Newbie needs help installing nvidia drivers
 

I'm a below average Linux newb, so please bare with me.
I have just installed Sabayon linux and I'm struggling with getting my XFX GeForce 8800GTS to work. I have tried following this guide:
-http://www.sabayonlinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Get_Ati_or_Nvidia_Video_Cards_working_in_Sabayon

However when I type "emerge =gentoo-sources-2.6.18" I get "failed: Name or service not known" a lot of times and it stops with "!!! Couldn't download 'genpatches-2.6.18-1.base.tar.bz2'. Aborting."

I've also tried following this one: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_nVidia_Drivers

But I get to the part where I'm supposed to configure the kernel. (eselect kernel list)

There's no files in my /usr/src/linux...heck I don't even have that directory, only /usr/src/

So..what do you reckon I'd do next?:)

I'm not yet familiar with Sabayon, but I plan to try it very soon, it looks very cool :) Also, I don't really understand the 'emerge' method of software upgrades/installations.
I do however have an nVidia card, and have tried (and currently am still helping someone) helping folks get them working.
Here's just a tip or 2 to help get you started. Hopefully it helps a little bit.

The file /usr/src/linux is usually a symlink, not an actual folder. When it exists, it points to the location where the source-code for your running kernel resides.
Perhaps you have a folder called /usr/src/linux-2.6.xx or something similar? I'm not sure what kernel Sabayon comes with, but the folder would be in /usr/src/ and would be named the same as the kernel.
The idea with the emerge and other nVidia driver installers is usually that the installer 'builds' the driver and installs it as a module into the folder /lib/modules/<your-kernel-name>/drivers/video/
If you can determine that your kernel-source is actually there somewhere in /usr/src, then you should try creating the symlink in /usr/src/ and point it at the kernel-source folder. If you do NOT have the source-code for your kernel, you will have to use whatever updater thing Sabayon has, or some other means, of downloading/installing the kernel source, before running the nVidia installer.

Thank you for an informative reply. I haven't got anything in my /usr/src/ directory except for 3 files called ".config", ".keep" and "nvidia-bug-report.log."

So I guess I would have to go and download the kernel sources somewhere. uname -r says: "2.6.18-gentoo-r5" so that's probably the one I need sources for.

God knows where..:/

Hmm, yes well, that would indeed be the right file. As to where to get it, I'm sorry, but I don't know what the story is on the Gentoo repositories or package managers, or how it works..
I'll bet someone around here does though, perhaps you should try another forum here that is similar to Gentoo/Sabayon? :) Also, keep the .config file, as that is very likely the kernel-config of your installed kernel.
I'm certain you can get the kernel-source you need from wherever it is that updates your distro though.
Have you looked on the install disk by chance?
Another idea would be to use your file-browser (Konqueror or whatever it is) and search the installation, and see if you can locate that source-file. Search for something like *2.6.18-gentoo*

in ubuntu I'd use locate/updatedb to find files but here locate gives me an error:
"locate: fatal error: Cold not find user database `/var/lib/slocate/slocate.db`: No such file or directory

So I have to get into the GUI again to be able to search.
:)

not really. type 'man find' and read up on using the find command :)

It's pretty quick.

Probably something like 'find / *kernel-filename*

or something like that.

localhost ~ # man find
Cannot open the message catalog "man" for locale "nb_NO.UTF-8"
(NLSPATH="<none>")

No manual entry for find

I don't care if the manual isn't in Norwegian!

hah..I'm in deep sh*t.;)

lol.. hmm <thinking..>

have you tried using MC?
type mc in a console. I think Midnight Commander has a search function.

aight..installed mc now. It's searching..thanks for helping me through this.

No problem :) I hope it all comes together in the end. Then you'll be able to help someone do the same thing next time ;)

i found a link called /lib/modules/2.6.18-gentoo-r5/source which points to /usr/src/linux-2.6.18-gentoo-r5

Funky considering that directory doesn't even exist, far less has a source placed in it.

I suppose I somehow need to put the kernel sources there.

Hmm.. That's weird.. The link you found usually points to /lib/modules/<kernel-name>..
Oh well, anyhow, Yes I agree, /usr/src/linux-2.6.18-gentoo-r5 should hold the kernel source.

Have you figured out how to auto-get it? Or like, download it somehow using the package manager?
And, check that the source isn't already on teh install disk, maybe in /extra or something like that.
If it isn't you can download it manually from any kernel repository, just check XX.kernel.org, where XX= your country code, like us.kernel.org for united states.
Or use Google to locate a source for kernel downloads. It will be a .tgz or bz2 or RMP package.

http://www.no.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/

Not sure if 2.6.18.5 would be the same as 2.6.18-gentoo-r5, but if it is, you can get it from this link.

You may want to have a look on the Sabayon site or forum, and see if there's any info there about this.

Sorry for not having given feedback for a while. I've managed to get the sources now. They're in /usr/src/linux/linux-2.6.18-gentoo

/usr/src/linux has become a symlink to that directory.

I've run the steps in this howto: http://www.sabayonlinux.org/wiki/ind...ing_in_Sabayon

I get an error when running emerge nvidia-drivers though:

make[3]: scripts/mod/modpost: Command not found
make[3]: *** [__modpost] Error 127
NVIDIA: left KBUILD.
nvidia.ko failer to build!
make[1]: *** [module] Error 1
make: *** [module] Error 2

!!! Unable to make

blah blah blah..something like this.

Hm, seems weird, like there's a bunch of very basic stuff, not included with that OS.

Great that you got the source :) that's step one!
(oh, I went to have a nap, lol, didn't even notice you were missing!)
OK, explain this 'emerge' to me.. Basically, is that how you build stuff with gentoo/Sabayon?
And were you doing the emerging as root user?