LQ brainiacs (and others who can help),

I compiled downloaded and compiled kernel 2.6.13.1 off of kernel.org, and it compiled without any errors. I needed to compile this kernel to optimize my system and to get the joystick functional. I went through the correct nvidia package installation, and it returned no errors during the installation (I have done this many times before). When I boot, I get a FAIL error saying something about "not being able to load the nvidia.ko driver because it cannot find it." I've gone through many different steps, but it's difficult to find out the exact problem, since the developers did away the the boot logger on FC4.

I'm guessing the following:
-1- The kernel needs to be patched with the patch that's available ( I don't know how to do that).
-2- During the boot, it (what is "it"?) looks in the wrong location or for the old driver.
-3- The nvidia package isn't configured for the 2.6.13.1 kernel

Does anybody have some suggestions and/or advice? I'm not that good at compiling kernels, and I'm very proud that I've actually successfully compiled one - Just need to get the nvidia driver working now.

Thanks,
moomoomilk

What happens when you manually try to:

modprobe nvidia

If it reports the module not found, confirm that the module is not in:

/lib/modules/2.6.13.1/kernel/drivers/video/

If it is not in the directory, then the nvidia build failed. Check /var/log/nvidia-installer.log for errors during the build process, and verify the the build was for the correct kernel.

Oddly when I preform the operation:
[root]$/sbin/modprobe
It returns no output.

Also, the driver is located in /lib/modules/2.6.13.1/kernel/drivers/video/, and there were no errors detected the nvidia-installer log file.

Did you install the nvidia module while running the 2.6.13 kernel? Per the documentaiton, the Nvidia installer by default will build itself against the kernel source found at /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/. This means that you either have to be running the 2.6.13 kernel when you run the installer, OR you must override the kernel version with a switch when you run the installer. Don't remember the switch off the top of my header, but ./NVIDIA-INSTALLER --help will help you find the correct switch.

I followed the notes from: http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mjm-kernel-fc4.html
I used this:
Just in case, I did another install from the kernel to apply for. However, I wonder if I need to *undo* everything the installer did, before I re-install using the kernel I want. It did require me to delete the nvidia.ko driver before re-installing. What do you guys think?

I'm still banking on one of the three:
-1- The kernel needs to be patched with the patch that's available ( I don't know how to do that).
-2- During the boot, it (what is "it"?) looks in the wrong location or for the old driver.
-3- The nvidia package isn't configured for the 2.6.13.1 kernel

Keep coming!

Thanks,
moomoomilk

If the module loads manually, try to start X manually at that point with the 'startx' command:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/X11R6/bin
startx

If X doesn't start, check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for the error.

Hi, I know those instructions work because I performed the same without any errors using the 2.6.13.2 kernel and the Nvidia driver worked correctly - first time on boot. No patches needed. I used the 7667 driver.

The thing in those instructions is that it assumes you will use the SAME Nvidia driver installer for both kernels (the one you are currently running and the one you are compiling.)

Are you using the same nvidia driver? or trying a new one?

Try just re-installing the Nvidia driver like you normally would. Just boot into runlevel 3 (or use <ctrl><alt><f1> or f2,f3,f4). And run the installer. The other thing you can do is decompress the Nvidia installer and install the module that way. But in order to do that you must be booted into the NEW kernel you just compiled and be at the text login.

Curious, did you try 'modinfo -F vermagic' for the nvidia module before you booted into your new kernel?