Unable to restart X server with NVIDIA driver

millgates · 08-22-2011, 02:43 PM

Hello,
I just installed the nvidia proprietary driver (280.13) on my laptop after a fresh install of Slackware64-13.37 (+ multilib) but when i try to restart X, it fails with "no screens found" error. When I reboot, it starts without problems, but when I try to start X the second time, it fails. This happens with both [xk]dm and startx on runlevel 3. (It worked ok with nouveau, though). Whenever i need to restart X I have to reboot. Does anyone else have this problem? Is it a nvidia driver bug? I tried google but found nothing useful.

I tried installing older version of the driver (275.21) and beta (285.03). It made no difference whatsoever.
I updated kernel to 3.0.3. Still the same problem. Well I didn't expect that to help anyway.

It is not something that would keep me from doing what I need -- It's just kinda annoying. One of the things I allways liked about linux is not having to reboot all the time. xD

I am not surprised by X failing to start -- I've seen that many times (very rarely in slackware, though). I wonder, however, why does it start the first time and fails the second time?

Thanks in advance

I gueess I'll post my Xorg.0.log just in case

)

macemoneta · 08-22-2011, 03:45 PM

The 540M is an Nvidia Optimus configuration, isn't it? This thread should be interesting reading, if so (particularly the last page).

millgates · 08-22-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macemoneta

The 540M is an Nvidia Optimus configuration, isn't it? This thread should be interesting reading, if so (particularly the last page).

no, it's not optimus. I was very careful to find an nvidia based laptop without optimus, especially because of the thread you posted. I was lucky enough to find that thread just before I bought the laptop so I could change my choice

macemoneta · 08-22-2011, 07:11 PM

In that case, I'm not sure if Slackware configures kernel modesetting, but you can try adding the kernel options:

Code:

rdblacklist=nouveau nomodeset

You should also blacklist the open source nouveau nvidia driver with:

Code:

echo "blacklist nouveau" >> /etc/modprobe.d/local.conf

Kernel modesetting and the nouveau driver conflict with the proprietary driver. If nouveau claims the display first, then X which you've configured for the nvidia driver won't be able to find a display.

millgates · 08-23-2011, 03:34 AM

the kernel options made no difference.
as for blacklisting nouveau, i do it before i install NVIDIA driver -- the nvidia installer requires it. And I compiled the 3.0.3 kernel without nouveau anyway.
btw one of my desktop PCs has exactly the same slack64-13.37 with GTX460 and proprietary driver, nouveau blacklisted and doesn't have this issue.

macemoneta · 08-23-2011, 10:05 AM

In that case, it's probably a driver issue. You should report it.

millgates · 08-27-2011, 04:43 AM

Ok, I have sent an email to nvidia, but haven't got any answer yet. If I find out anything new, I'll post it.
Thanks you for your help macemoneta. I really appreciate it

Ian John Locke II · 08-27-2011, 09:04 AM

For what it's worth, when I was having trouble with wmii on my slack64 13.0 install after synergy fubar'd my X11 permissions, I would switch to a tty and sudo killall kdm and X would restart itself. Then again I have it set to switch to runlevel 4 on start-up. (Also not an NVIDIA card, but this might be worthwhile to try).

cascade9 · 08-27-2011, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millgates

no, it's not optimus. I was very careful to find an nvidia based laptop without optimus, especially because of the thread you posted.

Could be switcahble graphics then.

What model laptop is it?

millgates · 08-27-2011, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian John Locke II

For what it's worth, when I was having trouble with wmii on my slack64 13.0 install after synergy fubar'd my X11 permissions, I would switch to a tty and sudo killall kdm and X would restart itself. Then again I have it set to switch to runlevel 4 on start-up. (Also not an NVIDIA card, but this might be worthwhile to try).

doesn't work. It doesn't even matter whether I use kdm, xdm or startx or init or whatever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

Could be switcahble graphics then.

What model laptop is it?

It is an Acer TravelMate 5742ZG with GT 540M and P6100 CPU. According to Intel specs it is supposed to have an integrated video, but mine does not seem to have one. I've found no mention of it in BIOS and I don't see any other video devices listed in the output of lspci besides nvidia. First I wanted to buy one of the IdeaPad series, but after I read about the problems people have with optimus, I changed my mind. And since I only need it for presentations and casual programming, I chose the "Too cheap to even have optimus" over the "Expensive enough to have hardware switch" solution

)

cascade9 · 08-28-2011, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millgates

It is an Acer TravelMate 5742ZG with GT 540M and P6100 CPU. According to Intel specs it is supposed to have an integrated video, but mine does not seem to have one. I've found no mention of it in BIOS and I don't see any other video devices listed in the output of lspci besides nvidia.

"Acer TravelMate 5742ZG" is a 'family' name, not a single model (anoying, isnt it?). The model number should be something like Acer TravelMate 5742ZG-XXXXXXMnss (and the Mnss might not be right for your model either, just most travelmates I've seen have had a Mnss suffix).

I couldnt find anything much on the Acer TravelMate 5742ZG with a 540M, the results I was getting were mostly in eastern european languages. I did find this though-

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer...s-not-yet.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer...ml#post7540562

I know, thats for a ATI Mobility Radeon 5xxx setup, not nVidia GT 540M, but its quite likely that whatever made Acer disable the intel video/switchable graphics is also the same for optimus/540M.

I wouldnt mind seeing the lshw and lspci outputs myself (not that I think you've made a mistake, just for my own interest)

Quote:

Originally Posted by millgates

And since I only need it for presentations and casual programming, I chose the "Too cheap to even have optimus" over the "Expensive enough to have hardware switch" solution

)

I think I've seen at least one post from somebody with a laptop with a 'hwardware switch' which didnt work with linux (well, the laptop worked, the intel video worked, but you couldnt force the nVidia GPU with the switch).

millgates · 08-28-2011, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

"Acer TravelMate 5742ZG" is a 'family' name, not a single model (anoying, isnt it?). The model number should be something like Acer TravelMate 5742ZG-XXXXXXMnss (and the Mnss might not be right for your model either, just most travelmates I've seen have had a Mnss suffix).

The number is 5742ZG-P614G50Mnss

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

I did find this though-

thanks, I'll check that out

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

I wouldnt mind seeing the lshw and lspci outputs myself (not that I think you've made a mistake, just for my own interest)

It wouldn't be the first time. I make stupid mistakes all the time

Ok. Here's lspci:

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 02)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 05)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 05)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a5)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0df4 (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)
03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)

and lshw:

Code:

    description: Notebook
    product: TravelMate 5742ZG (Calpella_CRB)
    vendor: Acer
    version: V1.22
    serial: LXV350C0061260792F1601
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.6 dmi-2.6 vsyscall64 vsyscall32
    configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook family=Intel_Mobile sku=Calpella_CRB uuid=DFF99B10-9D84-11E0-88A4-B870F4A5C792
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: TravelMate 5742ZG
       vendor: Acer
       physical id: 0
       version: V1.22
       serial: Base Board Serial Number
       slot: Base Board Chassis Location
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Acer
          physical id: 0
          version: V1.22
          date: 05/30/2011
          size: 1MiB
          capacity: 1472KiB
          capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int9keyboard int10video acpi usb biosbootspecification
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: 1a
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 4GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: [empty]
             physical id: 0
             slot: DIMM0
        *-bank:1
             description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1067 MHz (0.9 ns)
             product: NT4GC64B8HB0NS-CG
             physical id: 1
             serial: B7BA1E7F
             slot: DIMM1
             size: 4GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 1067MHz (0.9ns)
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU        P6100  @ 2.00GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 27
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU        P6100  @ 2.00GHz
          slot: CPU
          size: 933MHz
          capacity: 933MHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 1066MHz
          capabilities: x86-64 fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm popcnt lahf_lm arat cpufreq
          configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 threads=2
        *-cache:0
             description: L3 cache
             physical id: 28
             slot: L3 Cache
             size: 3MiB
             capacity: 3MiB
             capabilities: synchronous internal write-through unified
        *-cache:1
             description: L2 cache
             physical id: 2a
             slot: L2 Cache
             size: 256KiB
             capacity: 256KiB
             capabilities: synchronous internal write-through unified
        *-cache:2
             description: L1 cache
             physical id: 2b
             slot: L1 Cache
             size: 32KiB
             capacity: 32KiB
             capabilities: synchronous internal write-through instruction
     *-cache
          description: L1 cache
          physical id: 29
          slot: L1 Cache
          size: 32KiB
          capacity: 32KiB
          capabilities: synchronous internal write-through data
     *-pci:0
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor DRAM Controller
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
             version: 02
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pm msi pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:40 ioport:3000(size=4096) memory:b2000000-b30fffff ioport:a0000000(size=301989888)
           *-display
                description: VGA compatible controller
                product: nVidia Corporation
                vendor: nVidia Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                version: a1
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
                configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0
                resources: irq:16 memory:b2000000-b2ffffff memory:a0000000-afffffff memory:b0000000-b1ffffff ioport:3000(size=128) memory:b3080000-b30fffff
           *-multimedia
                description: Audio device
                product: GF108 High Definition Audio Controller
                vendor: nVidia Corporation
                physical id: 0.1
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.1
                version: a1
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0
                resources: irq:17 memory:b3000000-b3003fff
        *-communication UNCLAIMED
             description: Communication controller
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 16
             bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:b7106100-b710610f
        *-usb:0
             description: USB Controller
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1a
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
             version: 05
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:16 memory:b7105c00-b7105fff
        *-multimedia
             description: Audio device
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1b
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
             version: 05
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0
             resources: irq:42 memory:b7100000-b7103fff
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
             version: 05
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:17 ioport:2000(size=4096) memory:b6100000-b70fffff ioport:b3100000(size=16777216)
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
                vendor: Broadcom Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: eth0
                version: 01
                serial: b8:70:f4:a5:c7:92
                size: 100Mbit/s
                capacity: 1Gbit/s
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=3.119 duplex=full firmware=sb ip=10.0.0.17 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
                resources: irq:43 memory:b6100000-b610ffff
        *-pci:2
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
             version: 05
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:16 ioport:1000(size=4096) memory:b5100000-b60fffff ioport:b4100000(size=16777216)
           *-network DISABLED
                description: Wireless interface
                product: AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
                vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
                logical name: wlan0
                version: 01
                serial: cc:af:78:7c:d3:eb
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=3.0.3 firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
                resources: irq:17 memory:b5100000-b510ffff
        *-usb:1
             description: USB Controller
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
             version: 05
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:23 memory:b7105800-b7105bff
        *-pci:3
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
             version: a5
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 05
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-storage
             description: SATA controller
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
             logical name: scsi0
             logical name: scsi1
             version: 05
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list emulated
             configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
             resources: irq:41 ioport:4048(size=8) ioport:4054(size=4) ioport:4040(size=8) ioport:4050(size=4) ioport:4020(size=32) memory:b7105000-b71057ff
           *-disk
                description: ATA Disk
                product: ST9500325AS
                vendor: Seagate
                physical id: 0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/sda
                version: 0001
                serial: 6VES3SW1
                size: 465GiB (500GB)
                capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
                configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=57cc57cc
              *-volume:0
                   description: EXT3 volume
                   vendor: Linux
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                   logical name: /dev/sda1
                   logical name: /
                   version: 1.0
                   serial: 6c3dee99-691c-40e4-9d96-8b81ebff8ee7
                   size: 30GiB
                   capacity: 30GiB
                   capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes large_files ext3 ext2 initialized
                   configuration: created=2011-08-21 03:28:34 filesystem=ext3 modified=2011-08-21 05:00:08 mount.fstype=ext3 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=continue,barrier=0,data=ordered mounted=2011-08-28 12:01:40 state=mounted
              *-volume:1
                   description: Extended partition
                   physical id: 2
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
                   logical name: /dev/sda2
                   size: 435GiB
                   capacity: 435GiB
                   capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
                 *-logicalvolume:0
                      description: Linux filesystem partition
                      physical id: 5
                      logical name: /dev/sda5
                      logical name: /usr/local
                      capacity: 50GiB
                      configuration: mount.fstype=ext3 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=continue,barrier=0,data=ordered state=mounted
                 *-logicalvolume:1
                      description: Linux filesystem partition
                      physical id: 6
                      logical name: /dev/sda6
                      logical name: /home
                      capacity: 377GiB
                      configuration: mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,data=ordered state=mounted
                 *-logicalvolume:2
                      description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
                      physical id: 7
                      logical name: /dev/sda7
                      capacity: 8191MiB
                      capabilities: nofs
           *-cdrom
                description: DVD-RAM writer
                product: DVDRAM GT32N
                vendor: HL-DT-ST
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/cdr
                logical name: /dev/cdr0
                logical name: /dev/cdrom
                logical name: /dev/cdrom0
                logical name: /dev/cdrw
                logical name: /dev/cdrw0
                logical name: /dev/cdwriter
                logical name: /dev/cdwriter0
                logical name: /dev/dvd
                logical name: /dev/dvd0
                logical name: /dev/dvdrw
                logical name: /dev/dvdrw0
                logical name: /dev/dvdwriter
                logical name: /dev/dvdwriter0
                logical name: /dev/scd0
                logical name: /dev/sr0
                version: 1.00
                capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
                configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
        *-serial
             description: SMBus
             product: 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
             version: 05
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             configuration: driver=i801_smbus latency=0
             resources: irq:19 memory:b7106000-b71060ff ioport:4000(size=32)
     *-pci:1
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 101
          bus info: pci@0000:ff:00.0
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:2
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 102
          bus info: pci@0000:ff:00.1
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:3
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor QPI Link 0
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 103
          bus info: pci@0000:ff:02.0
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:4
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor QPI Physical 0
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 104
          bus info: pci@0000:ff:02.1
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:5
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor Reserved
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 105
          bus info: pci@0000:ff:02.2
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:6
          description: Host bridge
          product: Core Processor Reserved
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 106
          bus info: pci@0000:ff:02.3
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
  *-battery
       description: Lithium Ion Battery
       product: Li-lon Battery
       vendor: -Virtual Battery 0-
       physical id: 1
       version: 10/12/2007
       serial: Battery 0
       slot: Fake
  *-power UNCLAIMED
       description: OEM_Define1
       product: OEM_Define5
       vendor: OEM_Define2
       physical id: 2
       version: OEM_Define6
       serial: OEM_Define3
       capacity: 75mWh

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

I think I've seen at least one post from somebody with a laptop with a 'hwardware switch' which didnt work with linux (well, the laptop worked, the intel video worked, but you couldnt force the nVidia GPU with the switch).

I have read somewhere that for example the Thinkpad T510 series mostly worked well in linux, so for a while, I was considering that one.

Drakeo · 08-28-2011, 12:07 PM

Reading this all the way through I find nothing about the xorgconf so the other one that made since was the open source driver blacklist problem but if it built then
it should run. Exception to this rule is I find I need to on LCD screens that the xorgconf must be set to auto. The other problem and it was addressed in slck-13.1
was the preset default kde composting. these are the software problems. that would affect the loading of the glx.
as much as I love the SBOPKG bulds the one thing I do not use is the switch or the sbopk nvidia installs for Slackware. Love there work and have contributed many hours to
helping it.

If it was me I would reinstall the "X" directory in slackware (slackpkg reinstall x ) and if running alien bobs multi-lib make sure you reinstall it after
that. then go to slackware64 /extra and then install the blacklist nouveau" (xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist pkg) then reboot then build the driver from nvidia source.
a must and people miss this please "uninstall" the existing driver before building the new one. (sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-your-version.run -uninstall) then rebuild. Do that to keep from creating phantom links.
this seems to me to be a xorg problem and there may be some broken links.

Oh yes one last thing this happened to me a while back. I reinstall kde (slackpkg reinstall kde ) and then ran the pkgtool and made sure kdm was the display manager. I had a broken link there also. this was because of other reasons but that was the same problem I had.

I wish you luck

cascade9 · 08-31-2011, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millgates

The number is 5742ZG-P614G50Mnss

It wouldn't be the first time. I make stupid mistakes all the time

The exact model number didnt help, and I cant see any intel video listed in your lspci and lshw.

Sorry, I'm not much help, but thanks a lot for giving me that info. Good luck.

millgates · 08-31-2011, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

The exact model number didnt help

Yes, I expected that much. I wasn't particulary succesful in finding anything useful about it either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

Sorry, I'm not much help, but thanks a lot for giving me that info. Good luck.

No problem. I am still thankful for even trying to help me.

I have just been comparing the Xorg.0.log I attached to the first post to the "good" log, i.e. the log after booting the pc when X starts without problem. They are start to differ at line 146 where the "good" one prints

Code:

[   118.436] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Display (LGD (DFP-0)) does not support NVIDIA 3D Vision
[   118.436] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0):     stereo.

and then the "good" one detects the display

Code:

[   118.439] (--) NVIDIA(0): Connected display device(s) on GeForce GT 540M at PCI:1:0:0
[   118.439] (--) NVIDIA(0):     LGD (DFP-0)
[   118.439] (--) NVIDIA(0): LGD (DFP-0): 330.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[   118.439] (--) NVIDIA(0): LGD (DFP-0): Internal Dual Link LVDS

I guess that's not really unexpected. I still think that the solution is in the fact that the X server starts fine the first time after boot but not the second time.
so what's different when I startx the second time?
I have checked xorg.conf -- it is exactly the same. It is the xorg.conf generated by nvidia installer.
Maybe it's some process that does not die when I kill X and prevents it from starting properly? But after I kill X I cannot see anything X related in the process table
May it be that there is some switch in the laptop that turns off when I kill X that prevents the NVIDIA driver from detecting the display? But the display works in text mode so it is obviously not turned off.
Is there something else I'm missing here?
I hate problems that don't behave...

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