Looks like I'm in for a bit more work here!
Just got a message 'extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
Looks like I'm nearly there....but not quite
I have 'Load "glx"' in the modules section of xorg. Will post how I get on.

Hello again,

I've followed the instructions given by jlo_sandog to the letter (as far as I understand) and the nvidia installer starts... However it leaves an error and doesn't want to proceed.

GCC-version-check-failed

It tells me that I need to install my distributions "libc developement package" and that I need to make sure that "cc" is a valid C compiler.

"/usr/src/nv/conftest.sh: line 19: cc: command not found"

What command do I give yum to install that package? (I can only work in textmode), and will that install the proper C compiler and fix my problem?

I have installed kernel 2.6.16-1.2080_FC5 and the kernel-devel package
I gave the command "yum kernel-devel-$(uname -r)" for the latter. I hope that installed the correct one.

You're all very helpful. thanks a lot for having the patience to deal with a newbie like me

Sorry...double posting, don't know how to delete this one so I shortened it instead.

I think u need glibc-devel. Just do
yum list *glib*
and see whats installed and available, then just install what u need.

I do have glibc-devel installed... I even installed a bunch of other packages just to try libcaca-devel, libcddb-devel and libcdio... I still get the same error. when I do the "yum list *glib*" it appers to be too long to be visible in full on the screen, is there some way to scroll up or look at it page by page?

Here is the complete log file:

-------------------------------------------------------------
nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Sun Apr 2 15:55:48 2006

option status:
license pre-accepted : false
update : false
force update : false
expert : false
uninstall : false
driver info : false
no precompiled interface: true
no ncurses color : false
query latest driver ver : false
OpenGL header files : true
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 : /tmp
ftp mirror : ftp://download.nvidia.com
RPM file list : (not specified)

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
-> License accepted.
-> Not probing for precompiled kernel interfaces.
-> Performing CC test with CC="cc".
-> gcc-version-check failed:

./usr/src/nv/conftest.sh: line 19: cc: command not found

Could not compile gcc-version-check.c. Please be sure you have your distrib
ution's libc development package installed and that 'cc' is a valid C compil
er name.

If you know what you are doing and want to ignore the gcc version check, sel
ect "No" to continue installation. Otherwise, select "Yes" to abort install
ation, set the CC environment variable to the name of the compiler used to c
ompile your kernel, and restart installation. Abort now? (Answer: Yes)
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

if I run ./nvidia-installer without the "-n" argument it mentions something about not finding the ID of my kernel, it sais something alike above in the log.
Is there any danger in not aborting and proceeding anyway?

Again, thanks for the help.

ok, this is embarrasing! All I needed to do was

yum install kmod-nvidia.x86_64 xorg-x11-drv-nvidia.x86_64

that took care of it!! Thanx again for all the help guys.

ok, just to finish this thread, with the new patched kernel the nvidia drivers install without a problem. i installed the new kernel and the kernel-devel using yum and then installed the nvidia drivers using the Livna repos. works like a charm.