help plez
 

which of nforce driver from http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_nforce_1.0-0261.html do i install first?
as u notice there are 2 downloads, the first then the kernel upgrade
what am i suppose to install first? the first or the kernel upgrade
from a redhat point of view

You should only need to install a single file, not one then the other. If you follow the readme that is with that, it is explained in there.

Also, make sure you get the correct file to install for your version, to find out which kernel you have to match it up appropriately, type this into a terminal:
uname -r
And match that up with the version on their website.

Cool

Moderator Note:
In the future, please make more appropriate thread titles. You are much more likely to get quality answers in a faster amount of time that way.

Thank You

i think my kernel is 2.4.20-8 but they only offer NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.rh90up_2.4.20_6.athlon.rpm and a kernel upgrade NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.rh90up_2.4.20_9.athlon.rpm
which am i suppose to install? (after further reading the readme how do i upgrade my kernel to fit these driver like 2.4.20-8 how do i turn the 8 into a 6
or do i just install the -9 because its a kernel upgrade maybe itll upgrade my kernel from an 8 to a 9 and also install the driver while it s upgrading :) if only it was that easy before i do anything ill wait for some help :) just incase i screw things up
thanks in advance

What do you get from:
uname -r

And no, I highly (hopefully really) doubt that installing a newer Nvidia driver will upgrade your kernel. However... RedHat's up2date apparently makes upgrading your kernel as easy as point and click (I've never personally used it but read several threads on it), so if you wanna upgrade, that's probably going to be your easiest bet.

Cool

yeah my kernel version is 2.4.20-8 how do i update it to the latest one i the auto update dont seem to work im online right now using my old dsl card)
update:i think im downloading the upgrade right now if it is 2.4.20-9 do i download the 2.4.20-9 version from nvidia eventhough on the side it say kernel upgrade?
do i log into the 2.4.20-9 kernel and run rpm -i nforce2.4.20-9 one? and thats it?

wtf my new kernel is 2.4.20-19.9 wtf wut do i do. do i download NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.rh90up_2.4.20_9.athlon.rpm? ooh man and i thought the kernel will uograde to 2.5.20-9...

What distro you using??

Ok, got some tricky stuff if you wanna follow along...

Grab this:
http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/n....0-0261.tar.gz

Save it to /tmp

Now open up a terminal and type along:
cd /tmp (as a user for now)
tar xvzf NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.tar.gz
cd nforce
make
cd nvgart
less README (now read those instructions until you are thoroughly confused or completely understanding... Not too far from each other really ;) )
Now we will need to diff the kernel, hopefully you've got your kernel sources install and the present working kernel is the one you've got sources for (if you are saying "Say what?" at this point, please let me know, I'm moving at a fast pace assuming you are just understanding me ;) ).
Hopefully you've got the source for the running kernel and it's setup properly, just to make sure post up what you get from typing:
uname -r
AND THEN
ls -l /usr/src

Assuming it's all well and good, let's diff that sucka!:
As root type:
cp nvgart/linux-2.4.20-agpgart.diff /usr/src/linux-2.4.20-19.9 (assuming the above is all saying we are running that kernel and we have the sources installed for it... )
Now for the diff:
patch -p1 < linux-2.4.20-agpgart.diff
And now we will compile a kernel. Woohoo!!

Ok, so at this point, I believe a kernel guide would be a great tool for consulting. However, I'll be happy to walk with you through a compile tonight OR if you just wanna try the:
http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/n...0_9.athlon.rpm
And see if it'll work (probably best since you can ALWAYS just rpm -e it which will remove it...) then that's fine too.

:)

Cool

:scratch: woa i guess before i try all that crazy confusing stuff lol ill try to install the 2.4.20-9 on my 2.4.20-19-9 hope it works lol

noo it didnt work it didnt dectect my adapter and now i cant uninstall it when ever i try rpm -e it tells me that i didnt install it yet but when i do rpm -i it tells me i install it
guess i got to to the hard way can u please explain those very confusing steps slowly lol

hope u can help me tonite masterc

Hi there!

You can force a removal, and it's likely you aren't removing it correctly (remove the .i386.rpm from the package name when uninstalling).

After you remove give another package a try, after you've exhausted the 3 packages that are closest to your kernel, and if it still doesn't work, let's get on with the compile ;)

I'm here til at least 5 (that's about another 4 and a half hours from right now for me) :)

Cool

Ok, the kernel compile (assuming you already tried to follow the various threads and guides and they didn't help...):

Grab the latest **stable** kernel:
www.kernel.org (2.4.21 is the latest stable click the "F" next to that)
Save it to a directory you have write privileges to (we are gonna move it after it's done).

Once it's done (assuming you saved it to /home/kernels) we will need to become root:
su -
ROOT PASS (enter root's pass there)
Then:
mv /home/kernels/linux-2.4.21.tar.bz2 /usr/src
Then we will change to /usr/src:
cd /usr/src
And untar the kernel:
tar xvjf linux-2.4.21.tar.bz2
If you have a fast computer, good, just sit back for a minute or 2. If you've got a Slow CPU and no RAM, go grab yourself a java, a cup of Chai Tea, have a round of golf, come back and have dinner, take a nap, and then come back to see it finish up (not really, but it could take a good 15 minutes depending on how slow, I just dropped down to a Pentium 1 laptop, it took me around 15 minutes on that thing! On my 900mhz Athy, ~1 minute ;) ).
After it's extracted you'll be returned to a prompt, so now enter the newly created directory:
cd linux-2.4.21
And (we should still be root):
make xconfig
The make xconfig requires you to be in an X session that root owns (meaning you will have to have started X as root or given root permissions using xhost or something similar). You can use other things like:
make menuconfig
However for first time kernel compilers this can look overwhelming (more so than xconfig does) but it's your choice. Whatever you have to do to get to the kernel compiling options screen, that's where you will want to be.

Now comes the part that really not many people can help you with, you have to find what hardware you have, and what is necessary for it's support and your day to day operations within linux.

Sounds scary doesn't it? Don't worry, nothing is set in stone, and EVERYONE has to do trial runs with their kernels to fine tune em. Go through and read the help files next to the options in each category. Notice the ones that apply to your hardware and needs, and use it. My personal rule of thumb for compiling in versus module (Y or M) is:
If I use it everyday, and it's a required option to get my system running, it's compiled in. If it's something I occasionally use, it's a module.

So go through, do your best, and when you are done, click exit. It will ask if you wanna save your current config, say yes. Then you will be returned to a prompt and it should suggest you run 'make dep' now; so we will:
make dep
After this finishes (go get some more chai tea and coffee)
We will clean it up, save ourselves some room, and make things tidy:
make clean
I wish I could clean my house this easily ;)
After that finishes we need to create the modules you decided you wanted:
make modules
We want to not overwrite the current setup, and we are gonna assume you are already using a 2.4.21 kernel (just for reference sake, not that it fits your situation, but you could use the info some day ;) ), so let's move the current directory containing the modules outta the way:
mv /lib/modules/linux-2.4.21 /lib/modules/linux-2.4.21.old
And now that we have finished the make modules command, we will install them:
make modules_install
It is now creating the necessary directories in /lib/modules/linux-2.4.21 (good thing we backed up the original working directory first eh ;) ) and copying the modules that were compiled into them directories, creating files that know where each module is for quick reference for module calls and other things we aren't too concerned about at this point in our linux days :)

Now we need to make the kernel. I prefer smaller size files for faster kernel loads (I'm a speed freak, what can I say :D ) so we will use bzip compression on the kernel with:
make bzImage
Sit back, grab yourself some water to help cleanse your system of all that coffee and chai tea you've been drinking all day, watch an episode of the Simpson's, and come back, hopefully there are no errors (with any of the steps) however if this is your first compile, it's likely there is. Usually due to dependencies. You should look at the error, see what's missing, open back up the kernel configuration tool you used (xconfig or menuconfig) and add that into your kernel too. Start back over, through each step, do this again and again until you finally get to the end and you have a complete kernel. To know when you have one, you should see a message saying something like:
kernel image is too big for standalone floppy. OR you will see the size of the bzImage and no errors. Either way, the kernel is done, and you can now copy it over to the necessary directory for booting it.

From the command prompt type:
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-newkernel
Where -newkernel is WHATEVER you want it to be, I tend to be simple and use pretty much 'newkernel' :D

Then copy over the system map:
cp System.map /boot/System.map-newkernel (remember, don't leave your kernel source tree, stay in the directory where you have been running make xconfig and everything)
And now, your distro utilized mkinitrd to get things setup, so (I've never had to use mkinitrd, so YMMV and I apologize if you have to go outside this thread (run a search) for this part of the compile):
mkinitrd /boot/initrd.linux-2.4.21 linux-2.4.21

And finally, let's make the symlink:
ln -sf /usr/src/linux-2.4.21 /usr/src/linux
This is necessary for certain applications that need to know what kernel version you are running.

:)

As for adding it to your boot loader, consult your distro's documentation, or do a search on Grub (assuming you went with the default) on the site. I use LILO so really can't help ya there. But beware, do not overwrite your current, working kernel. You will want make another entry along side the existing one, then if the new one doesn't boot or whatever, you have somewhere to fall back to.

Good Luck, and HTH

Cool

woa by the frekin gods thanks a lot! ill try the tar one first before i do the kernel one hope it works
dangit it works fine untill i got to the make command it gave me somekind of error damn
illl let the computer rest and try the other way 2marrow
ps its 3am in the west coast so i gots to get some sleep :)

I'm in WA ;) I work nights though, so my 3AM is roughly ~ to your 3PM ;)

Good Luck, and feel free to post back. Just a quick follow up to your tarball problem, that's because you don't have the kernel source installed for your version (likely anyway). That's the whole reason we are doing the kernel recompile.

Cool

im stuck on make xconfig it give me this make[1]:gcc:command not found
make[1]***[tkparse.p] error 127
make[1]: leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-2.4.21/scripts
make:***[xconfig] error 2
i think its because i dont know how to start x?
->(The make xconfig requires you to be in an X session that root owns (meaning you will have to have started X as root or given root permissions using xhost or something similar)<-
on the make menuconfig it says that ncurses isnt installed. where can i find this ''ncurses''
but the uninstallment of NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.rh90up_2.4.20_9
works i remove the ending like u say .athlon.rpm

With RedHat to get GCC installed I tend to suggest using:
www.freshrpms.net
And download/install:
apt
(both dev and regular)
And:
synaptic
Once those are installed, you should then install GCC. The reason for apt/synaptic is because GCC has SOOO many dependencies that you don't wanna go around messing with em. Just fire up synaptic after it's installed and it will resolve all dependencies for GCC for you. Excellent tool IMHO for RPM users.

As for Ncurses bit, that's likely because you don't have the libncurses-devel package installed. Locate it on your install CD's and install it. You do (likely) have the ncurses package(s) installed, it's the libncurses-devel that it's looking for that is likely missing. After you get that installed (btw the command to install it should be:
rpm -Uvh libncurses5-devel.version.rpm where version.rpm is the rest of the info on the filename ;) ) try running make menuconfig again.

:)

I'm heading to work, I'll be back on in ~2 hours or so (that'll be 9 or 10 PM our time).

Cool

on the first download apt where do i find dev? i only see one file for redhat 9 and where do i find this gcc? in other words i dont know what to get first! ill work on the ncurses first

http://shrike.freshrpms.net/rpm.html?id=650

Use the 2 file links at the top of the page :)

Cool

ok both files are installed now what?where do i get this gcc u talk about? also libncurses dont seem to be in my /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
:newbie: <--me

;)

To install GCC it would be something like:
apt install gcc
However you might wanna read the man page for more info:
man apt

Once you get that all setup then you can compile your kernel.

:)

What a process eh?

Cool

but where do i get this gcc?
and i only need to install the 2files from above right or do i need to isntall more before i can get gcc?

apt should resolve that for you, it should determine the location to grab the files from:
apt install gcc

And let it ride, I'd suppose. You can also (if you'd like) use your install CD's to get it installed. Put in the CD, browse to the directory where the RPM's are, open up a terminal and type:
ls | grep gcc
And whatever pops up, you'll need to install. Also, during the installation of those files, more will be required. This is what apt should take care of, all of this by just typing in 1 commands:
apt install gcc
However I don't use RedHat, I don't use Apt, and I don't use RPM's, so all of this could be slightly different, that's why I suggest you take a look at the man page of apt to see if:
apt install gcc
Is what one would type, for example it could be (instead) something like:
apt-get install gcc

HTH

Cool

Yeah, just the 2 apt files, apt and apt-devel should do it. From there it's all gonna be done by using the app above you've installed.

Cool

on the cd note it say this l: no such file directory grep isnt one and gc isnt one 2
is the apt main page http://freshrpms.net/apt/ ? cuse i dont see the command for gcc any where there
''apt should resolve that for you, it should determine the location to grab the files from:
apt install gcc''
apt isnt a bash command do i type that some where else?

As for the above command, that's a pipe not an L the pipe key is just above the return (Enter) key:
rpm -qa PIPE grep gcc but don't type the word PIPE instead press the key with the PIPE on it:
rpm -qa | grep gcc

As for apt:
http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrp...6-fr1.i386.rpm
Download that, and:
http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrp...6-fr1.i386.rpm
Assuming you download them to your home directory, open up a terminal and type:
cd /home/user
Where user is your user's name, then, to install them:
rpm -Uvh apt-devel-0.5.5cnc6-fr1.i386.rpm apt-0.5.5cnc6-fr1.i386.rpm

Just like that, all on one line. Then, after they get installed, you will need to update your database, so as root type:
whereis apt
If it returns a path, use that for the full path:
/full/path/apt install gcc
If it returns nothing, use:
locate apt
And when it locates the apt file, use that path instead. Either way, you should end up with the ability to read a man file on the new program, to do that type:
man apt
And see what it says about the syntax to use when using apt to install applications. It's likely however, that it's just (as root):
/path/to/apt install gcc

WHere /path/to/apt is the actual path you find from your locate or whereis commands above.

:)

HTH

Post back if none of this helps or if none of this makes sense.

Cool

after i type whereis apt it gave me
apt: /ect/apt /usr/lib/apt / usr/share/man/man8/apt.8.gz
which of the 3 dir i use
(on this command ls | grep gcc noughting pop up u sure its installation cd redhat cd 1?)

man apt

That's gonna be the one that you read first, in there it should describe quite a bit to you, if you have problems reading the man page post it up (I know those things can read very cryptically sometimes, like lawyer gibberish).

Cool

huh?

:)

You type that into your terminal:
man apt
It will bring up the manpage for apt. From there, you will see (since I found a man page for it) that you use apt-get to install things. So then you will read the manpage for apt-get:
man apt-get
Which will tell you to type something like this:
apt-get install gcc
To install GCC.

So, if you just want a command, and don't wanna read anything, try this:

apt-get install gcc

Cool

No, but it is very likely it is. I'm not sure which CD GCC is on, but it is definitely included in the redhat download iso's packages because it's necessary for kernel compiles and VERY basic compiling of other packages. So no, it might not be on the first, but it is surely on one of them.

You can check your packages list to find which one.

Cool

it gave me error:cannot get excclusive lock on /var/lib/rpm/package
error:cannot open packages database in E: could not open RPM database in command apt-get install gcc

Are you root? You will need to be root when you do this...

And just for sanities sake, run this first (as root):
rpm --rebuilddb
updatedb

And then:
apt-get install gcc

Cool

on disk 2 i found some files that say gcc in front of it but the command ls | grep gcc noughting poped up

You do ls in the directory where the RPM's are listed, or you can give it directory parameters:
ls /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS | grep gcc

Cool

i got this error:db4 error(16) from dbenv->remove:Device or resource busy on this command rpm --rebuilddb
but on this command alone apt-get install gcc (in as root :)) i got this
package gss has no available version,but exists in the database. this typically means that the package was mentioned in a dependency and never uploaded, has been obsoleted or is not avaiable with the contents of the sources.list
E: package gcc has no installation candidate

on this command ls/mnt/cdrom/redhat/rpms | grep gcc i got 9 rpm files there do i install them all

Yes, but those too will have dependency problems. Type:
man apt
And in addition:
man apt-cdrom
man apt.conf
For more info setting apt up to work with your CDROM drive.

Anyway, if you wanna hand install those 9 rpms and their dependencies, yes, do that with:
rpm -ivh gcc.rpm g++.rpm ...
Where gcc.rpm g++.rpm and ... are all just representations of ALL of the files you need to install. What I mean is you will want/need to place them all on a single line to satisify the redundant dependencies (such as gcc needs g++ but g++ needs gcc ).

Good Luck.

apt-get is giving that error list probably means you need to tweak your apt.conf file in /etc. Once you get that file setup correctly (by defining a mirror to get packages from probably) then the rest is history (likely).

Cool

man its so confusing what should i do next? i have noidea what you just say

hey make menuconfig works now

;)

libncurses5-devel

GCC will still be required to compile the kernel after you are done configuring it, but at least you can get started on that since reading all those help files will take a good while.

Cool

That's ok, I'll break it down a bit.

Man pages are things that describe how to use applications. With apt there are many man pages for different parts of it. One of the man pages in one for apt.conf which resides in /etc/apt.conf The file is a text file that will be used by apt when using it to install packages. You can edit this file to suit your needs, but to do so, you will need to learn what you can and can't put in that file. For example, if you wanted to tell it to your floppy drive to get files, you wouldn't simply edit the file and at any given place type:
use my floppy drive
Instead you'd need to consult the man page, which is done by typing in 'man' followed by the application or configuration file you are wanting to read a man (manual) for, so for this it would be:
man apt.conf
And it should describe some of the information in there for you. At the bottom of that file it will have "See also" man pages for other configurations you can look at with regards to (WRT is the acronym for that you may see from time to time) apt. So by looking at:
man apt
You will see "See also" and things like apt-get apt-cdrom What these mean is if you type:
man apt-cdrom
A new manual page (man page) will pop up with more information.

It's a great tool, but the only draw back is that sometimes man pages assume you know how to use the application, hence my comment on the 'lawyer gibberish' but that's what we are all here for. We will help you through those parts that you don't quite understand. Other places to look for info are:
google.com/linux
And you should also look at the tutorial (linux 101) over at www.linux.org

The man pages are your friend, even though sometimes they can seem very frustrating!

;)

Cool

man wtf what am i suppose to do i dont know wut to do!!! ahahah this is so confusing! :(

i got the make menuconfig page do still read the man pages?
linux kernel 2.4.21 configuration menu*

You mean the kernel configuration?

Yeah, it can definitly be confusing at first. Especially if you are having to run it from menuconfig like that instead of xconfig from a gui. Just do your best to go down through each menu and enter the sub-menu's to find configurations for your machine. You should read the help files associated with each option (I know, there are tons, don't expect to do it all tonight) to decide whether it fits your needs/hardware/setup/situation at all.

Here's another option that I've personally never used but it would seem quite a few people have had luck with it (realize it could very well end up being even harder to figure out). Anyway, get out of the kernel configuration screen, exit exit and exit until you are back to the dark place. Then type:
make oldconfig
And it will go through and take your current kernel's setup and create the new kernel's config from it. Where there are changes from kernel to kernel it will ask you what you want to do (the place where the confusion will kick in and not be so easy to figure out because of the lack of graphicial help file ). If you can navigate through that, you can have a nearly-the-same kernel as you've got now, but in addition to that you'll have the newly compiled source sitting there to feed your drivers too.

Cool

Yes because we are talking about 2 different things ;) The man pages, apt and GCC are all a seperate (yet pertaining to) topic from the kernel conversation. Let me try to summarize to see if that'll help:

We need to compile you a kernel so you can compile the nvidia stuff against your current kernel. To compile a kernel we need a compiler. GCC is your compiler, but to get that installed takes A LOT of other packages. To get those packages resolved easily, we are trying to use apt as it's designed to resolve dependency issues MUCH easier.

SO:
apt to get GCC. GCC to compile kernel. Kernel to get Nvidia drivers installed. NVidia stuff all installed so your stuff works.

:)

Cool

the command make oldconfig says make:*** no rule to make target 'old config'.stop.
plus i have noidea how to use apt to install all the gcc and its dependisy

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong, and doing it all the hard way.... Let's try this instead, stop me if we've gone over this:

Find the RPM on your install CD's labeled something like:
kernel-source.2.4.19-16.i386.rpm
The numbers will be different but it should start out with the above.
Then install it with:
rpm -Uvh kernel-source.2.4.19-16.i386.rpm
Again, numbers will likely be different ;)

If you get an error, or find it requires something, find that file it needs and install that file first, then try installing it again.

Then...
Head back over to the NVIDIA site, try downloading 2 or 3 of the RPM's nearest the kernel version you are using (don't worry about what it was compiled for) and then attempt to install them:
rpm -Uvh filenname.i386.rpm
IF it doesn't work, uninstall it:
rpm -e filename
And move onto the next one.
**Note: When uninstalling files, leave off the ix86.rpm portion of the filename.

Cool

Make sure you are in the directory we created when we unpacked the kernel source:
cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.21

Then do that again.

And oldconfig is all one word.

Cool