# nVidia Drivers & X problems...half way through but no work!

## SRC_DoD

ok i've been following these two guides to try and set everything up without bugging you nice forum people.

Gentoo X.Org HowTo

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xorg-config.xml

Gentoo Linux nVidia HowTo

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/nvidia-guide.xml

as far as the nVidia driver installation i've gotten as far as 

```
modeprobe nvidia

modules-update
```

without any problems.  

i then went back to the Xorg configuration howto to try and see if i could get one of the auto config programs to make everything work easily.  ha yea right, not today bud!  i continued to follow the nVidia guide to customize my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.  after setting it up like it said

 *Quote:*   

> Open /etc/X11/xorg.conf (or /etc/X11/XF86Config if you still use the older configuration file location) with your favorite editor (such as nano or vim) and go to the Device section. In that section, change the Driver line:
> 
> Code Listing 2.13: Changing nv to nvidia in the X Server configuration
> 
> Section "Device"
> ...

 

in the next section i get a small simple nasty error

 *Quote:*   

> Run opengl-update so that the X Server uses the nVidia GLX libraries:
> 
> Code Listing 2.16: Running opengl-update
> 
> # opengl-update nvidia
> ...

 

with the error

 *Quote:*   

> Error: unable to open ndisplay (null)

 

so i tried to run X anyways with the conf file auto generated (/root/xorg.conf.net) and the standard one i edited according to the nVidia howto (/etc/X11/xorg.conf) and here are the errors respectively.

```
_XSERVtransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for inet6

_XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for inet6/Adam Turner Linux:0

_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTServerListeners: filaed to open listener for inet6

...

using config file "/root/xorg.conf.new"

using vt 7

(EE) Nvidia(0): failed to initialize the NVIDIEA kernel module!  (i DID however install this and from what i could tell error free...)

(EE)Nidia(0): *** aborting***

(EE)Nvidia(0): Scree(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

Fatal server error:

no screens found
```

and the /etc/X11/xorg.conf output...

the first 5 lines are the same, after words these errors

```

(EE) Failed to initialize GLX extensions (NVIDIA X driver not found)

(EE) xf86OpenSerial: cannot open input device

(EE) PreInit fialed for inpud device "MOUSE1"

No core pointer

Fatal Server Error:

failed to initialize core device

```

i'd post the configs but i'm on a windowsxp laptop and it would take a while to type up.

here's my lspci | grep VGA

VGA compatibale controller: nVidia corp NV17 [GeForce4 MX 420]

and lsmod | grep nvidia

nvidia 3469820 0

forgive any typos i've made, this might be the WORST design of a laptop keyboard.  

:-\ (point proven, this pathetic face is supposed to be at the end but damn keyboard!)[/code]

oh yea and please help a retard over here 

EDIT:

upon reading another thread with the same can't load screen error i ran NVmakedevices.sh, and now when i run

```

X -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf
```

screen goes black cursor top left corner blinks 3-5 times and freezes as does the machine.  crapshute!

----------

## NeddySeagoon

SRC_DoD,

Check the vesrion of the nvidia drier you are using with 

```
emerge -s nvidia-glx
```

If its 1.0.6629, upgrade to the testing one, its much less trouble to make work. Read man portage -  the bit about /etc/portage/package.keywords

Add 

```
media-video/nvidia-glx

media-video/nvidia-kernel
```

there, plus any keywork masked dependancies the emerge now complains about.

----------

## SRC_DoD

it is 1.0.6629-r7.   not sure if thats the same since u didn't give a release but i'll try what yo usaid and get back

edit:

package.keywords doesn't exit, gonna just make it and see what happens....

on a side note i have to run dhcpcd every time i boot and i get an error when the bootscreen tries to run it on its own.  any clues?  do i need to edit it somewhere to say run dhcpcd as su root?

second edit:

ran emerge w/ the keywords u suggested, rebooted, ran modprobe and modules-update.

from what i understand glxinfo will only run from inside X, so i'm emerging KDE now (walk away for a month!) 

before i go on configuring X is everything ok here?  what else can i do to test, i'm somewhat concerned

----------

## Nightmist

I have a similar problem. I have a new GeForce card, namely 7800 GTX. Everything seemed to work, up until when I had to edit the xorg.conf file. The only thing I coukd get X to work with was the VESA driver. Also, after reading in the kernel about framebuffering in 2.6 I didn't enable it, as it said it wasn't necessary or something. But my splash screen wont work, though. So do I have to enable framebuffer? And what type?

I'm not sure I understood what was said about the test driver. Could you explain that a bit? And can anyone with a working xorg.conf using a new Nvidia card post their xorg.conf file?

Thanks.

----------

## SRC_DoD

ah nothing more ironic then providing some help in my own question forum!

the 'test' drivers are drivers that nvidia has released that they say are completely safe.  but typically that means added security and yadda.  if u want a damn tight box, server-ish...and in that case u don't need a gui.  :Smile: 

the stable ones are drivers nvidia SAYS will be safe...but might not exactly work...  get the idea?

about the framebuffer...i used it becuase the guide said too.  and i used the vesa-tng or whatever, the second one in ur VESA support options.  after that, and the fix about using the test drivers X quit bitching.

just have to wait 8 hours to finish installing KDE!

----------

## Nightmist

 *SRC_DoD wrote:*   

> ah nothing more ironic then providing some help in my own question forum!
> 
> the 'test' drivers are drivers that nvidia has released that they say are completely safe.  but typically that means added security and yadda.  if u want a damn tight box, server-ish...and in that case u don't need a gui. 
> 
> the stable ones are drivers nvidia SAYS will be safe...but might not exactly work...  get the idea?
> ...

 

But what do I type to emerge the test driver?

I finally have KDE, but I quickly installed Fluxbox yesterday just to have something to test with.

----------

## SRC_DoD

do what was described above.   this MIGHT be the doke...

```

nano -w /etc/portage/package.keywords

```

there menter these two lines save and exit

 *Quote:*   

> media-video/nvidia-glx
> 
> media-video/nvidia-kernel

 

from there type

```
emerge nvidia-glx
```

it should take a bit to uninstall the old glx and kernel and install the new ones.  after that just incase run

```

modprobe nvidia

modules-update

```

and then start X.  if it still doesn't work try a reboot then X.

but following the help above got me set for now.[/code]

----------

## Nightmist

 *SRC_DoD wrote:*   

> do what was described above.   this MIGHT be the doke...
> 
> ```
> 
> nano -w /etc/portage/package.keywords
> ...

 

And your xorg.conf looks like it did above?

----------

## SRC_DoD

as far is changing the driver from "nv" to "nvidia", changing default color depth to 24 or 16, and enabling GLX over dri yea.  thats how it looks

----------

## Nightmist

Okay, I'm a bit confused... Here's my xorg.conf:

```
# **********************************************************************

# Graphics device section

# **********************************************************************

Section "Device"

    Identifier  "Standard VGA"

    VendorName  "Unknown"

    BoardName   "Unknown"

    Driver     "vga"

#    VideoRam   256

EndSection

# Device configured by xorgconfig:

Section "Device"

    Identifier  "* Generic VESA compatible"

    Driver      "vesa"

    #VideoRam    262144

    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate

EndSection
```

Why are there two Section "Device" ? And which one do I change?

EDIT: Never mind, I just edited out the first one. Still, that's my current xorg.conf that works. Just with the RAM in.

----------

## Nightmist

Well, I changed my xorg.conf to the nvidia stuff, but same error message still. I did the stuff with the keywords file as well. Is there a way to check what version I have? Any ideas why it wont work?

----------

## Nightmist

Here's some more info:

xorg.conf

```

Section "Module"

    Load        "dbe"   # Double buffer extension

    SubSection  "extmod"

    Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension

    EndSubSection

    Load        "type1"

#    Load        "speedo"

    Load        "freetype"

#    Load        "xtt"

Load       "glx"

#    Load       "dri"

EndSection

Section "Files"

    RgbPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"

#    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/CID/"

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/local/"

#    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo/"

#    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TrueType/"

#    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/freefont/"

EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier  "Keyboard1"

    Driver      "kbd"

    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"

    Option "XkbRules"   "xorg"

    Option "XkbModel"   "itouch"

    Option "XkbLayout"  "no"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier  "Mouse1"

    Driver      "mouse"

    Option      "Protocol"              "IMPS/2"

    Option      "Device"                "/dev/input/mice"

    Option      "ZAxisMapping"          "4 5"

    Option      "Emulate3Buttons"       "false"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"

    Identifier  "My Monitor"

    HorizSync   30-81

    VertRefresh 56-75

EndSection

Section "Device"

        Identifier "nVidia Inc. GeForce2"

        Driver "nvidia"

        VideoRam 65536

EndSection

Section "Screen"

    Identifier  "Screen 1"

    Device      "nVidia Inc. GeForce2"

    Monitor     "My Monitor"

    DefaultDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth       8

        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

        ViewPort    0 0

    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth       16

        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

        ViewPort    0 0

    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth       24

        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

        ViewPort    0 0

    EndSubsection

EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"

    Identifier  "Simple Layout"

    Screen "Screen 1"

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection

```

Version

```
# emerge -s nvidia-glx

Searching...

[ Results for search key : nvidia-glx ]

[ Applications found : 1 ]

*  media-video/nvidia-glx

      Latest version available: 1.0.8756

      Latest version installed: 1.0.8756

      Size of downloaded files: 22,375 kB

      Homepage:    http://www.nvidia.com/

      Description: NVIDIA X11 driver and GLX libraries

      License:     NVIDIA

```

(EE) Failed to initialize GLX extension (Compatible NVIDIA X driver not found)

----------

## Nightmist

HARR! Never mind, it works all of a sudden. All I had to do was restart the computer, not just X.

But I lost my sound in the process, though... hmpf... Always something.

Anyway, thanks for your help!

----------

## NeddySeagoon

Nightmist,

After you built the new nvidia-kernel module, it was installed on disk but not in memory, so the nVidia driver failed to start because of the version conflict between the old kernel part, in RAM and the new glx part.

A restart was not required, 

```
modprobe -r nvidia

modprobe nvidia
```

would have the desired effect.

----------

