt-cache policy linux-headers-`uname -r` nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-glx

now returns:

Code:

nvidia-glx:

  Installed: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Candidate: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Version table:

 *** 295.59-1~bpo60+1 0

        100 http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports/ squeeze-backports/non-free amd64 Packages

        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    195.36.31-6 0

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/non-free amd64 Packages

linux-headers-2.6.32-5-amd64:

  Installed: 2.6.32-45

  Candidate: 2.6.32-45

  Version table:

 *** 2.6.32-45 0

        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/main amd64 Packages

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/main amd64 Packages

        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    2.6.32-44 0

        500 http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates/main amd64 Packages

    2.6.32-39 0

        500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze-updates/main amd64 Packages

nvidia-kernel-dkms:

  Installed: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Candidate: 295.59-1~bpo60+1

  Version table:

 *** 295.59-1~bpo60+1 0

        100 http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports/ squeeze-backports/non-free amd64 Packages

        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    195.36.31-6 0

        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze/non-free amd64 Packages

Still no joy though. Rebooting results in a blank screen with a blinking _ in the top left corner.

If you guys are willing to persevere, I would appreciate any further help you can give. Again, thanks for what you've done so far.

Have you tried installing the official nVidia driver? http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/unix-uk.html for starters :)

Step by step:

get the latest driver from nVidia
install the build-essential package. This gives you a build environment the script needs to compile the actual driver
the installer will fail if there's an X11 session active. To solve this, become root, reboot into init 1 (just issue the command "init 1", w/o the " please ;)) and navigate to the directory you've stored the installer script
still on the command line, start the installer by invoking its name, preceded with sh and a space
follow instructions on the screen, including installing the 32 bit libs and have the installer modify/create the xorg.conf file
when done, reboot

You should now have a normal desktop in front of you. Report back if you didn't!