NVIDIA Driver Install - 9.2 -
 

First of all, I have downloaded the NVIDIA driver, but the driver said that the Kernel Header files were an issue...I have the Kernel source files downloaded and installed...but I am unsure how to get the header files...are they on the CD's??

ALSO...I am getting a new slave hard drive (my Linux partition on my slave drive, Windows on my master)...so I just want to make sure...if I boot from a Windows floppy and run fdisk /mbr ... grub will be gone and my Windows data will be safe, right? Or...if I swap out the slave drive for the new one, can I install Linux without getting rid of GRUB and never touching my Windows partition?

Thanks for all your help,
Chris

If you have the kernel source installed... then the NVIDIA driver should find them

Give some more info ie where you installed the kernel source ... steps you did to "install" it...I need more information.

Gary

I installed a Kernel source file with TMB on it and as I now understand, this may not be the right thing...so where can I download the Kernel source files and also..and can anybody answer my fdisk question from before?

Thanks,
Chris

BTW...what is the proper way to install these files??...I just used the install software program...I just figured that the RPM package knows where to put itself...

I have never had a whole bunch of luck with the rpms for the Nvidia drivers. I always first install the kernel source and then head over to nvidia and get their install script. Launching it from a console (switch user to level 3 no x-server) and as root it will download the latest driver and install itself without any problems. It will ask you several questions and then just download the source and compile it for your hardware. It works every time.

Installing the NVIDIA driver
 

Hi,

I had some problems with installing the NVIDIA driver as well, the following worked for me:

Get file "kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm" from a server near you.

Install it (from konquerer a click, a root password and a few more clicks will do).

Get file "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run" from the NVIDIA site (this is their 1 file for all solution)

Exit the X server, type <cntrl> <alt> <F1> simultaneously, screen goes black, you'll get a prompt.

Login as root, type "root" <return>, "root password" <return> (if that's your root password).

Stop the X server, type "init 3" <return>, give it another <return> to get a prompt.

Go to the directory where you put the NVIDIA script, type "cd"....path.... <return>.

Run the script, type "sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run" <return>

Follow the instructions on screen (mouse doesn't work, use arrow keys, it all looks like a 20 year old DOS application).

After the script is done, get the X thing back in the air, type "init 5" <return> (notice the NVIDIA splash screen)

Log in as root and edit the "XF86Config-4" file in "/etc/X11". All I had to do was change "nv" to "nvidia". This is all described in the 104 page readme you can download from the NVIDIA site I mentioned earlier.

Re-boot, and that's it.

Good luck !

Thats the same thing I was talking about. it really is very easier and it sure installs easier then the rpms.

Nvidia driver install
 

Hi,

I can't install the Nvidia driver from the package NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run on my Mandrake 9.2 machine.

The install hangs with an error message referring to the kernel headers and possibly a wrong 'include' path. kernel-sources are installed. Include path should be standard, I didn't change anything.

The reference to the kernel headers are a bit of a mystery to me as I successfully installed nforce2 drivers before, rebuilding a src rpm for which the kernel headers are needed also, as far as I know. I am at a loss. Can anybody give me a hint plz?

Thanks

T-fix

NVIDIA Driver Install Mandrake 9.2
 

When installing the NVIDIA drivers for Mandrake 9.2 make sure you have the correct kernel source rpm installed. There are several rpms for the kernel: kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm and a newer one with the LG cdrom fix in it. If your kernel rpm has "10mdk", make sure your source kernel rpm is also "10mdk", not "21mdk" or whatever.

muser,

'uname -r' gives:
2.4.22-21mdkcustom

Kernel-source package is:
kernel-source-2.4.22-21mdk

Now, although the versions match as they should, can it be that Mandrake's habit to put a 'custom' behind the name of every self-compiled kernel is the problem here?

T-fix

It works for me
 

Hi,

I encounter the same problem: I wanted to install Mandrake 9.2 on my DELL Inspiron (with the Nvidia Gefroce FX Go5200) but the official Nvidia driver (see Nvidia webpage http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d..._1.0-4496.html) did want to compile, complaining that the kernel header files where missing.

I found out that the kernel header files were in:
/usr/include/linux

so I tried to compile the Nvidia drivers with:
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run --kernel-include-path=/usr/include

It did not work.

A "rpm -qa | grep kernel" query show me that I was missing the kernel source.

Mandrake 9.2 iso are missing the kernel header sources !!!! That's the problem !!!

So just download and install them (google to get the right version, you can get the information with "uname -r", for me it was: kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm)

then it works great !


Hope this helps...

Hi leto_2_atreid,

Sorry, did you read my post? ;-)

I compiled a kernel from the sources. Therefore, the kernel does match the version of the sources 100 percent, thats what I said above. I was wondering whether the slightly different naming of kernel/sources could have an effect on the nvidia installer.

Hi,
I found the solution. I had to run the installer with both options 'kernel-include-path' and 'kernel-name'. Maybe 'kernel-name' alone would have done, but anyway, the nvidia driver module is there now :)

Simple, if you know what to do, but maybe Nvidia should consider adding examples like this to the readme (on the website), because I guess Mandrake is not the only distribution automatically changing the kernel name after a recompile! (?) Since the Nvidia installer has been introduced afaik to avoid distro specific problems with packages such as rpm, I think this is not trivial. Or did I miss anything here?

Post-Install problem
 

I have the nvidia drivers installed. My video card is an ASUS V9520-TD (GeForce FX5200 128MB). The system can boot no problem. The MAJOR problem I have though is that KDE will freeze the whole system (crash, no mouse response, no keyboard response, hard reset required). KDE seems to boot up properly, but the first thing I try to do, whether it be click on the K menu bouton or click on one of the application bouton on the K panel or right click on the K panel, the whole system freezes. There are no exceptions whatsoever. I tried a hard reset to then retry countless times with no success. I even went as far as reinstalling Mandrake 9.2 completely a total of 6 times on my machine, ending up with the exact same result. Is it possible that Mandrake forgot to properly support the FX generation of nvidia graphic cards? Everything works flawlessly whenever using generic drivers with 3D not available. But as soon as the nvidia drivers are installed, it's a nice Welcome to Hell of system crashes.

Help seriously needed before I officially and definitely walk away from Mandrake which was my favorite distro since Mandrake 6.

what do you use for kernel-include-path ?