[SOLVED] FATAL: Module nvidia not found.

littlebigman · 08-13-2010, 06:59 AM

Hello

I made some progress trying to get a host that has an Nvidia GeForce 6150 LE and running a liveCD version of Xubuntu 9.10... but "modprobe -i nvidia" returns "FATAL: Module nvidia not found."

FYI, here's what apt-get installed (removed what I think are useless lines):

Code:

# find / -name "nvidia*"

/lib/modules/2.6.31-20-generic/kernel/drivers/char/agp/nvidia-agp.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.31-20-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia
/lib/modules/2.6.31-20-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/usr/lib32/nvidia
/usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so

And here's what I did:

Code:

# apt-get update
# apt-get install nvidia-glx-185
# apt-get install nvidia-settings
# gtf 1024 768 75
# nvidia-xconfig //creates /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Next, copy/pasted the output from "gtf" into xorg.conf:

Code:

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Unknown"
    HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
    VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
    Option         "DPMS"
    # 1024x768 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 60.15 kHz; pclk: 81.80 MHz
    #Modeline "1024x768_75.00"  81.80  1024 1080 1192 1360  768 769 772 802  -HSync +Vsync
    Modeline "1024x768_75"  81.80  1024 1080 1192 1360  768 769 772 802  -HSync +Vsync
EndSection

Finally, started X manually:

Code:

# startx:

X.Org X Server 1.6.4
[...]
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
FATAL: Module nvidia not found.
(EE) NVIDIA: Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module. Please check your
(EE) NVIDIA:     system's kernel log for additional error messages.
(EE) Failed to load module "nvidia" (module-specific error, 0)
(EE) No drivers available.

Can someone confirm that "apt-get install nvidia-glx-185" is enough to install the Nvidia driver on a running LiveCD, and I don't need to recompile a kernel?

Thank you.

pljvaldez · 08-13-2010, 11:32 AM

What is the output of lsmod? It will tell you if the module is loaded or not. If not, you might need to run sudo modprobe nvidia to load the module.

ScottSmith · 08-13-2010, 11:50 AM

Nvidia-glx is not enough to install the driver. You also need to download and compile the nvidia-kernel-source. The nvidia kernel driver is compiled against the running kernel; follow the README file that is install with the package.

You don't need to recompile the kernel.

littlebigman · 08-14-2010, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

What is the output of lsmod? It will tell you if the module is loaded or not. If not, you might need to run sudo modprobe nvidia to load the module.

"lsmod" doesn't list any nVidia drive, and "modprobe nvidia" returns the error message that I used to launch this thread. I guess the Linux kernel in this liveCD does not include the nVidia driver. Is there a way to list the drivers that the Linux can use, either statically or dynamically?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottSmith

Nvidia-glx is not enough to install the driver. You also need to download and compile the nvidia-kernel-source. The nvidia kernel driver is compiled against the running kernel; follow the README file that is install with the package. You don't need to recompile the kernel.

Since my workstation is running a more recent Ubuntu (10.04), is it possible to simply download the source/header files of the version that is used in the liveCD (9.10 + "2.6.31-20-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP") along with the nvidia-kernel-source file so I can compile a new driver before burning another CD? I guess I'll have to do this manually instead of using "apt-get install".

I'm surprised there's no need to replace the kernel, and simply provide the compiled driver. Doesn't the kernel reference all the drivers it was compiled with?

craigevil · 08-14-2010, 06:55 AM

BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia - Community Ubuntu Documentation : https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

littlebigman · 08-14-2010, 12:30 PM

Thanks. I'll try to fine-tune nouveau now that I got it working, and check out the Nvidia driver afterwards.