I seem to have had quite a history of not being able to install nvidia drivers on linux, this time, it was a kernal problem I believe it stated. Using Mandrake 10.1 official, I did change the line in /etc/X11/XF86Config driver to "nvidia" still no go, some kernal problem, could anyone guess the direct prob from this log it gave me, and a solution to this? Thanks for all your time guys.


"nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Tue Dec 7 17:05:13 2004

option status:
license pre-accepted : false
update : false
force update : false
expert : false
uninstall : false
driver info : false
no precompiled interface: false
no ncurses color : false
query latest driver ver : false
OpenGL header files : false
no questions : false
silent : false
no backup : false
kernel module only : false
sanity : false
add this kernel : false
no runlevel check : false
no network : false
no ABI note : false
no RPMs : false
force tls : (not specified)
force compat32 tls : (not specified)
X install prefix : /usr/X11R6
OpenGL install prefix : /usr
compat32 install prefix : (not specified)
installer install prefix: /usr
utility install prefix : /usr
kernel name : (not specified)
kernel include path : (not specified)
kernel source path : (not specified)
kernel output path : (not specified)
kernel install path : (not specified)
proc mount point : /proc
ui : (not specified)
tmpdir : /root/tmp
ftp mirror : ftp://download.nvidia.com
RPM file list : (not specified)

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
-> License accepted.
-> 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 (ftp://download.nvidia.com)? (Answer: No)
-> No precompiled kernel interface was found to match your kernel; this means
that the installer will need to compile a new kernel interface.
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 www.nvidia.com.
"

the installer is looking for the $KERNEL SOURCE

IE........./usr/src/linux
linux is usually a symlink to the kernel version.........

What does that mean, how can i fix this?

I just typed in /usr/src/linux .... it said file not found, or something.

Install the kernel-source package that exactly matches your running kernel (uname -a or rpm -qa | grep kernel...I think).


Håkan

'/etc/X11/XF86Config'
Dont know if this is any help but make sure everything in your
'/etc/X11/xinit' is good.
Also be sure to install the source code for the kernel you are using if you have not got it..
that will be on the discs.

If all else fails, try and remove the previous driver installation attempts (clean all the old install files away)
If that fails reinstall your OS : / . .not favourable I know.


Also, you should really post in distros/Mandrake
not here. Im a Slackware user.
I know nothing about Mandrake only that it messes with allot so maybe Mandrake is screwing with something I dont know about..

I typed in "kernel" in the software installation utility, and saw one that had looked like it was "the kernel" it was about 17MB in size, I installed it, still no go. There were 2 source packages on the bottom that were about 120 MB's each, are those what I'm looking for? I wanted to ask you guys if these were the 2 files I am looking for before I install them, because they are kinda heavy in space.

http://ariejan.net/content/view/85/32/

Hmm, stumbled upon this tutorial when I was googling for other people having related problems. Looks like the guy knows what he's talking about, BUT, theres one thing I noticed, the linux driver he used was 6111. Do you think it changed from 6111 to 6629? could I just replace 6629 with 6111 you think?

You need to find out what kernel version you have. The command is something like 'uname -a' I think. Then, if you can't find the source package on your distro discs, (I've never used Mandrake, so I don't know), you can download the kernel source from www.kernel.org. Make sure you get the right version. Unpack the source (most distros stick in /usr/src/linux-2.x.x.x) and then run the nVIDIA installer. The installer is trying to complile a driver module specific to your linux kernel, but it needs access to the kernel source. That's what mine did, but I already had the source installed because I build my system from scratch.

If you can get the installer to run through without a problem, post back and I think you'll still have to make sure that your modules.conf/modprobe.conf (or whatever Mandrake uses) is set up to load the nvidia module. Good luck!

I installed kernel sources, went through nvidia installation again..... went a little further, it recognized the kernel source there now, but said once the NVIDIA driver is installed, it wouldn't work with rivafb or something like that (this is all from memory, can't collect the log) and rivafb was set on or something. Now, when I try to login to mandrake's gui (KDE) it takes me back to command screen and has like 3 (EE)'s. One saying the NVIDIA kernel couldn't be started, one saying it couldn't access a certain file, and one saying no screens found. If that's not enough of a problem, now when I go back to try reinstalling the NVIDIA driver (I knew it wouldn't do anything, just wanted to see what it would do) it starts up like before when I didn't install the kernel source, it can't find it.

PLease someone help me!! I really want My linux box to work

Is there a way to reinstall kernel sources from the command line, not being in X?

i had a same problem. mhm but only then i recompiled my kernel. then i had to install Nvidia drivers again.
Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double buffer extension
SubSection "extmod"
#Option "omit xfree86-dga"
EndSubSection
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
# Load "dri"
thats my xorg.conf modules section. try to add this to your xorg.conf i dont remember but u have to coment some lines in xorg.conf if u are useing Nvidia drivers.

This is my Video cards options in xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "VESA Framebuffer"
Driver "nvidia"
#VideoRam 4096
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

try to change ur xorg.conf lines with these. It's working for me baybe it will work for u too

Fear58, the error you are getting has to do with an option you have in your kernel. You will need to reconfigure your kernel options. There is an option under Devices -> Char Devices and then somewhere else, I forget where exactly, but the option is something about Riva support. This is an old nVIDIA driver built into the kernel. It conflicts with the new driver module. You will need to disable this option and then recompile your kernel. Let us know if you need instructions for doing this. I had the same problem.