nv driver in the LFS livecd seems not to work...

mr.v. · 12-23-2006, 01:11 PM

Hi all--

I'm using the LFS 6.2-3 LiveCD and I'm trying to run "startx" or "startxfce4" and both crash out before displaying anything with the complaint connection reset by peer.

So I changed the "nv" driver in the device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf to "vga" and it loads (albeit it's completely unuseable) so clearly the "nv" driver is the problem.

Also what works is using "vesa" as the driver when I've specified a vga framebuffer mode...

Here's the strange part, when I run the ubuntu live cd (dapper/edgy) both use the "nv" driver and both run just fine. Now my PC is a little odd. It's got an embedded NVidia 6100 that I don't use and I've installed in the PCI-Express slot a NVidia 7900 GS which my monitor is connected to. So then looking at the Ubuntu xorg.conf I noticed that it specifies the BusID of the device which is "PCI:2:0:0" so I thought that was the problem. So back in the LFS livecd I edited the xorg.conf to specify under the "device" section:
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
just like in the ubuntu xorg.conf but it still crashes out. the "vga" and "vesa" driver both work and get me into X.

Anyone know why the "nv" driver in the LFS livecd doesn't work but the Ubuntu one does? Also where is the "nv" driver located on my filesystem? Can I try copying the working one from Ubuntu to the LFS ramdisk and seeing if that fixes it. Or if not, where can I download the source "nv" driver and compiling the latest version to see if that works...

I realize I can just use the vesa driver but this has gotten personal...=)

f76 · 12-26-2006, 06:30 AM

Im get into the same problem when i start the LFS liveCD. I think i found a hint in the README file.

http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/liv...DME?format=txt

Code:

    * ATI Radeon X1000 or higher (needs "vesa" or proprietary "fglrx" driver)
    * Any NVIDIA card with the monitor connected to the DVI output (needs
      "vesa" or proprietary "nvidia" driver).

In such cases, you have to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file manually, using
vim, joe or nano.

....

Installers of proprietary video drivers are available in /lfs-sources as *.run
files for the x86 architecture and 32-bit kernels only.
IMPORTANT: in order to avoid wasting RAM by the device mapper,
change the current directory to /dev/shm before installing these drivers.

But then i dont know how i would install the drivers and how many bit kernel the lfs live cd uses its called lfslivecd-x86-6.2-4.iso so its probably 32 bit, right?

do i just /.run it and then edit xorg.conf and then start x?

mr.v. · 12-29-2006, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f76

But then i dont know how i would install the drivers and how many bit kernel the lfs live cd uses its called lfslivecd-x86-6.2-4.iso so its probably 32 bit, right?
do i just /.run it and then edit xorg.conf and then start x?

The default LFS kernel is 32-bit but if you hit F1 (or F2 I forget now) at the boot prompt it explains how you can load a 64-bit kernel image (on the cd). But if you don't do that, it's default is a 32-bit kernel with ide/sata/framebuffer support.

So yeah (thanks for that link), it appears the default "nv" driver does not support DVI (which is how my monitor is connected). I guess ubuntu must use some proprietary "nv" driver that recognizes the DVI but still isn't the official "nvidia" driver. huh...

To install you should just have to run the script and then edit xorg.conf to replace "nv" with "nvidia" and I think you have to remove a couple lines of the xorg.conf like Load "glx" and "glcore" or something if memory serves. I think I'm just going to go ahead, install LFS while running off the vesa drivers. Since I reboot often, I don't want to have to keep installing it everytime.

Thanks for the help. Hope things go well for you.