Hi,
I wanted to install the new Nvidia drivers off the net, but when I try to run the installer, it tells me to exit x and try again. I have failsafe as one of my options in GDM, but the installer still tells me to exit x. How do I get to a command line? Also, is there another way I can install the drivers through apt-get?

Thank you
Dswissmiss

As root
init 3


Cheers,
Tink

Hi..

From your GUI, press <Ctrl - Alt - F1> to get a console..now login as root and give the command:

init 3

This will boot you into runlevel 3. Now you can try running the installer program again.

--amit

I think you can do "init 3" from an X Terminal (or GNOME Terminal, Konsole, etc.). Just su before you do it.

from the GUI crtl+alt+backspace after x shuts down logout then login as root at least this works with slack

Hi guys, thanx for your help...

I'm not having any luck with this though , maybe I'm missing something.

From the GDM I do a Ctrl-ALT-F1 which seems to end x, and leaves me with a console login.
After I log in as root and type init 3, I get a init 3 runlevel starting dialog, but then nothing. I type enter, then get root@localhost, then do the sh NVIDIA.... but it still seems to think that I'm running x.

any ideas?

Thanx again
Dswissmiss

Ctrl-Alt-F1
login from the console as root
run "killall -9 gdm" and "killall -9 XFree86"

damn...i still get "x server running"

also, i was just browsing synaptic and I have nvidia-kernel-common (newest version) installed, along with the nvidia-kernel-source, but sarge only shows nvidia-kernel-2.4.25. I have 2.6.3-1 installed, will I even be able to upgrade using apt-get?

If all else fails you could just change the default runlevel in /etc/inittab, reboot , then when your done change it back.

The whole "init 3" thing isn't working because that's not how the runlevels are numbered in debian.

Here's how I do it:
ctrl-alt-f1
"/etc/init.d/gdm stop"
do nvidia stuff
"/etc/init.d/gdm start"

Thanx jcspray, I finally got it working.

Only thing is, it couldn't find the kernel thing for 2.6.3-1 (I think it was looking for (nvidia-kernel-2.6.3-1").

I guess this is a debian question, but how long would it take for the new ones to come out (couldn't find it in sid either), and would I really notice a difference if I reverted back to 2.4.25-1 and installed nvidia there?

thanx

in debian try init 1 the installer will complain about it just ignore it. or change the default runlevel in your /etc/inittab then reboot.

So you're running a 2.6.3 kernel? Did you build it yourself, or was it a debian package?

To build this nvidia driver, you need a kernel source tree that corresponds to the kernel that you're running. If it's a debian package, there should be a corresponding source package in the apt respository ("kernel-source-2.6.3" to go with "kernel-image-2.6.3-[whatever]"). Once you've extracted the archive in /usr/src/, you can copy the config from /boot to /usr/src/linux/.config and do a "make bzImage" in /usr/src/linux. This source should now be prepared to build the nvidia driver from.