Hi,

I have the Debian testing distrubution on my Sony laptop and today I have downloaded a new kernel-image (2.6.21-2-686) and as many times before I have to install the nvidia driver for my NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 new. I downloaded also the new linux-headers (linux-headers-2.6.21-2-all).

Now I have tried three different nvidia-drivers but every time the installation ends with:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Building modules, stage 2.
make -f /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.21-2-686/scripts/Makefile.modpost
scripts/mod/modpost -m -i /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.21-2-686/Module.symv
ers -I /tmp/selfgz5967/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-100.14.11-pkg1/usr/src/nv/Module.sym
vers -o /tmp/selfgz5967/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-100.14.11-pkg1/usr/src/nv/Module.sy
mvers -w /tmp/selfgz5967/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-100.14.11-pkg1/usr/src
/nv/nvidia.o
FATAL: modpost: GPL-incompatible module nvidia.ko uses GPL-only symbol 'para
virt_ops'
make[3]: *** [__modpost] Fehler 1
make[2]: *** [modules] Fehler 2
NVIDIA: left KBUILD.
nvidia.ko failed to build!
make[1]: *** [module] Fehler 1
make: *** [module] Fehler 2
-> Error.
ERROR: Unable to build the NVIDIA kernel module.
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 www.nvidia.com.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Can anybody give me a hint, thanks...

You should be installing the nvidia driver from the debian repositories using apt.
http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

yup... proprietary code. Think carefully of the ramifications of installing this driver.
... and did you?

What you can see in the last post, is the end (where the error occurs) of the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'. So yes I have made a look at it.

I'm almays install the nvidia-driver new when there is a new kernel-image and it always (maybe 4 times) works.
What can be the reason, that it doesn't work this time. What does proprietary code means?

Thanks for your help...

http://grizach.sc18.info/nvpatch/index.php

Here you go! That's the only one that works (down near the bottom part of the page you'll see the driver for your kernel) with the Lenny kernel update. There are also threads in the nvnews.net NVidia forums about this in the Linux section.

You may have noticed that doing an aptitude search for nvidia or nvidia-glx brings up nothing except for the legacy nvidia kernels and no nvidia-glx stuff even for those.

That's because the para-virtualization support in the 2.6.21 Linux kernel has a GPL only switch for modules built upon it. This is no longer the case in the 2.6.22 Linux kernels but that hasn't even made its way into Debian Experimental yet.

What the patched NVidia installer on that page does is include a GPL certified nvidia.ko makefile module. So nothing about the NVidia driver or what the nvidia module does to the Linux Kernel is any different from the official download from nvidia.com. The only difference is that one GPL'd makefile.

It installs the same way as the normal download as well. It uninstalls the same way, just by running nvidia-installer --uninstall. I had to do that because I don't like rebooting into non-working X after a Kernel update and Debian a day or so ago pushed a new libc6 along with corresponding linux-kernel and linux-header files (even though those were the same version as the ones already installed, they needed to be reinstalled with the newer libc6).

I just ctrl-alt-F1,login, /etc/init.d/kdm stop, nvidia-installer --uninstall, dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg (switch to nv), dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg (make sure everything else is correct), reboot, then did the aptitude safe-upgrade, aptitude full-upgrade (got the kernel updates), reboot, ctrl-alt-F1, login, /etc/init.d/kdm stop, /home/myusername/NVIDIAblahblahpatched.run, dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg (switch to NVIDIA and check stuff), reboot, run nvidia-xconfig --composite, reboot, start Beryl!

We won't get the Debian way for NVidia or ATI for a long time. We're needing the 2.6.22 Kernels for that, which won't be for a good while.

And I was certainly not going to redo the Linux Kernel without para-virtualization support or even do any of it myself. That's beyond my expertise at this time. Those folks added a nice script to the NVidia installation that puts in a makefile that the 2.6.21 Kernel needs (GPL certified) and that was fine with me!

Really easy, and the driver is exactly the same, as is your Kernel, albeit the tainted status that would happen even if you did it the Debian way.

A developer has spoken?

Whatever - that was an extremely competent reply. I was thinking the drier installer had run afoul of debian's anti-proprietary code things.

google "proprietary" ... proprietary code is a trade secret. i.e. The program is not open source. You do not have a legal right to view, copy, modify, or distribute this code freely. The linux kernel doesn't like this type of code touching it. Some (especially recent) installations make a point of telling you this.

That you didn't know about the issue (or meaning) shows that this is a good thing.

Heh heh. Years of messing with Windows, getting help, offering help, etc leads me to try to be as specific as possible. Though, I have gotten yelled at for running on too much.

I did make a mistake in that long sequence about how I upgraded things. I neglected to specify sh NVIDIAblah,blah (for which it's nicer to just do sh NVIDIA and press the tab key of course.

Listen to me, "of course." As if I know anything yet. I just started with Linux back in January on OpenSUSE and just changed over to Debian Lenny. Sure have been studying more than using things so far but I've enjoyed the learning process.

The advisors over at the Debian forums are just coming to see that there is no Debian way for installing the NVIDIA driver on the 2.6.21 Kernel at this point, nor an official NVIDIA way either.

I'm just happy that fellow and others who figured this out have that nice easy different NVIDIA installer script posted for download.

Pointing folks there might help folks new to Linux from scurrying back to Windows wondering why everything is "so hard" on Linux.

I keep posting that actually Windows is much more difficult and cumbersome an operating system to administrate. Heck, just booting into Vista on my dual-boot setup usually finds a bunch of updates needed that take a heck of a long time to install with all the rebooting necessary. After a few hours I can finally play the game I booted in there to play in the first place. I find aptitude update, aptitude safe-upgrade, aptitude full-upgrade a heck of a lot faster and easier.

My goodness, doing a Nero update takes forever! Took me about 3 hours last time. And QuickTime needs regsvr32 vbscript.dll before the installer will even work. Hours of research before figuring that one out.

Anyway, a happy Linux camper here. I hope we helped out that feller.

I got that error message with both methods, the Debian way and the Nvidia binaries. Here is the answer.
EDIT: Did not realize dahveed3 already supplied the right link.