DebianThis forum is for the discussion of Debian Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I have just installed sarge and couldn't get over 800 x 600 in either gnome or kde. So I went to the irc channel debian and asked the question and got told that I needed to install the nvidia drivers. Ok, saw the link here and downloaded the run file. Problem is that it won't let me complete an install because the xserver is still running, ok I thought, using my old Unix skills I did an su root and then an init S - then the installer complained about being in single user mode! Frustration building How can I stop the xserver starting? I assume it is something in the inittab - what runlevel doesn't have the xserver?
This will get you into a console mode and you can install the drivers. If you are not using gdm just substitute it with the name of the login manager you are using. When you are finished installing the drivers and configuring your graphics card, as root do
Ok, never, but never run linux without installed kernel sources, or at least kernel sources' headers. You can install it with
# atp-get install kernel-headers-version_number
Replace version_number with correct version of your kernel headers. It's the same thing that is wroten after kernel-image package that you have installed.
hmmm, ok did all that, installed the nvidia driver, made the changes to XF86Config-4 but startx didn't. So I changed the nvidia back to nv and added 1024x768 to all the screen references and voila - I have 1024x768 - not sure why the nvidia driver didn't work though.
Originally posted by RiSK
Ok, never, but never run linux without installed kernel sources, or at least kernel sources' headers. You can install it with
I didn't got the point behind that
Kindly enlighten as to why kernel SOURCES are so compulsorily needed?
Ok the solution - well for me anyway, this may or may not work for others but it might point you in the right direction, the same way that a lot of responses here did for me.
After being unable to start the xserver and setting the driver back to nv I did a little more searching on the net (gotta love google) and came up with the following procedure
1. Made a backup ccopy of sources.list and then added these lines
module-assistant auto-install nvidia (this will do most for you)
apt-get -t $NVDIST install nvidia-glx
4. I then re-edited my XF86Config-4 file and changed the nv back to nvidia - still failed
5. I followed the instructions at the top of the XF86Config-4 file
Quote:
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands as root:
#
# cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.custom
# md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 >/var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
and selected nvidia as the card. I also deselected the modules GLcore and dri - I remembered reading that on the nvidia page.
6. Did a /etc/init.d/gdm stop and then /etc/init.d/gdm start and voila - a pretty nvidia logo
Now steps 1 and 2 were shamelessly borrowed from http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/topic-35225.html
The rest was just me following my nose and using the pointers given by various contributors here. Thanks to everyone who responded, I hope my little epistle here will help someone else.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.