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it0hg 10-24-2005 11:51 AM

nVidia driver issue
 
I'm a :newbie: to Mepis, and I can't get my nVidia drivers working. I have a GeForce FX 5200 video card with all the latest compatible driver files through Synaptic. If I try to install the new drivers from the nVidia website, I get an error message saying that I need my kernel source (which I have). If I try to use to nVidia drivers shipped with Mepis through the OS Center, after the reboot I can't access KDE, it just acts as though my monitor is unplugged. Please, any help you can offer would be great. I reeeally don't want to go back to Window$. I love Mepis but I just can't deal with not being able to play my games.

Thanks in advance,
it0hg

pingu 10-25-2005 07:10 AM

This is not very uncommon, and seldom difficult to fix.
I assume you can get to a text-prompt at least, (ctrl+alt+F1 or boot in single mode for example)
Check /var/log/XFree86.0.log for error messages, post the output here if you don't understand it.
You could also check your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, there are a few things to watch for:
Code:

Section "Device"
  Identifier  "Card0"
  Driver "nvidia"
  BoardName "unknown"
 #BusID  "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

You change driver by changing Dī"nvidia" to something else, in your case you can use "nv" to not load a faulty nvidia-driver (just during fixing, it's "nvidia" you'll use in the end).
Probably more interresting is:
Code:

Section "Screen"
  Identifier "Screen0"
  Device "Card0"
  Monitor "Monitor0"
  DefaultColorDepth 16
  SubSection "Display"
  Depth 15
  Modes "1024x768"
  EndSubSection
  SubSection "Display"
  Depth 16
  Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768"
  EndSubSection
  SubSection "Display"
 EndSubSection

Here my default colour-depth is 16, and the resolutions used are therefore 1280x1024 and 1024x768
Make sure your settings are correct, start with a lower resolution to see what works.

springshades 10-25-2005 07:40 AM

So just to relay my experience with Mepis and a GeForce 4 card, when I installed the operating system it installed the official nvidia drivers by default. Did you check to see whether or not you already had the official drivers installed? They may not be the most up to date drivers, but with an older card like yours or mine, you don't really need the most up to date drivers. If a game like Tuxracer works for you, then you're probably fine and don't need to change anything. You shouldn't have to download the drivers from the nvidia website with mepis.

it0hg 10-25-2005 01:36 PM

Alright. I'm only allowed to go to the prompt if I reboot with the 2.4 kernel, if I boot with 2.6, my keyboard stops working. I edited the XF86Config-4 file and checked the other file for errors. I can get back into KDE, but still with no 3D acceleration, like I had just installed config-X. What now?

springshades 10-25-2005 03:34 PM

Oh, one thing that may not have been clear to you if you decide to compile the nvidia drivers from their website. You need a "configured" kernel source. First of all, that means you need to follow the directions at mepis.org for getting Mepis kernel source. You need to download the vanilla kernel source along with the patches that mepis applies and you have to manually patch them in manually. Next, you'll probably have to go through the initial steps of compiling the kernel up until you get to the make deps step I believe. Otherwise, most module compilations that require the kernel source will fail.

it0hg 10-25-2005 08:50 PM

Thanks for the info, but right now I'm only really interested getting the older drivers that ship with Mepis working.

BittaBrotha 11-13-2005 07:58 AM

Ok, I'm having a similar issue. I just installed a nvidia video card and now I can't get into KDE and I don't have the iso cd anymoe.

Is there a way to apt-get install the nvidia drivers similar to Ubuntu's way?

Thnx.

BittaBrotha 11-13-2005 10:55 PM

Well, I got mine working by typing this in a console:

Using su, apt-get install nvidia-glx
apt-get install nvidia-glx-settings

Than you have to go in KDE, Display & Mouse section to enable nVidia.

Reboot and everythings working for me.


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