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Old 04-14-2020, 12:34 PM   #1
tnandy
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Registered: Oct 2003
Location: Tennessee
Distribution: Devuan 3.0 (Beowulf)
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NVIDIA driver module not installed following kernel upgrade


I am using the Devuan distro.

I recently ran Synaptic Package Manager, reloaded, marked all upgrades, and applied the changes. One of the changes was an upgraded kernel version from [whatever]11 to [whatever]12.

Upon reboot, all I had was a terminal screen, no graphics. The Nvidia driver module was not being loaded into the kernel as it boots. When I looked at /var/log/Xorg.0.log I saw an error message:
Code:
[    53.492] (EE) NVIDIA: Failed to initialize the NVIDIA kernel module. Please see the
[    53.492] (EE) NVIDIA:     system's kernel log for additional error messages and
[    53.492] (EE) NVIDIA:     consult the NVIDIA README for details.
After much internet searching, I realized the kernel headers for the upgraded kernel were not downloaded or installed. Unfortunately, if you look in Synaptic for "kernel-headers" you won't find anything. You have to look for "linux-headers".

I installed all the linux-headers that went with the new kernel upgrade. I then searched Synaptic for everything associated with "nvidia". I reinstalled every nvidia package that was already checked. This time the new nvidia kernel module recompiled and when I rebooted, I got the nice GUI I was expecting.

I'm submitting this new thread to hopefully save the next person the two days of searching it took me and so I can look this up the next time I run Synaptic and get a kernel upgrade.

It sure would be helpful if the kernel headers would automatically upgrade when the kernel upgrades.

Last edited by tnandy; 04-14-2020 at 12:41 PM.
 
Old 04-14-2020, 03:06 PM   #2
ehartman
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Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Delft, The Netherlands
Distribution: Slackware
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tnandy View Post
It sure would be helpful if the kernel headers would automatically upgrade when the kernel upgrades.
They do. Your problem is that the nVidia driver is not part of the kernel or its headers, it is external and will have to be recompiled everytime the kernel changes.
This is true for all kernel modules that are externally supplied (like i.e. those for VirtualBox).
Read up about DKMS about a way to make this easier.
 
  


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