Continuing on for the complete reference:
XF86Config file editing.
(*You will need to be root to complete this section, BE VERY CAREFUL...)
As noted in the
README from Nvidia, you will need to edit your XF86Config or XF86Config-4 file. To determine which one you need:
(*Note, this is for a default installation, if you've upgraded X or otherwise 'customized' your X setup, you should adjust these to fit your conditions, for most default setups the following should work and be all inclusive (meaning all that you will have to do). On the off chance it doesn't work, or your setup is too 'customized' feel free to start up a post and refer to this thread.)
Either use your distro's documentation, OR the "assume" method:
If XF86Config-4 exists, that's likely going to be the one you use. If it doesn't, likely you will use XF86Config. That's it.
A few additions to that:
Mandrake (at least 9.0 and higher) uses XF86Config-4
Slackware (at least 8.1) uses XF86Config
(To add to this for your distro, only if you are absolutely sure (and can provide reference for me to a location preferably on your distro's homepage), please contact me, thanks!)
So, now we know what file to edit, now to edit that file:
Using Vi again, since this is basically the universal editor (comes on just about every (if not every) distro currently and previously. I'll provide all keystrokes with the exception of return (unless it needs to be specified). Assume the end of a line means return (or Enter). And in the example, I'll use XF86Config, replace that with the one from above that suits your needs...
Code:
vi /etc/X11/XF86Config
We should now have an XF86Config file in front of us. If you have a blank document, you most likely have the other XF86Config-4 file, so we will need to close this current document and open the correct one:
Will quit without saving, then open up the correct one:
Code:
vi /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
Now either way, we should definitely have the XF86Config file in front of us. If you'd like to nose around a bit, feel free. The arrow keys will work with most modern vi setups (as they are simply references to vim actually). Once you are finished parusing the file (make no changes) let's move on.
We first want to find and comment out the DRI module loading, so:
Will search the document for the letters dri. The only problem with this is that every instance of dri will be found, including "driver" which will probably appear frequently. This is not a huge deal, we will simply wade through the 'dri' letters until we find the module loading of dri:
This is the key to go to the next instance of the search term. Once we find what we are looking for, it should look something like:
Code:
Load dri #X Direct Rendering
What we need to do is place a comment in front of this line, so we will need to ensure the cursor is directly behind the first letter (Load) of this line, and then:
That is press the ESC key (ensure we stop the search), then 'i' key and follow that with a pound/number key (shift 3 on the US keyboards). Follow that all up with another ESC so we won't be typing anymore characters (ESC basically returns you to neutral, no editing takes place). From there, we need to find GLCore (should it exist) and comment that out as well. If you see it right there, simply arrow down/up to it and again ensure your cursor is directly behind it; should you not see it, we can search for it:
Again, we may have to wade through some entries, use the:
to go to the next instance, there should not be many since GLcore is specific, not a lot of words contain those letters together like that.
If you return nothing, no worries, on many systems this does not even exist. However, if you do, ensure your cursor is placed directly behind the 'Load' and:
Just as before. Again, press ESC after you type #.
Now we need to ensure that glx is loading (likely it already is) so, again, if you see it already, no need to run a search, simply arrow up/down to it and follow the directions below.
If it's not in view, let's search:
Using the 'n' key wade through til you find the instance...
Should you NOT find one, we'll need to add one. No worries, for those who DO NOT have a GLX line at all, simply type:
You will need to do this on an empty line, and I suggest doing it very near the section where you have commented (placed the # sign) the other 2 modules. Be sure this entry is uncommented. For those who DO HAVE the 'Load "glx" ' line, you will need to make sure there is no comment line in front of it. If there is, place your cursor directly behind the comment (#) and:
That is, press the DELETE key.
We are almost finished. Last thing we need to do is change the driver loading the nv module to load the nividia module (the new thing we've installed). To do that we'll need to search again, remember to wade through all the bogus entries:
And then to find the vesa:
[/code]n[/code]
Once found, remember to return to 'neutral':
You should be looking for/at something that looks similar to this:
OR, if you were using generic drivers, it would say:
So we need to remove the "nv" or "vesa" depending on which one you've got (if you've got both, do this to both of them) and replace it with nvidia, so, after finding the entry, place your cursor directly behind the 'n' or the 'v' (or one then the other) and type:
For the nv, for the vesa:
To remove the vesa/nv letters. Now it should look like this:
So now we need to fill in the empty quotes with nividia, so without moving your cursor from between the 2 quotes, type:
I place a space after each 'i' that I type in the code simply to show you seperation from "i" and the word, however when typing do not place a space, simply press "i" and begin typing, so it would actually look (if you were looking at the keys not the screen):
However looking at the screen, the "i" doesn't get typed, it's simply telling vim that you are going to insert characters and to go into "edit" mode.
Now we have nvidia in place of the "nv" and "vesa";
We have ensured that GLX is loading (no comment in front of the line:
Ensured DRI is NOT loading:
And that GLcore IS NOT loading:
If all of the above is true, we can save and exit this file:
This saves and closes the document. To read it and ensure the changes are there and correct, we will use a reading tool (called a paging tool):
less /etc/X11/XF86Config (or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 if the situation required it)
Using the up/down keys scroll through the document and look for your changes.
If they are there, we are done. Follow the above posts instructions to get back into the gui, and enjoy your new drivers.
On the RARE occasion nvidia will need to be loaded before starting X for the first time, to load a module, you must be root, and type:
modprobe nvidia
Then continue on.
Comments? Suggestions? Additions? Removals? Please contact me.
Cool