How do I install the NVIDIA graphics driver on MEPIS 3.4.3?

luvr · 05-20-2006, 08:32 AM

Installing the binary NVIDIA graphics driver through the package management facilities (e.g., APT, Synaptic, etc.) has always been a mess: As soon as you upgrade anything that comes too close to the kernel, the module will break, and it is next to impossible to get it to work again.

I had experienced this problem under Ubuntu before, and I'm seeing it again under MEPIS. The module has gotten broken, and I just cannot get it to work again.

My current kernel under MEPIS 3.4.3 is 2.6.15-1-586tsc, and, according to Synaptic, there's an NVIDIA module available that should match this kernel; sure enough, I can install the module, but when I subsequently try to start the X Window System, the module doesn't seem to exist (indeed, it's not present in the modules directory), and thus, it won't run.

I know from earlier experiences with other distros, that I can install the binary driver using its own installer, and that has never given me problems; I know that whenever I compile or upgrade my kernel, the module will no longer work, but I can then, at least, simply rerun the installer, and that fixes it.

Does anybody know how I can do this under MEPIS? I know I need the kernel sources, so I installed them, but when I try to run the NVIDIA installer, it complains about some version.h file that's missing, "probably because the sources were not configured." I tried to copy the config file from /boot/grub to .config in the kernel source tree, but the make config (or menuconfig) won't work. (Sorry, but I cannot give you the error messages; I cannot retry the commands, because I have been installing, uninstalling, reinstalling so much stuff that things have gotten badly broken.)

Guess my main question is: How do I install the kernel sources so that I can use them to run the NVIDIA installer?

mdmarmer · 05-20-2006, 11:38 AM

I don't recommend installing kernel sources to get NVidia drivers

If you have a clean install Mepis 6.0 beta, the tab in Mepis OS Center will install Nvidia driver no problem

Then, probably best to pin the NVidia packages in your /etc/apt/preferences if you are worried about upgrading them accidentally

http://www.mepislovers-wiki.org/inde...nvidia_drivers

Mike

Welcome to Mepis ;-)

Download the user guide http://www.mepis.org/node/6679
Use the wiki http://www.mepislovers-wiki.org/
Post to http://www.mepislovers.org -- great forum

luvr · 05-20-2006, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Then, probably best to pin the NVidia packages in your /etc/apt/preferences if you are worried about upgrading them accidentally

It's not really the NVIDIA packages that I'm worried about, but rather the kernel (since upgrading the kernel will break the binary NVIDIA driver).

Now, if my understanding of the page that you linked to, is correct, then that will pin the kernel packages, too, so that will certainly avoid the problem.

However, I would like to be able to still upgrade the kernel and know that I can get the NVIDIA driver up and running again afterwards--which I have been unable to figure out under Ubuntu. I did find a procedure that should have allowed me to upgrade my Ubuntu kernel and use the NVIDIA driver with the upgaded kernel, but it required disabling the driver before upgrading the kernel--so that discovery came too late to help me.

luvr · 05-20-2006, 01:53 PM

In the meantime, my problem remains: the binary NVIDIA module won't load.

Here's what I find in the Xorg.O.log file about the nvidia module:

Code:

(II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
(WW) Warning, couldn't open module nvidia
(II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
(EE) Failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0)

(EE) No drivers available.

Fatal server error:
no screens found

My kernel is 2.6.15-1-586tsc, as can be seen here:

Code:

root@2[~]# uname --all
Linux wkstw0 2.6.15-1-586tsc #2 PREEMPT Sun Feb 12 15:29:08 EST 2006 i686 GNU/Linux

And here's what dpkg tells me about the kernel image and nvidia packages on my system:

Code:

root@2[~]# dpkg --list linux-image*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name                             Version                          Description
+++-================================-================================-================================================================================
un  linux-image                      <none>                           (no description available)
un  linux-image-2.6                  <none>                           (no description available)
ii  linux-image-2.6-586tsc           2.6.12-10.dcc3.0                 Linux kernel 2.6 image on 586tsc-class machines
un  linux-image-2.6.12               <none>                           (no description available)
ii  linux-image-2.6.12-1-586tsc      2.6.12-10.dcc3.0                 Linux kernel 2.6.12 image on 586tsc-class machines
un  linux-image-2.6.12-586tsc        <none>                           (no description available)
ii  linux-image-2.6.15-1-586tsc      2.6.15-3.ww1                     Linux kernel 2.6.15 image on 586tsc-class machines
root@2[~]# dpkg --list nvidia*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name                             Version                          Description
+++-================================-================================-================================================================================
pn  nvidia-glx                       <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-glx-src                   <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel                    <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-1.0.5336           <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-1.0.6106           <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-1.0.6111           <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-1.0.6629           <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-1.0.7174           <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-2.4.22             <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-2.4.25             <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-kernel-2.4.26             <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-kernel-2.4.29             <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-2.6.10             <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-kernel-2.6.12             <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-kernel-2.6.12-1-586tsc    <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-kernel-2.6.12-586tsc      <none>                           (no description available)
ii  nvidia-kernel-2.6.15-1-586tsc    1.0.7174-4+2.6.15-3.ww1          NVIDIA binary kernel module for Linux 2.6.15-1-586tsc
un  nvidia-kernel-2.6.3              <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-2.6.4              <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-kernel-2.6.5              <none>                           (no description available)
un  nvidia-kernel-2.6.7              <none>                           (no description available)
ii  nvidia-kernel-common             20051028+1                       NVIDIA binary kernel module common files
un  nvidia-kernel-source             <none>                           (no description available)
pn  nvidia-settings                  <none>                           (no description available)

How am I supposed to get the NVIDIA binary module running again?

mdmarmer · 05-20-2006, 06:23 PM

I guess I was sleeping when I replied to your message earlier today -- something persuaded me that you were doing a fresh install of Mepis 6.0

You need to start by trying to install nvidia-glx from testing, version 1.0.7174-4

apt-get install nvidia-glx=1.0.7174-4
or
apt-get install nvidia-glx -t testing

This is in the mepis repos for testing, Mepis 3.4

If your nvidia drivers still don't work you can try to install them from the nvidia installer. I have installed nvidia to Mepis this way also with no problem.

You need linux-source-2.6.15, version 2.6.15-3
linux-headers-2.6.15-1-586tsc, version 2.6.15-3.ww1
linux-headers-2.6.15-1, version 2.6.15-3.ww1

Mike

P.S. -- sometimes you need to install the nvidia-glx, nvidia-kernel, and nvidia-kernel-common all at the same time -- it doesn't always work when you install one at a time.

Also, from the live CD, if you choose the re-install X, or simply edit xorg.conf and substitute "nv" for nvidia, you'll have a GUI

Probably you already know all these things -- it sounds like you've had a lot of experience with this ;-)

luvr · 05-22-2006, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdmarmer

apt-get install nvidia-glx -t testing

Tried the above, but that seems to install an nvidia.o module for a 2.4 kernel, not for my 2.6 one.

Quote:

If your nvidia drivers still don't work you can try to install them from the nvidia installer. I have installed nvidia to Mepis this way also with no problem.

You need linux-source-2.6.15, version 2.6.15-3
linux-headers-2.6.15-1-586tsc, version 2.6.15-3.ww1
linux-headers-2.6.15-1, version 2.6.15-3.ww1

I'm trying to apt-get these packages, but I'm getting errors about the linux-headers version (expected 2.6.15-3, but found 2.6.15-8 or some such); I'll retry later, and keep more accurate records, if you need them.
Looks to me like I'm using mixed-up repositories or something.
Or am I talking nonsense now?

anticapitalista · 05-22-2006, 04:17 PM

You can get the linux-headers directly as a .deb from here:
http://apt.mepis.org/3.4/pool/linux-2.6/

Also have a look here:

http://www.mepislovers-wiki.org/inde...ks_Nvidia/Xorg

luvr · 05-24-2006, 03:44 PM

I'm giving up for now.

I installed:

linux-source-2.6.15_2.6.15-3_all.deb
linux-headers-2.6.15-1_2.6.15-3.ww1_i386.deb
linux-headers-2.6.15-1-586tsc_2.6.15-3.ww1_i386.deb

To the best of my knowledge, the "linux-source" package should allow me to configure and recompile the kernel, as well as run the NVIDIA installer. The first thing that I should do (according to some docs I found) is make oldconfig, but that fails with a bunch of errors about files that it cannot find.

Also, I'm not sure what I should do with the two "linux-headers" packages.

Anyway, I will first install MEPIS on a second PC now; that PC also has an NVIDIA graphics adapter, and I'll see if I can get the NVIDIA installer to work on that, after a clean install; that will be enough of a challenge for the time being.

MEPIS and Ubuntu are great Linux distributions, but it's a pity that the kernel sources are so hard to set up correctly. Must be ignorance on my part, I'm sure, but I guess I never suspected that it would be so hard to overcome my ignorance.