Hmmmm I might be wrong, but it seems that for my 64 install it is always 2 and for 32 it's always 1. I will look a little further into this.

Edit: While I don't dispute what you are quoting, a quick test (starting downloads of 32 bit drivers which I already have 64 bit drivers labelled as pkgrun2......I don't edit the names) Always started to download a pkgrun1 file. Maybe I'm missing something?

That might be true, but maybe a coincidence?

One thing I can say (not with 100% certainty but it *looks* this way) is that when I download a pkg1 file, it's a little over 20 MB (wow it's grown; used to be like 9 MB a couple years ago!) and when I download a pkg2 file, it is 40MB :/ -- that's a darned big package, considering the main difference according to nvidia is that there's an extra kernel interface included.

I can only speculate, that when there may be a pkg3 file released, will it be 60 MB !?!? Getting ridiculous :p

Sasha

I'm not sure, although the 64 bit installer DOES include additional 32 bit compatability which would make them larger.

Ahh yes of course :) I had not thought of that, the 32bit compatibility stuff.

tks manny. will be collecting this information for you shortly!

i've read so much about linux and how stable it is and although i am enjoying this challenge, i'm put off by the fact that this shouldn't BE a challenge. then again, this is the type of question i'll be asked some day and thanks to you folks i'll know what to say!

EDIT: its all 32bit i'm running...

EDIT: k. back at machine now, got a kvm to jump back and fourth.
seeing how x wont start, what editor should i use to open those files and copy them? i've used vi in the past but it was a little... difficult over my common wordpad use? it's the only linux text editor i've used (and want to use) but i hope theres something easier just for this data collection?
i've used lynx before and shouldn't have any problems navigating the forum to post the results.

As rootThat will probably get you into X using the Vesa driver Since Slack 13 doesn't require xorg.conf to startx.

perfect! thanks!!!!

please tell me what portions of these files you need so i can edit them down some.

/var/log/nvidia-installer.log...

ok. i'm copy paste the entire file. not working... it's too big (thats what she said). which portions of these files do you need?


EDIT: it's getting late here. I really gotta hit the hay. will post requested portions of files when I know what you guys need. I'm gonna e-mail the files to myself so no matter where I am I'll be able to bring them up. I feel like such an idiot but thanks everyone so far for the help.

Hard to say, you can try pastebin.com or try to copy the last 10 lines of nvidia-installer.log, same for Xorg.0.log. and as much as you can from xorg.conf, specially Section "Module", Section "Device" and Section "Screen" and modprobe nvidia.

Well, it is a challenge if it's something you're not familiar with. There's a learning curve with Slackware that may be too much for some people at some particular time, and some other people start with newbie friendly distros and eventually move to Slackware, Gentoo, etc. or even the BSDs. I know many people may disagree, but if it's your first Gnu/Linux install there are probably easier distributions to get you started.
Here are some popular ones: Linux-Mint and Ubuntu.
If you want a Slackware based distro I've heard good things about Absolute-Linux and Vector-Linux. (They must have their own forums too)
I guess it's mostly a personal preference, you can try again or try an easier one, good luck anyways!

Here's how I get NVIDIA to work on my GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 after fresh install of Slackware 13.0 32-bit:

NOTE: THIS POST ASSUMES YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A SLACKBUILD SCRIPT AND HOW TO BUILD AND INSTALL SLACKBUILD PACKAGES. THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER THREADS ON HOW TO DO THIS, AND I WILL NOT REPEAT THEM HERE. SEE SLACKBUILDS.ORG FOR THE HOW-TOs. YOU MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING ;)!

1. As root: This allows me to use X at 1024x768 because the card tries to default to a higher resolution than my HP vf51 flat panel can handle ;).

2. As user: NOTE: As this is my first post, I am unable to post links. Sorry for the inconvenience, so I put the URLs in paren's, just add the h ttp:// in front of them, and you will be ok ;)

3. Point Firefox to ( slackbuilds.org/result/?search=nvidia&sv=13.0 ). Be sure to READ THE DOCUMENTATION FOR LIBRARY DEPENDENCIES FOR THE DRIVER! Get the driver and kernel and all dependencies: ( slackbuilds.org/repository/13.0/libraries/libvdpau/ ) There is only this one from the site. I used the 190.42 driver and kernel. Now end your X session (I use KDE, don't know what you use.)

4. As root: Build the dependency libraries first. Resulting package will be saved in /tmp. Then issue This will install the library dependency for the nvidia driver and ensure the library can be located.

5. As root: Build the nvidia kernel. Follow the same steps to install the kernel as you did for the library in step 4.

6. As root: Build the nvidia driver. Follow the same steps to install the driver as you did for the kernel and libvdpau.

7. As root: There is a note about making sure the nvidia driver is ENABLED in xorg.conf. You can probably safely ignore this, as we are going to let nvidia write our xorg.conf file next.

8. As user: 9. In KDE: Applications > Settings > NVIDIA X Server Settings. Click on X Server Display Configuration. Notice the button to Save to X configuration File? After you have the display the way you want it, click this button. By default, the configurator wants to write the file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, but since we are in a user account, and not root, save it to your home directory. Click browse, click ../, click ../, click home/, then click your username. Save the file there.

10. Log out of your KDE session, back to terminal. As root: NVidia is now working with 3D Acceleration and all!

Hope this helps.

ET1(SW) Retired. (Just ET1, for short.)

Sorry couldn't post the links, this is my first post!

I'm enjoying slackware for sure. anything that makes me wanna break it after 10 trys deserves respect. I actually went out and bought a book about ubuntu and started there. After making it through the book and playing with ubuntu I realized it's not what I'm looking for because I never found it challenging. The install was simple, it found my hardware when it booted the first time. Installed it. And the pkg manger was simple. It felt like a funny looking windows, not a new challenging OS like slackware has been thus far!

Will work on the suggestions here when back home today

Damarious: I felt the same way some years ago when I downloaded several distributions to try, and then came across Slackware. I wanted a challenge, but more than that, I wanted stability. I have grown to love this wonderful distribution, and hope you find it to be as satisfying as I have.

Regards,

ET1

Wow. Very interesting read, all the way through...

The EASIEST way to install the Nvidia proprietary driver (For whatever card you use)

• Download the correct driver from Nvidia.com. Save it ANYWHERE YOU WANT. Just remember where you saved it.
• Leave X. Either init 3 or whatever, but you need the cli w/out the X server running. Log in as root.
• Go to where you downloaded the Nvidia file.
• type
  Code:

  ---

  sh NV*ru*

  ---

• Follow the prompts, always saying "Yes" except "Do you want to find a kernel module on the internet" prompt (You can answer "Yes" here, too, but it won't find one. You would just take longer...lol)
• Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf for whatever other stuff you need (mice, trackballs, trackpads, whatever). And, you're Done. Reboot into the X server, and away you go.

While a Slackbuild is nice, in this instance, it just doesn't make sense. You won't need to uninstall the driver. A Slackbuild just adds TONS of extra steps and complexity that, in this case, is not needed.

6 steps. Really. How easy can it get?

hey folks. I gotta thank you all for the suggestions and apologize that i haven't been able to get to them lately. flooded apartment has been a hassle. hope to return to setting up this machine middle next week with the winner of "help this noob"

EDIT:
Just in case anyone stumbles here from google, it turns out the problem wasn't slackware or linux at all. It was my KVM switch. Slackware couldn't detect my LCD monitor type and therefor always loaded a default VESA config. I've instilled many flavors since then and whenever I do, I remove the KVM and don't use it until AFTER a distro has been installed and configured... Cheap switch I guess :)