problem with nvidia card driver
 

hi all
i use fedora core 3 and have nvidia card(Gforce 4 mmx 400) ...i dowloaded the kernel source file: kernel-2.6.9-1.667.src.rpm and intalled it then dowloaded :NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7174-pkg1.run ... but when i execute it i have the following messeges
{
-> No precompiled kernel interface was found to match your kernel; would you li
ke the installer to attempt to download a kernel interface for your kernel f
rom the NVIDIA ftp site (Answer: Yes)
-> No matching precompiled kernel interface was found on the NVIDIA ftp site;
this means that the installer will need to compile a kernel interface for
your kernel.
ERROR: Unable to find the kernel source tree for the currently running kernel.
Please make sure you have installed the kernel source files for your
kernel; on Red Hat Linux systems, for example, be sure you have the
'kernel-source' rpm installed. If you know the correct kernel source
files are installed, you may specify the kernel source path with the
'--kernel-source-path' commandline option.
ERROR: Installation has failed. Please see the file
'/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find suggestions
on fixing installation problems in the README available on the Linux
driver download page at nvidia site
}
how can i solve this problem what is the kernel interface and how can i install it

I use the nvidia drivers myself, so, this is what I remember from reading the documentation.

As far as I know.... The nvidia driver is proprietary software, so nvidia only releases a binary. This normally wouldn't work, since drivers must be compiled to fit your kernel, but they added a layer (the kernel interface) which is compiled to fit your kernel, and ALREADY fits their driver binary. So it's an interface layer between the proprietary binary and the kernel, that way nvidia doesn't have to release their driver source.

Since it couldn't find a precompiled kernel interface, it tried to compile one for you (which is good), but you don't have the kernel sources installed (which is bad). In order to compile a driver, you will need the kernel source installed.

So... find the appropriate package for your distro and install the kernel sources.

To solve your problem, install the "kernel-devel" package.

in fedora 3 i installed the kernel source file: kernel-2.6.9-1.667.src.rpm
but how can i know if it's good or bad
and what does the kernel-devel do, is it same with kernel-interface... what's the link to download kernel interface

Installing the srpm of the kernel won't help with the nvidia driver issue. Install the kernel-devel package because it has the required packages to compile and build the nvidia driver. I am sure that there is an upgrade to he kernel as well, you may want to upgrade yours first before installing the nvidia drivers.

ok ... i found this file: kannel-devel-1.4.0-3.1.fc3.fr.i386.rpm ...and will install it
but the version "1.4.0-3.1" is not the same of my kernel "2.6.9-1.667"
is this kernel-devel correct
how can i know if i installed kernel-source correctly

You are doing it wrong. Use yum to manage your packages. As root, uninstall the kernel devel package you installed then do in a console
When thats done, do

I was having the same problem. I did a quick search and I couldn't really find anything that helped. I tried doing everything that I have done with other distros including some of what was mentioned in the above posts. Thank You reddaze. Your instructions worked perfectly and quickly.


Webwolf

You are welcome. :)

Thx reddazz, your hint helped!