[SOLVED] I need a new video card but it has to work with Slackware

cwizardone · 02-06-2018, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garpu

ONe trick to putting in a new power supply, if you don't have an extra set of hands, is to flip the computer upside-down, so it's resting on the top. Then put in the power supply, and gravity will hold it in place while you screw it down.,,,

Recently I was shopping for a new ATX tower case and noticed they all had the power supply installed in the bottom of the case, or, as you say, upside down.

BW-userx · 02-06-2018, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwizardone

Recently I was shopping for a new ATX tower case and noticed they all had the power supply installed in the bottom of the case, or, as you say, upside down.

It does not matter if the electricity is upside down or not, it is ambidextrous like that.

rdx · 02-06-2018, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedra

nouveau is the opensource nvidia driver. It does not play nice with the official binary driver provided by nvidia. You need to disable it if you want to use the binary nvidia driver. There are a couple of ways to do this in slackware. The binary installer provided by nvidia should do it, but I find the easiest way is to use the package provided by slackware in the /extra directory. You can download it with the below command

Code:

wget http://slackware.osuosl.org/slackware64-14.2/extra/xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist/xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist-noarch-1.txz

then you can install it with "installpkg xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist-noarch-1.txz".

When that is done you can now install the nvidia drivers using the .run file provided by nvidia or use the SBo slackbuild at www.slackbuilds.org

This looks very promising, but ... It specifies 14.2 and I'm still running 14.1. My efforts to get 14.2 to install have not gone smoothly, the boot DVD I burned ... well, that's another story for another thread, lol.

I tried the SlackBuild NVIDIA stuff (for 14.1) but the site (download.Nvidia.com) timed out. Ah, for the good old days when mfgrs wanted to be helpful.

rdx · 02-06-2018, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedra

I am a little lost, are you saying you have an nvidia card, but your problem is when you boot nothing happens (screen goes blank etc)? I have had this problem in the past, and it was caused by the nouveau driver. What I did was use the installation DVD to boot the system, then when the system is booted you can mount the DVD and install the xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist-noarch-1.txz file in the /extra directory. Or once the system is booted from the Disc use "links" to download the file and install it.

Allow me to recap the situation: I have a HP Pavilion p7-1512 PC which has two onboard video circuits connecting to DVI connectors. The 2nd channel seems to have died so only one monitor works. I bought a video card, a GEFORCE GT 710-SL-1GD5-BRK and installed it. It works fine with WIN 8.1 (I kept WIN, put Slackware on a separate drive) but when I try to boot Linux it stops with a line saying:

[...] fb: conflicting fb hw usage nouveaufb vs EFI VGA - removing generic driver.

The screen doesn't go black but the boot process just stops at that point. Any attempt to install a driver wants to see the card in place so I can't use the automatics at geforce.com or install the .run from nvidia.com. I've tried several cards (nice return policy at the store) but none work, and only NVIDIAs are available there. I really like having two monitors, it makes things easier.

BTW, I'm not looking for performance, this is not my game computer. I am doing software development for AI and machine learning, and gnuplot is about as graphic as I get, except when I use blender to make videos. Nothing complicated.

Daedra · 02-06-2018, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdx

This looks very promising, but ... It specifies 14.2 and I'm still running 14.1. My efforts to get 14.2 to install have not gone smoothly, the boot DVD I burned ... well, that's another story for another thread, lol.

I tried the SlackBuild NVIDIA stuff (for 14.1) but the site (download.Nvidia.com) timed out. Ah, for the good old days when mfgrs wanted to be helpful.

I did post the link for 14.2 but that file will work on 14.1, but for the sake of correctness

Code:

wget http://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-14.1/extra/xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist/xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist-noarch-1.txz

Did you try this page for the nvidia driver http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html?

Ian M · 02-06-2018, 02:22 PM

You could try booting it up without the nvidia card installed and then follow the advice from this thread about the same problem https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ng-4175528025/ basically the same as enorbet suggested earlier. Hopefully then it will work once you reinstall the nvidia card.

rdx · 02-07-2018, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ztcoracat

When you get a chance please answer RadicalDreamer's question is post #7.

Sorry to be so slow but nouveau is new to me, as is blacklisting and I am treading slowly to avoid a catastrophe if possible.
As a backup plan, I have installed 14.2 on my other computer, the Dell w/ WIN/10 that I use for games. It's not ideal (only room for 1 HD) but it does support two monitors. However installing a new system is time consuming, installing so many dependencies and all.

rdx · 02-07-2018, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian M

You could try booting it up without the nvidia card installed and then follow the advice from this thread about the same problem https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ng-4175528025/ basically the same as enorbet suggested earlier. Hopefully then it will work once you reinstall the nvidia card.

This is a good suggestion and I am going to do it. Thank you and enorbet.

rdx · 02-07-2018, 11:18 AM

Ok, good news and bad. The good news is that blacklisting nouveau got the system to boot. Once it was running I ran the driver install .run file successfully. The bad news is:

Loading extension GLX
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE no screens found(EE)
(EE)

So I think its a big step forward but not quite the final solution.

enorbet · 02-07-2018, 12:14 PM

Yes that is a big step forward and it looks like only one hurdle remains - identifying usable "Screen" in "/etc/X11/xorg.conf". There are several ways to set this up but a simple generic one should suffice.

First, get information on your monitor as to what it's native resolution is. For discussion's sake until you mention the brand/model I'll use mine which is a Vizio 32" Smart TV whose native resolution is 1920 x 1080. You can use the lines by substituting your monitor(s) resolution. On your dual monitor machine there will be more lines to accommodate both but you can start with one and let "nvidia-settings" (run as root via "kdesu nvidia-settings" so it can write to xorg.conf is a good idea) to add the second. Also, if you run the NVIDIA-foo.run file with "--extract-only" it will setup the excellent documentation in an easy to find location where you can seek dual monitor setup and options.

Back to original PC with one monitor here is all you need do once you know native resolution. Make sure these lines exist in "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" with your numbers.

Code:

 
Section "Screen"

    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "metamodes" "1920x1080_60 +0+0"

That should satisfy Xorg's screen selection and allow X to load successfully.

Daedra · 02-07-2018, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdx

Ok, good news and bad. The good news is that blacklisting nouveau got the system to boot. Once it was running I ran the driver install .run file successfully. The bad news is:

Loading extension GLX
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE no screens found(EE)
(EE)

So I think its a big step forward but not quite the final solution.

To expand on what enorbet asked you...

When the installer asked you to create Xorg server configuration file did you select yes? Here is some info from the Arch wiki but it is relevant to Slackware too.

Code:

Configuration

The proprietary NVIDIA graphics card driver does not need any Xorg server configuration file. You can run a test to see if the Xorg server will function correctly without a configuration file. However, it may be required to create a configuration file (prefer /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf over /etc/X11/xorg.conf) in order to adjust various settings. This configuration can be generated by the NVIDIA Xorg configuration tool, or it can be created manually. If created manually, it can be a minimal configuration (in the sense that it will only pass the basic options to the Xorg server), or it can include a number of settings that can bypass Xorg's auto-discovered or pre-configured options.
Tip: For more configuration options see NVIDIA/Tips and tricks#Manual configuration and NVIDIA/Troubleshooting section.
Minimal configuration

A basic configuration block in 20-nvidia.conf (or deprecated in xorg.conf) would look like this:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Nvidia Card"
        Driver "nvidia"
        VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
        BoardName "GeForce GTX 1050 Ti"
EndSection

Automatic configuration

The NVIDIA package includes an automatic configuration tool to create an Xorg server configuration file (xorg.conf) and can be run by:

# nvidia-xconfig

This command will auto-detect and create (or edit, if already present) the /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration according to present hardware.

Essentially check /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d and see if you have a nvidia.conf file there, if not run the "nvidia-xconfig" utility to create one, or make one yourself, the only info you really need in the file is

Code:

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Nvidia Card"
        Driver "nvidia"
        VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
        BoardName "GeForce XXXXX"
EndSection

then save the file as /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/nvidia.conf, now X should start for you.

enorbet · 02-07-2018, 12:41 PM

IIRC while arch uses "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d", by default Slackware does not. It is old school at "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" instead.

Daedra · 02-07-2018, 12:51 PM

You are correct about xorg.conf, but if I am not mistaken you can just use /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d for individual configurations if you don't want to make an xorg.conf file?

rdx · 02-07-2018, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enorbet

Yes that is a big step forward and it looks like only one hurdle remains - identifying usable "Screen" in "/etc/X11/xorg.conf". There are several ways to set this up but a simple generic one should suffice.

First, get information on your monitor as to what it's native resolution is. For discussion's sake until you mention the brand/model I'll use mine which is a Vizio 32" Smart TV whose native resolution is 1920 x 1080. You can use the lines by substituting your monitor(s) resolution. On your dual monitor machine there will be more lines to accommodate both but you can start with one and let "nvidia-settings" (run as root via "kdesu nvidia-settings" so it can write to xorg.conf is a good idea) to add the second. Also, if you run the NVIDIA-foo.run file with "--extract-only" it will setup the excellent documentation in an easy to find location where you can seek dual monitor setup and options.

Back to original PC with one monitor here is all you need do once you know native resolution. Make sure these lines exist in "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" with your numbers.

Code:

 
Section "Screen"

    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "metamodes" "1920x1080_60 +0+0"

That should satisfy Xorg's screen selection and allow X to load successfully.

My main screen is an Acer K202HQL (1600x900_60) and to the left is an HP LE1911 (1280x1024_60).
I am editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf which was created by the Nvidia .run, but entering the lines as you show above does not have an effect; same (EE) no screens found(EE)

rdx · 02-07-2018, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedra

To expand on what enorbet asked you...

When the installer asked you to create Xorg server configuration file did you select yes?

Yes, I let the .run file create a new xorg.conf