# Display, kernel, nvidia, X, drivers, HARD LOCKUP [SOLVED]

## HeXiLeD

This is a long and painful 

problem report (and thank you for using your time reading it)

I have been having a very complicated nvidia problem that for that past month i have been trying to 

figure out where the problem is and fix it and i haven't been able to get to definitive conclusion and 

possible solution.

For some reason  my "display" freezes. With X and without X.

Since i have ran out of ideas here goes the report of everything that started to happen and how.

I had done emerge -e system and later -e world to try so solve other problems.  However this started and i believe 

after the first -e system ( i cannot be 100% sure )

The first time i stared to see this problem happen i was using 2 monitors.

One LCD with 1280x1024 res and a 14" CRT with 1024x768

Here is xorg config file: http://freethinker.ws/system/xorg-dual.txt (made by nvidia-settings)

If i opened a video file on the CRT and later, on the LCD, the video would fail and only show a green 

image. The sound was ok.

Later this also happened on just one monitor and it also didn't matter the which monitor i used first.

Getting the video to display properly again would require X restart or some weird things like ( rm 

/tmp/* ) or just wait until  the next day ( i think do to a cron clean /tmp job ) 

(this /tmp idea only worked a few times)

Later on and after trying to troubleshoot this, the X lookups started to happen more frequently

I would either remote ssh to the box and reboot or use the reset button.

One day .. out of nothing the LCD just turned off as if it was DPMS that did it. However the CRT was still up.

I had to restart X to get both again.

In the middle of all this i decided to use just one monitor plugged and later on i re-did xorg to 

use simple settings for just one monitor. The LCD.

Here is the final xorg config file: http://freethinker.ws/system/xorg.txt made by xorgconfig

The best i was able to get, was 3 days 'uptime' and this was after many other changes that i did and 

that  i will post bellow.

I also tried 2 Gentoo-sources.

2.6.23-r3 that  i had for a while:

http://freethinker.ws/system/2.6.23-gentoo.kernel-r3.txt

and 2.6.23-r5 that i recompiled from fresh (not using oldconfig)

http://freethinker.ws/system/2.6.23-gentoo-r5.txt

My current Linux-headers: 2.6.23-r2

i also tried several nvidia-driver packages. The current stable one (100.14.19) some 9* series ( 

older) and one masked ( 100.14.23 )

The Xorg problem remained.

My nvidia is compiled this way: 

```
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.19  USE="acpi gtk (-multilib)"
```

My Xorg has the following flags:

```
x11-base/xorg-server-1.3.0.0-r2  USE="(-3dfx) -debug -dmx -dri -ipv6 -kdrive -minimal nptl sdl xorg -xprint" 

INPUT_DEVICES="-acecad -aiptek -calcomp -citron -digitaledge -dmc -dynapro -elo2300 -elographics -evdev -fpit 

-hyperpen -jamstudio -joystick keyboard -magellan -microtouch mouse -mutouch -palmax -penmount -spaceorb -summa 

-synaptics -tek4957 -ur98 vmmouse -void -wacom" VIDEO_CARDS="apm -ark -chips -cirrus -cyrix -dummy -epson -fbdev 

-fglrx -glint -i128 (-i740) -i810 (-impact) (-imstt) -mach64 -mga -neomagic (-newport) (-nsc) nv nvidia -r128 -radeon 

-rendition -s3 -s3virge -savage -siliconmotion -sis -sisusb (-sunbw2) (-suncg14) (-suncg3) (-suncg6) (-sunffb) 

(-sunleo) (-suntcx) -tdfx -tga -trident -tseng v4l vesa vga -via vmware -voodoo" 0 kB
```

My make.conf can be seen here:

http://freethinker.ws/system/make.conf.txt

My emerge info is here:

http://freethinker.ws/system/emerge-info.txt

My video card : VGA compatible controller: Video card NVIDIA 6600 GT PCI-E with 256MB ( NV43 [GeForce 6600])

and full lspci can be seen here: http://freethinker.ws/system/board.details-lspci.txt (if it even matters)

as well as lswh @ http://freethinker.ws/system/hardware-lshw.txt

I am using only fluxbox:

```
x11-wm/fluxbox-1.0.0  USE="-disableslit -disabletoolbar -gnome imlib -kde -nls truetype -xinerama"
```

with the following configurations:

http://freethinker.ws/system/fluxbox.init.txt

http://freethinker.ws/system/fluxbox.startup.txt

I have recompiled xorg, fluxbox and nvidia and the problem remained. sooner or later  it happened.

I decided to kill X and just use the console.

Using the console only also showed problems. In fact while i still had X and the 2 monitors plugged and running i 

was able to notice that when i rebooted both monitors were displaying all the system info and init scripts info up to 

a certain point of the evolution of this problem.

When it was all working; i would get both monitors with grub's resolution settings until i started X and xorg would 

kick in, applying it's settings.

After a while this problem evolved and i would only get both monitors working until grub. 

After grub, the console would only display the startup info on the LCD and after i started X the CRT was up and 

running.

My guess here was that maybe something changed in the kernel  that affected my grub settings and the CRT was failing  due to that.

I tried using grub with some resolution settings and none at all and the problem still remained.

The console display was getting crippled.

My grub.conf can be seen here: http://freethinker.ws/system/grub.conf.txt and it always worked  like that with no issues.

Later on this problem became worse (while using just the LCD) and sometimes the console would freeze when it was 

fsck'in  the HD's (constant reset button salvation) or loading modules.

At times it would blackout after grub just showing some vertical semi lines, but basically it was all black.

There was also a couple times that it showed my 2 console penguins in the upper left corner all messed up and  the 

rest of the booting kinda unreadable (this was a resolution problem)

I kept wondering what would be causing this and in the middle of all these problems and testing i kept re-doing and 

changing, rebooting , reseting, going crazy, thinking about hammering my box $2000 box or just send it out the first 

floor window. (it would solve everything by ending the existence of the problem and giving me some personal 

satisfaction i must say)

Until.... i decided to remove nvidia-drivers.

I removed the drivers and later on the other nvidia packages. Removing the rest of the nvidia stuff didn't matter. 

at least is what i still think and its been proven so far.

I tested this final idea with X and without X.

With X i removed the drivers, re-did a new Gentoo-sources kernel, installed the drivers and the best i got was 3 

days without a freeze. (all hail for uptimes!   :Sad:  )

Without X (console only) the display would stay stable until  i emerged the drivers.

I also tried this by having the drivers installed but not loaded and at first when  i modprobe'd them the display 

would freeze after a bit.

Later on and without being installed the display would freeze a few seconds after i emerge them.

During all these steps sometimes it would be the display to freeze, other times  the rest of the OS would also freeze 

and sometimes the rest of OS would freeze a couple minutes after the display. (this was with X and without X and 

with the drivers installed)

After almost one month trying to figure out where the problem and solve it all i can only say is that:

I am able to have the box up and running without X and the nvidia-drivers removed with no problems but i have to make 1000% sure that nvidia.ko is not in the system/kernel (not even on the other kernel)

I am able to stress the OS with everything that i was using before (that does not require X) without an issue.

But soon i emerge nvidia-drivers i can "hear" the countdown to "freeze". I can even smell it like a fast 

unstoppable foggy crawling death out there getting ready to get me.

So where is the problem ?

If its not from the drivers or kernel, or both together due to some setting; i can only assume that my video card is 

dying. 

However (and i doubt about this)... if its dying it should be dying also while using the console, unless because  

the console does not 'stress' the card as much as X; that it is able to stay stable.

Buying  a new card without being sure of this is not an option. But if anyone knows of a good command line benchmark application that i can use to "burn" the card if i have too; i will test it.\

A friend of mine had a similar problem with ATI card and drivers while he never solved it (bought a new box) and he believed that it happened due to card warming up too much and not having a good cooler .

I though about this too and in some way i can't exclude it's possibility to some extent.

I am out of ideas and tired  of having to go to the cyber caffe down the street to ssh to remove the drivers and 

reboot (that is, when it doesn't freeze everything).

note: all the links posted here are in that box, so if the url is down... it's death after me again...  :Sad: 

Thank you for finishing reading this.

Sincerely:

an fsck'ed guy by these events ...   :Sad: 

( i know... its sounds like my last will )

help ?

----------

## jcat

Hi,

So what driver are you using for X now?  "nv" or "vesa" or something?

Are you saying that without the nvidia driver you can run X and you don't suffer any freeze issues at all?

What are you using for framebuffer in the kernel config?

Also, can we see your 

```
emerge --info
```

Cheers,

jcat

----------

## HeXiLeD

The emerge info is posted above after make.conf.

I do have framebuffer settings in the kernel but i dont run X without  nvidia drivers.

I am just using the console.

emerge info:

```

Portage 2.1.3.19 (default-linux/amd64/2007.0, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.6.1-r0, 2.6.23-gentoo-r5 x86_64)

=================================================================

System uname: 2.6.23-gentoo-r5 x86_64 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz

Timestamp of tree: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:00:01 +0000

ccache version 2.4 [enabled]

app-shells/bash:     3.2_p17-r1

dev-java/java-config: 1.3.7, 2.0.33-r1

dev-lang/python:     2.4.4-r6

dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r6

dev-util/ccache:     2.4-r7

sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.10-r5

sys-apps/sandbox:    1.2.18.1-r2

sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.61-r1

sys-devel/automake:  1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.6.3, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2, 1.10

sys-devel/binutils:  2.18-r1

sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.0-r4

sys-devel/libtool:   1.5.24

virtual/os-headers:  2.6.23-r2

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64"

CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

CFLAGS="-march=nocona -O2 -mtune=nocona -fforce-addr -ftracer -mmmx -msse3 -mfpmath=sse -pipe"

CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/X11/xkb"

CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/php/apache2-php5/ext-active/ /etc/php/cgi-php5/ext-active/ /etc/php/cli-php5/ext-active/ /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sound/events /etc/terminfo /etc/udev/rules.d"

CXXFLAGS="-march=nocona -O2 -mtune=nocona -fforce-addr -ftracer -mmmx -msse3 -mfpmath=sse -pipe"

DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"

EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS="--alphabetical"

FEATURES="ccache distcc distlocks metadata-transfer sandbox sfperms strict unmerge-orphans userfetch"

GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://gentoo.mirror.pw.edu.pl/"

LANG="pt_PT@euro"

LINGUAS="en_Ca pt_PT en pt"

MAKEOPTS="-j3"

PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"

PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --delete-after --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages --filter=H_**/files/digest-*"

PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"

PORTDIR="/usr/portage"

PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/portage/local/layman/bryan-portage /usr/local/portage"

SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"

USE="3dnow X a52 aac acc acl acpi alsa amd64 apache2 apic apm audiofile avi berkdb bitmap-fonts cdparanoia cdr cid clamav clflush cli cmov cracklib crypt cups cx16 cx8 dbus de dga divx4linux dri ds_cpl dts dv dvb dvd dvdr dvdread dvdrw emt64 emul esd est ffmpeg flac flash fluxbox foomaticdb fortran fpu ftp fxsr gdbm gif gimpprint glx gnutls gphoto2 gpm gstreamer gtk gtk+ gtk2 hal ht iconv icq ieee1394 imagemagick isdnlog jack jpeg jpeg2k libg++ live lm mad mca mce midi mime mmx monitor mozilla mp3 mpeg msn msr mtrr mudflap ncurses nmap nptl nptlonly nvidia ogg openal opengl openmp oss pae pam pat pcre pdflib perl pge php pm png pni

portaudio pppd print pse pse36 python qt quicktime readline realxvid reflection samba scanner sdl sep session spl sse sse2 ssl syscall tcpd tm truetype truetype-fonts tsc type1-fonts unicode usb userlocales ut2004 v4l v4l2 vcd vme wifi xorg xtpr xvid xvmc yahoo zlib" ALSA_CARDS="emu10k1 hda-intel" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" ELIBC="glibc" INPUT_DEVICES="mouse keyboard vmmouse" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" LINGUAS="en_Ca pt_PT en pt" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia nv vmware v4l vesa vga apm"

Unset:  CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, INSTALL_MASK, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS

```

By clicking SPECIFICATIONS in my signature; all the info about my OS can be seen there.

----------

## larand54

 *HeXiLeD wrote:*   

> However (and i doubt about this)... if its dying it should be dying also while using the console, unless because
> 
> the console does not 'stress' the card as much as X; that it is able to stay stable. 

 

Well, I don't think it need too. Once upon a time I had a MATROX-card that suddenly gave up running in graphics-mode but it still worked perfect in text-mode.

I think the hardware can be split up so that just a small isolated part needs to work to give you a working text-mode.

This problem is to hard for me to help resolve but I wish you good luck.

The only thing I can think of is to test the card in windows to see if it works there? Or you might be able to borrow a card just for test?

Once again - Good luck!

----------

## HeXiLeD

What  you are saying does make sense; but if the card is really broken for X, why does it freeze soon as i emerge the drivers, without even going to X.

It seems that it happens when the kernel 'feels' nvidia drivers being loaded.

----------

## larand54

Hmm... I would suggest that you should remove all that nvidia-stuff that may freeze your system. Then re-emerge your tool-chain, your complete system using the emwrap-script.

Then you could try re-emerge your nvidia-stuff. This may take a while but it will give a more stable system.

If your problem still occure, well there must be a hardware problem or at best some misconfiguration of the kernel.

Why not try a compiled kernel from a working live-cd? If that's not work then it could not be the kernel or...?

Best wishes.

----------

## yfh2

Hexiled,

This quick one just to let you know you are not alone !

I've had exactly the same problem here. (Nvidia card is a 7300)

I was with kernel 2.6.17, and old NVidia drivers (possibly 7186, not sure now), and everything had been working fine for months ...

I had Alsa issue with the kernel, and for some obnoxious reason, it refused to compile. So I was forced to compile a newer kerner (tried, 2.6.19-r5, 2.6.22-r5, 2.6.23-r3), and installed the newer NVidia drivers.

And now, every now and then, I get a hard lockup. (and since I have no other machine, I can't ssh, and I screw my hard disk everytime because it gets unmounted the bad way).

No idea what to do now.

----------

## HeXiLeD

LONG POST BUT WITH POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS

First test

I decided to give a few more tries to fix this problem and emerged 

vanilla-sources 2.6.23.9. It was compiled from fresh ( not from 

oldconfig) and i removed most grafics support options .

These were all about vga vesa framebuffer and related. I only left a 

couple options related to apm for the monitor and suport for monitor types.

after reboot i decided to leave these settings: 

```
vga=0x31B video=vesafb:mtrr,ywra
```

Just to see what happened and the screen went black with a couple lines and it was somehow similar to 

some console lockups.

This made me wonder if some framebuffer options could be causing the 

problem ? 

i rebooted and emerged nvidia ( at this point no hard lockup)

i started X and 1 applications qand just when i opened opera to report 

my testing  in the forums ... IT LOCKED!

I EVEN HAD A CRON job set to activate itself in 1h to unmerge 

nvidia-drivers and then reboot. (had no use for it)

i also noticed later  that i had no xorg.conf !!

since i remembered that i had deleted it before and hadn't made a new 

one; how the hell was i able to startx ??? ( i am sure of this )

Second test: 

i repeated  the process and checked  that  i did not have an xorg.conf 

and did a new one. I opened opera and on the frist keystroke... it LOCKED !

Third test:

Removing ALL grafics support options from vanilla-sources 2.6.23.9 and 

recompile xorg without any video card supportand removed nvidia-drivers by unmerging  them only.

I rebooted and lsmod showed nvidia present while emerge said , it was 

not installed.

i emerged them and got the output that i had colison with the previous 

nvidia.ko that was still  in the kernel.

i removed all nvidia drivers from  the OS and re-emerged them and created a new xorg.conf.

i decied to try xorg 1.4.0.90

```
x11-base/xorg-server ~amd64

=x11-libs/pixman-0.9.6  ~amd64

>=x11-libs/libXrender-0.9.4 ~amd64

>=x11-proto/renderproto-0.9.3 ~amd64

>=media-libs/mesa-7.0.1 ~amd64

>=x11-proto/xf86dgaproto-2.0.3 ~amd64

>=x11-drivers/xf86-input-keyboard-1.2.0 ~amd64

>=x11-drivers/xf86-input-vmmouse-12.4.2 ~amd64
```

While it compiled  i grabed a bag of pistachios  and some tripicana orange juice and knocked myself out with that for while, while i wacthed the compilation ( i recommend 3d glasses ).

went to bed but 5 minutes after i was back to  the computer. 

(still compiling)

bed again......

....up again and it was compiled... 

I was able to start X but i did notice some errors like these.

```
* Users of reduced blanking now need:

 *    Option "ReducedBlanking"

 * In the relevant Monitor section(s).

 * Make sure your reduced blanking modelines are safe!

 * You must rebuild all drivers if upgrading from xorg-server 1.3

 * or earlier, because the ABI changed. If you cannot start X because

 * of module version mismatch errors, this is your problem.

 * Here's a list of installed X drivers to emerge:

 * x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers

 * x11-drivers/xf86-input-keyboard

 * x11-drivers/xf86-input-mouse

 * x11-drivers/xf86-input-vmmouse

 * x11-drivers/xf86-video-apm

 * x11-drivers/xf86-video-nv

 * x11-drivers/xf86-video-v4l

 * x11-drivers/xf86-video-vesa

 * x11-drivers/xf86-video-vga

 * x11-drivers/xf86-video-vmware

 * You can generate a similar list at any point using this command:

 * emerge portage-utils; qlist -I -C x11-drivers/

 * >>> SetUID: [chmod go-r] /var/tmp/portage/x11-base/xorg-server-1.4.0.90/image//usr/bin/Xorg  ...

 * QA Notice: Package has poor programming practices which may compile

 *            fine but exhibit random runtime failures.

 * ../hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/libc_wrapper.c:253: warning: implicit declaration of function 'strlcat'

 * ../hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/libc_wrapper.c:259: warning: implicit declaration of function 'strlcpy'

 * ../hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/libc_wrapper.c:377: warning: implicit declaration of function 'vsscanf'

 * ../hw/xfree86/os-support/shared/libc_wrapper.c:769: warning: implicit declaration of function 'vfscanf'

 * ../cfb/cfbpixmap.c:164: warning: implicit declaration of function 'mfbGetendtab'

 * ../cfb/cfbpixmap.c:164: warning: implicit declaration of function 'mfbGetendtab'

 * ../cfb/cfbcppl.c:390: warning: implicit declaration of function 'mfbGetpartmasks'

 * ../cfb/cfbcppl.c:396: warning: implicit declaration of function 'mfbGetstarttab'

 * ../cfb/cfbcppl.c:396: warning: implicit declaration of function 'mfbGetendtab'

 * xf86Xinput.c:170: warning: implicit declaration of function 'XkbSetExtension'

 * xalloc.c:108: warning: implicit declaration of function 'strlcpy'

 * ./../shared/libc_wrapper.c:253: warning: implicit declaration of function 'strlcat'

 * ./../shared/libc_wrapper.c:259: warning: implicit declaration of function 'strlcpy'

 * xaaInit.c:230: warning: implicit declaration of function 'miInitializeCompositeWrapper'

 * GNU info directory index is up-to-date.

```

However there were also good news !!  :Very Happy: 

X was now not freezing !

Current kernel was vanilla sources 2.6.23.9 without any grafics support

nvidia-drivers were installed and they were x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.19

I was able to use X and open applications. it was stable for at leat 7h and after that time i decided to go for another test.

However not all was perfect! the mouse was stuck.

All i had was the cursor arrow in the middle and it was not working.

Forth test:

Xorg 1.4

gentoo-sources 2.6.23-r5 with graphics & framebuffer support 

Phase 1: soon was i emerged  nvidia drivers, the console changed. it kinda looked like it scrolled to lines down and leaving a blinking cursor in the upper left corner 1 inch  to the right side and the editor where i am typing this is also affected by the same thing.

Its X time !!

It failed and created an error:

```
This is a pre-release version of the X server from The X.Org Foundation.

It is not supported in any way.

Bugs may be filed in the bugzilla at http://bugs.freedesktop.org/.

Select the "xorg" product for bugs you find in this release.

Before reporting bugs in pre-release versions please check the

latest version in the X.Org Foundation git repository.

See http://wiki.x.org/wiki/GitPage for git access instructions.

X.Org X Server 1.4.0.90

Release Date: 5 September 2007

X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0

Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.23.9 x86_64

Current Operating System: Linux gentrix 2.6.23-gentoo-r5 #3 SMP Wed Jan 9 01:51:22 EST 2008 x86_64

Build Date: 09 January 2008  04:08:51AM

        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org

        to make sure that you have the latest version.

Module Loader present

Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,

        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,

        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.

(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Jan  9 12:56:48 2008

(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"

(EE) Failed to load module "dri" (module does not exist, 0)

(EE) Failed to load module "mice" (module does not exist, 0)

dlopen: /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/input//mouse_drv.so: undefined symbol: miPointerGetMotionEvents

(EE) Failed to load /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/input//mouse_drv.so

(EE) Failed to load module "mouse" (loader failed, 7)

(II) Module "ramdac" already built-in

FATAL: Module nvidia not found.

(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module!

(EE) NVIDIA(0):  *** Aborting ***

(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

Fatal server error:

no screens found

XIO:  fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"

      after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.
```

note:

```
# locate mouse_drv.so

/usr/lib64/xorg/modules/input/vmmouse_drv.so

/usr/lib64/xorg/modules/input/mouse_drv.so
```

after a few tries of emerging and unmerging nvidia  i am unable of:

```
# modprobe nvidia

FATAL: Module nvidia not found.
```

Phase 2:

compiling vanilla-sources 2.6.23.9 with the same graphics support as gentoo-sources 2.6.23-r5

i get the same issue described in phase 1 withe console going a bit unstable ( but this stops later)

it also keeps complaining about nvidia.ko conflit and i have to remove it manually

```
rm /lib/modules/2.6.23.9/video/nvidia.ko
```

I am able to startx but the mouse still doesnt move from  the center. it is active and it changes but it doesnt move

The console seems stable now ... at least ... so far 

x11-drivers/xf86-input-mouse-1.2.2-r1  is present but i update it to x11-drivers/xf86-input-mouse-1.2.3

(later on i downgrade them)

Mouse still fails:

```
(EE) Failed to load module "mice" (module does not exist, 0)

(EE) No Input driver matching `mice'
```

SO FAR  THE SYSTEM AS NOT LOCKED!!

NOTE: make.conf has INPUT_DEVICES="mouse keyboard vmmouse" but nothing for  VIDEO_CARDS=""

recompiling xorg with VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia"

After recompilation it still didnt work. 

Changing xorg's mice settings solved it

```
/dev/input/mouse0
```

insted of 

```
/dev/input/mice
```

( both files exist in /dev )

I am using X now, until it either freezes or it is solved

First conclusions:

a: It might be soon to tell but now ... i dont believe that the video card has lost it's functionality or has hardware problems.

b: As for the kernel... and while there were some minor issues...  i also dont think it had to do with the kernel graphics support. 

c: As for grub console resolution settings  i am using the same ones has before

d: As for nvidia drivers... i believe that if there is  problem with them, it is together with Xorg-server.

e: As for MR xorg-server ... which  i believe  to be the the responsable one here... i will be posting more info later on after more testing.

Does anyone backups or disagrees with my conclusions ?

Please post your thoughs

My current kernel config can be seen here: http://freethinker.ws/system/linus.kernel-2.6.23.9-b.txt

----------

## HeXiLeD

PROBLEM IS SOLVED!

So far the has been stable  and i did push things to try to make xorg to hard lock.

It didnt happen !

This tells me  that my main problem with all of this ... was due to xorg-server -r2 that some turkey  thought to be amusing to "let them think it's stable" 

just for fun. (lets just stick around this)

All of this makes lots of sense because i remember that  the first time i started to see problems happening, was with mplayer and vlc with the image going  green, out of nothing. after a while, X would lock.

New Test:

I decided to turn on both monitors to see if i had any lockups.

This is their xorg made with nvidia-settings:

```
# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings

# nvidia-settings:  version 1.0  (root@gentrix)  Qua Jan  9 02:25:41 EST 2008

Section "ServerLayout"

    Identifier     "Layout0"

    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0

    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"

    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"

    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"

EndSection

Section "Files"

    RgbPath         "/usr/lib64/X11/rgb"

    FontPath        "/usr/lib64/X11/fonts/misc/:unscaled"

    FontPath        "/usr/lib64/X11/fonts/misc/"

EndSection

Section "Module"

    Load           "dbe"

    Load           "extmod"

    Load           "type1"

    Load           "freetype"

    Load           "glx"

EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"

    Option         "Xinerama" "0"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from data in "/etc/conf.d/gpm"

    Identifier     "Mouse0"

    Driver         "mouse"

    Option         "Protocol"

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

    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"

    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default

    Identifier     "Keyboard0"

    Driver         "kbd"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"

    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid

    Identifier     "Monitor0"

    VendorName     "Unknown"

    ModelName      "ViewSonic VG191"

    HorizSync       30.0 - 82.0

    VertRefresh     50.0 - 75.0

    Option         "DPMS"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"

    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid

    Identifier     "Monitor1"

    VendorName     "Unknown"

    ModelName      "COMPAQ V50"

    HorizSync       0.0 - 0.0

    VertRefresh     0.0

    Option         "DPMS"

EndSection

Section "Device"

    Identifier     "Videocard0"

    Driver         "nvidia"

    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"

    BoardName      "GeForce 6600"

    BusID          "PCI:5:0:0"

    Screen          0

EndSection

Section "Device"

    Identifier     "Videocard1"

    Driver         "nvidia"

    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"

    BoardName      "GeForce 6600"

    BusID          "PCI:5:0:0"

    Screen          1

EndSection

Section "Screen"

    Identifier     "Screen0"

    Device         "Videocard0"

    Monitor        "Monitor0"

    DefaultDepth    24

    Option         "TwinView" "0"

    Option         "metamodes" "DFP: 1280x1024 +0+0; DFP: 1024x768 +0+0; DFP: 800x600 +0+0; DFP: 640x480 +0+0"

    SubSection     "Display"

        Depth       24

        Modes      "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "Screen"

    Identifier     "Screen1"

    Device         "Videocard1"

    Monitor        "Monitor1"

    DefaultDepth    24

    Option         "TwinView" "0"

    Option         "metamodes" "CRT: 1024x768 +0+0"

    SubSection     "Display"

        Depth       24

        Modes      "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubSection

EndSection
```

However ..  things with 2 monitors in the console did change. due to grub's console resolution settings:

vga=0x31B video=vesafb:mtrr,ywrap, the 14" CRT no longer works . It was working before with these same settings  and i have no idea why it changed. ( i will work this out later if possible for separate displays)

Once i turn X on, both monitors work fine.

I can only assume  that something changed in; either the kernel or nvidia-drivers.

So far the box has been stable and i only get a couple minor errors when starting X.

 *Quote:*   

> This is a pre-release version of the X server from The X.Org Foundation.
> 
> It is not supported in any way.
> 
> Bugs may be filed in the bugzilla at http://bugs.freedesktop.org/.
> ...

 

The video going green problem still happens and i was able to solve it too.

I also decided to separate that issue from the X lockups and open a new topic about it which can be read here:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-4719902.html#4719902

Final conclusion:

Changes done ?

My kernel changed to vanila-sources 2.6.23.9 but it kept the same graphics support as the other 2 gentoo kernel configs. 

Nvidia drivers are still :  x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.19  USE="acpi gtk (-multilib)

The video players were not recompiled or altered as before.

and the only thing that really got changed was xorg-server to:

```
=x11-base/xorg-server-1.4.0.90 ~amd64

=x11-libs/pixman-0.9.6  ~amd64

>=x11-libs/libXrender-0.9.4 ~amd64

>=x11-proto/renderproto-0.9.3 ~amd64

>=media-libs/mesa-7.0.1 ~amd64

>=x11-proto/xf86dgaproto-2.0.3 ~amd64

>=x11-drivers/xf86-input-keyboard-1.2.0 ~amd64

>=x11-drivers/xf86-input-vmmouse-12.4.2 ~amd64
```

```
 x11-base/xorg-server-1.4.0.90  USE="(-3dfx) -debug -dmx -dri hal -ipv6 -kdrive -minimal (-nptl) sdl xorg -xprint" INPUT_DEVICES="-acecad -aiptek -calcomp -citron -digitaledge -dmc -dynapro -elo2300 -elographics -evdev -fpit -hyperpen -jamstudio -joystick keyboard -magellan -microtouch mouse -mutouch -palmax -penmount -spaceorb -summa -synaptics -tek4957 -ur98 vmmouse -void -wacom" VIDEO_CARDS="(-amd) -apm -ark -chips -cirrus -cyrix -dummy -epson -fbdev -fglrx -glint -i128 (-i740) -i810 (-impact) (-imstt) -mach64 -mga -neomagic (-newport) (-nsc) -nv nvidia -r128 -radeon -rendition -s3 -s3virge -savage -siliconmotion -sis -sisusb (-sunbw2) (-suncg14) (-suncg3) (-suncg6) (-sunffb) (-sunleo) (-suntcx) -tdfx -tga -trident -tseng -v4l (-vermilion) -vesa -vga -via -vmware -voodoo (-xgi)" 0 kB
```

during all this time i pushed X in many ways and tried to replicate the lockups without success.

the second part of this problem continues here:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-4719902.html#4719902

Problem with Display - kernel - nvidia - X - drivers = freezing is solved by upgrading to the version posted above

----------

## yfh2

Hi, 

As I said above,  i had the exact same symtoms (green mplayer window, lockups, etc ...)

Since I am less skilled, I just played around with nvidia-drivers and kernels.

I ended up with the following working set :

kernel 2.6.22-gentoo-r5

xorg-server 1.3.0.0-r2

nvidia 96.43.01

4 days uptime now ...

----------

## bpaddock

 *yfh2 wrote:*   

> Hi, 
> 
> As I said above,  i had the exact same symtoms (green mplayer window, lockups, etc ...)
> 
> Since I am less skilled, I just played around with nvidia-drivers and kernels.
> ...

 

I've had this lock up problem as well.  From a *LOT* of searching

the problem seems to be the nvidia driver.  Supposedly the newer

versions "fixed" the problem, but I've not found that to be the case.

nvidia-drivers-100.14.09

with gentoo-sources-2.6.22-r8 run without lock up

on my GeForce 7300 nvidia board.

Any nvidia after 100.14.09 locks up.  The newest nvidia-drivers

will not compile with 2.6.22 any longer.

I put these in /etc/portage/package.mask to keep my system running:

>x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.09

>sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.22-r8

X version doesn't mater directly.  The lock up happens more often

in X, almost always when you move the mouse.  emerging the latest

nvidia, kernel and Opera just about guarantees a lock up with in a

second or two of moving the mouse.  Then your hosed and have to

push reset or power down, which screws up the drive.

Some of the threads I came across seemed to indicate

that AMD64 systems did it more frequently, which my system

is.

Does anyone at nvidia care?

Is there any better video board out there than nvidia?

I'm tired of being constantly hosed by them.  I use

my system for CAD and never games if that maters

to the selection.  Would like dual monitors.

----------

## HeXiLeD

After having solved the problem and ffor 15 days i had no issues, i wasnt happy with my results.

I did more testing and eventualy checked my hardware.

I found that my nvidia card coller broke and some plastic melted. I think i might have to do with the thermal gel there too.

At this time i was having display lookups in the console even without having xorg installed or nvidia.

However these lockups were now different. the system was not freezing. it was just the display.

I ended up by buying : http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8800gt.html

x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.19 and xorg-server-1.3.0.0-r4

other upgrades: bios to latest version; ram to 4 GB and cooling system

----------

## jcat

 *bpaddock wrote:*   

> 
> 
> Is there any better video board out there than nvidia?
> 
> I'm tired of being constantly hosed by them.  I use
> ...

 

Of course.  Try ATI and see how you get on   :Wink: 

Does your CAD system use opengl?  If not, then have you tried the open source driver at all?

Cheers,

jcat

----------

## juantxorena

Hello. I have a similar problem, but I'm using a CRT screen only. Like all of you, it works when booting from knoppix, and now I'm recompiling xorg with nv driver, so I can use the computer until I have time to fix it (not now). I'm writing this from a console using links, but the strange thing is that I'm using a framebuffer driver (uvesafb), and I can see the images and use the mouse without freezings or locks, something that sounds quite stressful for the graphic card.

But I have bad news (bad news for me): I have the same problem when booting windows in the same computer, so it might be a hardware problem. The other thing that annoys me is that I haven't done anything suspectful, I haven't updatde kernel, nvidia drivers, haven't open the case, haven't change any X configuration. The only thing is that I have encoded some long videos, but I don't think that is anything related.

So, I have read here that the OP have done some tests for the graphic card,, but I have not found them, and I don't know how can I test it. Any help before buying a new card?

Thanks in advance.

----------

## bunder

 *Quote:*   

> i also noticed later that i had no xorg.conf !!
> 
> since i remembered that i had deleted it before and hadn't made a new
> 
> one; how the hell was i able to startx ??? ( i am sure of this )

 

just a side note, xorg can start without an xorg.conf file, but it will try autodetecting stuff and start (probably with vesa, but i could be wrong)

cheers

----------

## pathfinder

i had stability issues for a while

my card was finally the problem (hardware).

But, I learned a lot reading the linux stability guide part 2 from d. robbins.

And i also found out that if you install the game neverball, the system crashed almost immediately. This one STRESSED so much the system it was THE test.

cat /proc/acpi/--thermal.../temperature is also your friend: you check the temperature, you run neverball, if it crashes inmendiately, it is not temp related.

cat /proc/interrupts tells you whether you have IRQ conflicts, and sometimes plugging the other devices in other slots will help your system to be stable.

Another thing: I still use an old kernel (vulnerable to vmslice), but as no one is going to force my home to get my computer, and I don t think anyone would be able to use this vulnerability for MY computer: it s more probable a common thief would steal everything, without being able to crack the basci computer defenses, and then would just format the computer. The data is always easy to recover, unless you encrypt everything (I m not covinced about this at this point), and there are still guys able to do such a thing (and they will DEFINITELY not be interested in my computer's data)

I ll keep all the vesa and framebuffer things.

But I tried with other older kernels and same lockups.

I also upgraded the BIOS and turned on and of some AGP settings, modified the nvidia drivers to force an AGP speed.

Are your cards AGP or PCIe?

Because I read that with AGP there are also Voltage possible incompatibilities.

EDIT: for the mouse, in the gentoo handbook, there s something about cat /proc/mouse or cat /proc/mice  or something like this, then if moving your mouse generates a lot of weird output, this is the correct output of the driver.

----------

