NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M driver

wearetheborg · 07-26-2019, 07:53 AM

I have a decade old computer (Dell M90) on which I'm trying to install linux. I tried linux Mint 19.1

I cannot get it to boot to a non-garbled screen unless I do "nomodeset" but then the screen resolution does not go higher than 1280x1024 (its a 1920x1080 screen).

The manage drivers tool says "no drivers in use"

The support list for the current NVIDIA drivers do not seem to include the FX 1500M card. I had to go to the NVIDIA archive and there I see something which has the card in the support list.

Is there some version of Ubuntu/Mint which will support this card at 1920x1080?

Here is the output of inxi -Fxz

Code:

Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA G71GLM [Quadro FX 1500M] vendor: Dell driver: N/A
bus ID: 01:00.0
Display: server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~61Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 8.0 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 19.0.2
direct render: Yes

Rickkkk · 07-26-2019, 10:35 AM

Hi wearetheborg,

From what I found during a quick search, you would want the latest in the series of proprietary 304.xx drivers from NVIDIA.

Although there *may* still be a package for this in Mint or Ubuntu (sorry, mainly an Arch user here - I'm mostly unfamiliar with debian-derived support for this ...), I see that it is definitely still available as a "legacy" driver on NVIDIA's site. I've also read that you may be obliged to downgrade your version of xorg in order to support the legacy driver.

So it should be possible to get it working without too much trouble ...,

Cheers - let us know how it goes.

Rick

ehartman · 07-26-2019, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wearetheborg

The support list for the current NVIDIA drivers do not seem to include the FX 1500M card. I had to go to the NVIDIA archive and there I see something which has the card in the support list.

Is there some version of Ubuntu/Mint which will support this card at 1920x1080?

That is correct, the card is too old for current (or even recent legacy) drivers:
You will have to go all the way back to the 304.xxx series (304.137 was the last one released) for this card.
But with that proprietary driver and in Slackware I am running my Samsung monitor at 1920x1200 resolution, so it IS possible:

Quote:

[ 37.289] (II) NVIDIA GLX Module 304.137 Sep 14 23:02:51 CEST 2017
[ 37.289] Loading extension GLX
[ 37.289] (II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
[ 37.289] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so
[ 37.636] (II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[ 37.636] compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[ 37.636] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[ 37.683] (II) NVIDIA dlloader X Driver 304.137 Sep 14 23:02:51 CEST 2017
[ 37.683] (II) NVIDIA Unified Driver for all Supported NVIDIA GPUs

and

Quote:

[ 38.926] (II) NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 1920 x 1200
[ 38.927] (==) NVIDIA(0): DPI set to (75, 75); computed from built-in default
[ 38.927] (WW) NVIDIA(0): UBB is incompatible with the Composite extension. Disabling
[ 38.927] (WW) NVIDIA(0): UBB.
[ 38.927] (--) Depth 24 pixmap format is 32 bpp
[ 38.942] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "DFP-0:1920x1200"
[ 39.099] Loading extension NV-GLX

(both quotes from Xorg.0.log)

PS: with an even older nVidia board and the 96.43.23 driver I managed to get 1920x1200 on a computer (Pentium III) which is now toast, but it had been running with that driver since about 2008 and, as I said, when some years later I bought this monitor it could handle its full resolution.

mrmazda · 07-26-2019, 11:25 PM

The VESA driver you are currently employing is a typical a result of using nomodeset. Use of nomodeset on kernel cmdline is primarily a troubleshooting tool that is often needed to successfully install. It very commonly causes post-installation trouble such as yours. It blocks use of the competent FOSS DDX you need to be using, either the default DDX (modesetting) provided by the Xorg server package, or the older technology, optional package xserver-xorg-video-nouveau that provides the reverse-engineered nouveau DDX. I have a Quadro that is about 3 years older than the G71GLM, and the surprisingly poor maximum mine supports is 1680x1050. I also have a Quadro FX, NV40GL, nearly same age as G71GLM. When it works at all, it's perfectly happy doing 1920x1200 with the FOSS DDX nouveau.

wearetheborg · 07-28-2019, 02:01 AM

Thanks guys. I first tried manually installing the 304.137 driver in Mint 19.1 - the driver did not install. Here are the last few lines from the log file:

Code:

                  ^
   cc1: some warnings being treated as errors
   scripts/Makefile.build:330: recipe for target '/tmp/selfgz6581/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.137/kernel/nv.o' failed
   make[3]: *** [/tmp/selfgz6581/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.137/kernel/nv.o] Error 1
   Makefile:1552: recipe for target '_module_/tmp/selfgz6581/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.137/kernel' failed
   make[2]: *** [_module_/tmp/selfgz6581/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.137/kernel] Error 2
   NVIDIA: left KBUILD.
   nvidia.ko failed to build!
   Makefile:261: recipe for target 'module' failed
   make[1]: *** [module] Error 1
   makefile:59: recipe for target 'module' failed
   make: *** [module] Error 2
-> Error.
ERROR: Unable to build the NVIDIA kernel module.
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.

Then I tried installing Mint 18.3 which apparently still has the 304 driver. The driver management tool did indeed have the 304 driver, I selected it, and now it says proprietary driver in use, but something seems to have gone wrong.

Output of inxi -Fxz

Code:

Graphics: Card: NVIDIA G71GLM [Quadro FX 1500M] bus-ID: 01:00.0
Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 drivers: vesa (unloaded: fbdev) FAILED: nvidia,nouveau

The nouveau driver works for a minute or so at 1920x1080 but then the system freezes.
Upon selecting the Nvidia driver and rebooting, the highest I can go to is 1280x1024

I do see the Nvidia widget, but it does not have a monitor resolution section. Some screenshots attached.

wearetheborg · 08-03-2019, 10:40 PM

Bump: any ideas guys?

mrmazda · 08-04-2019, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wearetheborg

The nouveau driver works for a minute or so at 1920x1080 but then the system freezes.

Does it also freeze when using the (upstream default) modesetting DDX? *Buntu/Mint's upstream Debian works fine with all my old GeForce PCI and PCIe cards, e.g. this one:

Code:

~> inxi -GxxS
System:    Host: hp945 Kernel: 4.19.0-5-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 Desktop: Trinity R14.0.7
           tk: Qt 3.5.0 wm: Twin dm: startx Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0
           chip ID: 10de:0a65
           Display: tty server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz
           OpenGL: renderer: NVA8 v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes
~> xrandr | egrep 'onnect|creen|\*' | grep -v disconn | sort -r
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 8192 x 8192
DVI-I-1 connected primary 1920x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 519mm x 324mm
   1920x1200     59.95*+

This works for me automagically. NVidia's proprietary drivers have never been installed here. The nouveau DDX, which is reverse-engineered old technology, is normally here loaded only occasion to ensure it will work at all.

wearetheborg · 08-04-2019, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Does it also freeze when using the (upstream default) modesetting DDX?

How do I test this? I only used the default settings before installing the nvidia driver.

mrmazda · 08-04-2019, 11:55 AM

Purge all remnants of proprietary NVidia software according to its installation instructions, and

Purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, or

Specify use of modesetting driver in Device section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf or in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf, then

Restart X or reboot.

wearetheborg · 08-16-2019, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Purge all remnants of proprietary NVidia software according to its installation instructions, and

Purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, or

Specify use of modesetting driver in Device section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf or in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf, then

Restart X or reboot.

I tried the purge, and after reboot, same issue, screen worked for 5 minutes then a freeze (mouse still works though).

I then tried installing Mint 19.2, the latest release. Like 19.1, the screen flickers, and upon login, complete garble requiring a hard reboot.

At this point, I may just make "nomodeset" permanent and work at a lower resolution

mrmazda · 08-17-2019, 03:53 AM

Your 13 year old Quadro FX may be doing the same as my 15 year old Quadro FX, failing, works for some random length of time, then screen freezes. This has been known to happen. Some people refuse to buy a new NVidia card as long as the old continues to work, so NVidia can't be expected to design them to last forever.

wearetheborg · 08-17-2019, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Your 13 year old Quadro FX may be doing the same as my 15 year old Quadro FX, failing, works for some random length of time, then screen freezes. This has been known to happen. Some people refuse to buy a new NVidia card as long as the old continues to work, so NVidia can't be expected to design them to last forever.

The card is fine. Before I swapped the hard drive this one, I had old installs of linux and windows on the old drive, and both worked fine.

mrmazda · 08-17-2019, 11:18 AM

Do the old installs of linux and windows work fine if you put the old HD back in? Old hardware can break any time. It doesn't get younger.

wearetheborg · 08-17-2019, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Do the old installs of linux and windows work fine if you put the old HD back in? Old hardware can break any time. It doesn't get younger.

Yes, they do.

The problems with the newer OS's exhibited even on USB media boot.

On the newer windows 10, the screen res goes up to 1600x1200 (no Nvidia driver for windows 10 unfortunately)
Linux I cannot go up beyond 1280x1024.

mrmazda · 08-17-2019, 07:25 PM

Looks like need to determine why the freeze rather than just stabbing in hopes a non-broken configuration is encountered. Do you have access to another PC or laptop from which to remote login? So equipped, dmesg -w could be run to monitor what transpires when a freeze occurs, and possibly continue operating the laptop to gather coredump(s), journal and/or other logs.

Other things to try:

Instead of a Cinnamon/Mate/XFCE session, try an IceWM session. Does it still freeze?
Does the session you normally run provide an option to disable compositing?
Knoppix (live), granddaddy of live distros. If it won't automagically configure a working X, probably nothing else will either. Its latest release is older than most current distros, which may be its own plus for diagnosis. It offers 3-4 different DEs ready to run. Use F2/F3 at its boot prompt.
Mageia 7 (live), goes further than most distros trying to custom configure your hardware, and is not based on Debian or Ubuntu
Any other live distro that is not based on Ubuntu, e.g. Debian Buster
Any other live distro that is not based on a same DE as Mint's featured DEs, e.g. not Cinnamon, not Mate, not XFCE.