Trouble installing nvidia drivers
 

I've been having a problem installing legacy drivers for my old geforce 4; I run the file, and after it builds the kernel module, it gives the error message: "ERROR: unable to load the kernel module 'nvidia.ko'. this happens most frequently when this kernel module was built against the wrong or improperly configured kernel sources, with a version of gcc that differs from the one used to build the target kernel or if a driver such as rivafb/nvidiafb is present and prevents the nvidia kernel module from obtaining ownership of the NVIDIA graphics device(s)."
I'm running slack 13.1, the card is a geforce 4 Ti 4200 AGP 8x.

what EXACT driver is it ?
there is only ONE that runs on xorg 1.8
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/96.43.18/
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.18-pkg1.run

HOWEVER you might get a warning about a different gcc used
as i recall, i think, nvidia used gcc 4.3 ?

I'm not entirely sure about what gcc nvidia used, but that is the driver version I'm using; or at least attempting to.

bump

I'm at a loss too with slackware current and nVidia 96.43.18

only distro I can get to correctly install for my mx4000 is Ubuntu 10.04 (96.43.14) and I think its still off a bit
I doubt it will work for you either...but post back if you find a solution please

do you have the correct kernel source installed
-- the source for THE RUNNING kernel --

and what do the slackware build books and documents say about installing the nvidia.run driver ?

also it is my understanding that this 96 driver is the very last !!!

and very very shortly there will be no support for any gforce 4 or older cards
for any new kernels and versions of x11


for old hardware ( 8 years and older)
i would run RHEL 5 or CentOS 5 . CentOS 5.5 is the current
and CentOS / RHEL 6 -- do in Dec. 2010 -- should still support the old GeForce4 card

or run a Debian EL
-- something with a 5 to 7 year support



that driver worked for me for a older GeForce 2 mx 400

on Arch ( soon not to ) CentOS5.5
and older versions ran on fedora 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 and centOS 5.3,5.4 and OpenSUSE 11.1

The current version of Xorg is the culprit --breaks darn near every NVidia driver prior to the 253. series.

If you're compelled to use the older drivers for your older card, you may need to backlevel to the Xorg from Slackware 12.2 This was what I needed to do (even on Slack 13.0, but on kernel 2.6.34.4) until I was ready to make the jump from the NVidia 173. series to the 253. series.

The Nvidia drivers at Slackbuilds.org don't work for you?

they dont work for me, they install OK and such
but Xorg wont start, tried many things

NO it dose NOT break them . They are for cards that are no longer supported BECAUSE those cards are SO OLD .
That the new xorg 1.8 is NOT supported

however the 173 and 96 that are up do work . Nvidia did make a fix after a month and they do work .
BUT if you need to use a legacy 3d card then use a long life distro on that legacy hardware .

It has NOTHING to do with the "lifetime" of the distro.

STOP YOUR SPOUTING!

Since you have ABSOLUTELY no clue to what you are saying, I will explain it in simple terms that a linux-ignorant-clown can understand.

The issue is between 3 things:

1. The version of Xorg being used.
2. What GCC version is used in the driver build (Nvidia's), and what version of GCC is on the users desktop. If Nvidia and the users differ too much, the Nvidia installer chokes.
3. The Nvidia drivers had/has an issue with the newest Xorg.

So..

IF your distro uses Xorg 1.8+, the older 'legacy' drivers may not work, or if your GCC version is different. It happens. Software changes over time, and the old 'legacy' drivers for Nvidia has stayed the same.

And Slackware IS a long-term support distro. I can install my copy of Slackware 3.1 (What, 10 years old?) and STILL get updates for needed stuff.

So take your Slackware hating, non-Linux knowing, only use what you've been given by someone else, and IGNORANT posing off this forum.

Go back to Windows 95. It's 'long term support' is ending, too. Maybe you'll cry

Just as a curiosity, what bootloader are you using? I used to have the same problem when double-booting from Grub2 and the first option would boot the non-SMP kernel. When I booted from the second option, it was the SMP kernel and everything worked fine.

I don't think the issue particularly has to do with the bootloader or SMP vs. non-SMP kernels, but is likely as cwwilson172 has laid it out. (I had the problem as of July with 173. and 185. series drivers for a Geforce 8400, on grub 0.97 with a custom SMP 2.6.34.4 kernel.)

But I see that, since then, among NVidia's archived legacy drivers on their site, 96. seems to be the only one that doesn't mention having been specifically patched up for Xorg 1.8.

So I still suspect that if dustin2128 can't get 96. to compile and install properly on his 13.1 machine, he may have success if he uses the older Xorg related packages from 12.2, which will certainly run on 13.1. If he still can't get the NVidia installer to compile and install the thing against the older Xorg, then possibly gcc would have to be backleveled also (though I didn't run into the gcc version issue mentioned by cwwilson721). So far as I recall, the NVidia installer protests when the gcc version doesn't match the version that compiled the running kernel, but nevertheless allows you to complete the installation.

The other possibility is, since the OP has such an old card, to get/use the Nouveau drivers.

I've never tried them for older hardware, but it SHOULD, at least, give the old card longer life and good 2d acceleration, with SUPPOSED 3d in the future.

Plus, they ARE open source.

I don't know anything about 3D support. But from a 2D perspective, it seems that about the only thing Open Source NVidia drivers can't do adequately is HD TV playback from some app like Mythtv. For everything else, Open Source drivers are perfectly fine.