nVidia driver erased?

[tomoir_III]

Hey, everybody, I've got this problem with my nVidia driver and It's really odd.

So what happened was a few days ago, I restarted Fedora (BTW, I'm on FC6 i386, recently updated via "yum update"). To my surprise, the startup process (xorg or whatever) did not detect any screens. Luckily, there was an option to restore the xorg settings to the default ones, and that fixed the problem, and I booted everything normally.

When I tried to run Beryl, it did not function properly, and neither did 3D games. I assume that the problem here is that somehow my nVidia driver (I'm using GEforce 4) somehow got removed by the default xorg settings. I tried to reinstall my nVidia driver using the instructions from this thread (http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99285&), but yum complained that the drivers were already installed.

Here's the output of glxinfo:

name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: No
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer
client glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info,
GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_SGI_video_sync,
GLX_NV_swap_group, GLX_NV_video_out, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_pbuffer,
GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_NV_float_buffer, GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float,
GLX_EXT_fbconfig_packed_float, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap,
GLX_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (1.5 Mesa 6.5.1)
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_depth_texture, GL_ARB_imaging, GL_ARB_multitexture,
GL_ARB_point_parameters, GL_ARB_point_sprite, GL_ARB_shadow,
GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map,
GL_ARB_texture_env_add, GL_ARB_texture_env_combine,
GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3, GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat,
GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two, GL_ARB_window_pos,
GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once, GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_abgr,
GL_EXT_bgra, GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_func_separate,
GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract, GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint,
GL_EXT_draw_range_elements, GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays,
GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_color,
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color, GL_EXT_shadow_funcs, GL_EXT_stencil_wrap,
GL_EXT_texture3D, GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias, GL_EXT_texture_object,
GL_EXT_vertex_array, GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_NV_blend_square,
GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_NV_texture_rectangle, GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap,
GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SGIX_depth_texture, GL_SGIX_shadow

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x23 24 tc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x24 24 tc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 None
0x25 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x26 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x27 24 dc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x28 24 dc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 None
0x29 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x2a 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x63 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon

and heres /etc/X11/xorg.conf

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "single head configuration"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nv"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1600x1024" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection


Can anybody help me to find out how to reinstall the drivers?

Any help at all on this matter would be terrific, and thanks in advance! :D

[Dies]

su -
yum remove kmod-nvidia -y
yum clean all
yum install kmod-nvidia -y
nvidia-xconfig
shutdown -r now

[tomoir_III]

Okay thanks, I'm trying that now. I'll post back when I restart.

[tomoir_III]

Okay, that definitely did not go well.

I did all of
su -
yum remove kmod-nvidia -y
yum clean all
yum install kmod-nvidia -y
nvidia-xconfig
shutdown -r now

When Fedora booted, firstly, the monitor complained that it was not syncing properly.
In about 30 seconds, there was an output of some sort of X error. Turns out that there were no screens found, AGAIN! I think there might be an even worse problem with my system than a lack of nVidia drivers; a lack of screens! But once again, I was able to use the backed up xorg.conf and everything is back to normal, or rather, for now. I guess I'm running on the default xorg.conf again, which is not very good, and the nVidia driver did not help the situation at all (sorry, Dies)

Now I'm even more lost! :confused:

[Dies]

Can you post the output of

uname -a
rpm -qa 'kernel*' --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|sort

and
yum list kmod-nvidia

[tomoir_III]

Here's the output of uname -a
uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6 #1 SMP Sun Mar 4 16:41:13 EST 2007 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux


And the output of rpm -qa 'kernel*' --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|sort
rpm -qa 'kernel*' --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|sort
kernel-2.6.18-1.2869.fc6.i686
kernel-2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6.i686
kernel-headers-2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6.i386
kernel-module-ntfs-2.6.16-1.2122_FC5-2.1.26-0.rr.10.5.i686
kernel-module-ntfs-2.6.18-1.2239.fc5-2.1.27-0.rr.10.5.i686
kernel-module-ntfs-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6-2.1.27-0.rr.10.0.i686


And lastly, the output of yum list kmod-nvidia
yum list kmod-nvidia
Loading "skip-broken" plugin
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Setting up repositories
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Installed Packages
kmod-nvidia.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.19_1.29 installed
Available Packages
kmod-nvidia.i586 1.0.9755-2.2.6.19_1.29 livna

Hope this helps! :D

[Dies]

Hope this helps! :D

Nope, not really. :D

That's exactly what I'm running, except of course mine works fine. :p

O.K. so what happens if you try to load the nvidia module:

su -
modprobe nvidia

[tomoir_III]

Darn, this probably won't help at all:

/sbin/modprobe nvidia
FATAL: Error inserting nvidia (/lib/modules/2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6/extra/nvidia/nvidia.ko): No such device

[Dies]

Well that makes no sense, sorry. :confused:
No clue why you're having that happen, it shows it's installed, you didn't get any errors when installing did you? Unless Selinux got in the way, I wouldn't know I have it set to permissive, if you have it enabled you can try setting it to permissive, re-installing and then enabling it again.

Is the file there?

[tomoir_III]

Yeah, actually there were errors in installation.

If I run the same reinstallation method again,

su -
yum remove kmod-nvidia -y
yum install kmod-nvidia -y
nvidia-xconfig

Note the errors in the end of the process:

yum install kmod-nvidia -y
Loading "skip-broken" plugin
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Parsing package install arguments
Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Downloading header for kmod-nvidia to pack into transaction set.
kmod-nvidia-1.0.9755-2.2. 100% |=========================| 19 kB 00:00
---> Package kmod-nvidia.i686 0:1.0.9755-2.2.6.19_1.2911.6.5.fc6 set to be installed
--> Running transaction check
--> Processing Dependency: nvidia-kmod-common >= 1.0.9755 for package: kmod-nvidia
--> Restarting Dependency Resolution with new changes.
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Downloading header for xorg-x11-drv-nvidia to pack into transaction set.
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-1.0.9 100% |=========================| 35 kB 00:00
---> Package xorg-x11-drv-nvidia.i386 0:1.0.9755-3.lvn6 set to be updated
--> Running transaction check

Dependencies Resolved

================================================== ===========================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================== ===========================
Installing:
kmod-nvidia i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.19_1.2911.6.5.fc6 livna 2.3 M
Installing for dependencies:
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia i386 1.0.9755-3.lvn6 livna 4.9 M

Transaction Summary
================================================== ===========================
Install 2 Package(s)
Update 0 Package(s)
Remove 0 Package(s)

Total download size: 7.2 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/2): kmod-nvidia-1.0.97 100% |=========================| 2.3 MB 00:32
(2/2): xorg-x11-drv-nvidi 100% |=========================| 4.9 MB 01:23
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing: kmod-nvidia ######################### [1/2]
Installing: xorg-x11-drv-nvidia ######################### [2/2]
FATAL: Error inserting nvidia (/lib/modules/2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6/extra/nvidia/nvidia.ko): No such device

Installed: kmod-nvidia.i686 0:1.0.9755-2.2.6.19_1.2911.6.5.fc6
Dependency Installed: xorg-x11-drv-nvidia.i386 0:1.0.9755-3.lvn6
Complete!

nvidia.ko? Maybe that's in some other nVidia package. When I originally installed nVidia, there were several packages that I needed.

Also the errors during installation:

# /usr/sbin/nvidia-xconfig

Using X configuration file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf".

WARNING: Unable to find CorePointer in X configuration; attempting to add new
CorePointer section.


WARNING: The CorePointer device was not specified explicitly in the layout;
using the first mouse device.

Backed up file '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' as '/etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup'
New X configuration file written to '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'

Goodness, what a mixup!!!

[Dies]

Did you try setting Selinux to permissive before installing?
System>Administration>Security Level and Firewall>Selinux

nvidia.ko is part of those packages.

the x-config errors are normal, no biggie.

[tomoir_III]

My SElinux was disabled during the installation, so will trying permissive do any better?

[Dies]

Nope.

Did you check to see if the file is actually there? in /lib/modules/2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6/extra/nvidia

I'll PM Firewing to take a look, just in case he misses it, maybe he knows what's up, it's probably something really stupid, you know?

[tomoir_III]

Yep, checked it.

Unless my "ls" is malfunctioning :p
ls /lib/modules/2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6/extra/nvidia/
nvidia.ko

Oh, how I know about those stupid things. :p
It comes with learning Linux :D

[Firewing1]

Try running depmod:
su -
depmod
depmod -a
Now try the modprobe, things should be well.
Firewing1

[tomoir_III]

:'(

Nope, even after running depmod and depmod -a, I get

/sbin/modprobe nvidia
FATAL: Error inserting nvidia (/lib/modules/2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6/extra/nvidia/nvidia.ko): No such device

[pete_1967]

In your xorg.conf (/etc/X11/xorg.conf), check that in section;

Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
EndSection

Check that the upper module path isn't commented out (remove # to uncomment it). If you don't have above section, add it as it is above, after the 'Section "ServerLayout"'

After that, run the driver installation again (kmod-nvidia)

Also, if installation goes fine, check that drivers are enabled in

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600/GeForce 6600 GT]"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
EndSection

Check that 'Driver' is 'nvidia', not 'nv', if you have to change that, restart X to enable nvidia drivers.

Remember, you need to be root to edit the file and remember to backup the file before modifying it

One more thing, when you're installing kmod-nvidia, check that the version matches your kernel version (`uname -a` displays your kernel info, e.g. 2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6 the version in kmod-nvidia must match 2911)

[Firewing1]

I just noticed the error is "no such device" and not "no such file" -- This could be a /dev problem. Does "ls /dev/nvidia*" return anything?
Firewing1

[tomoir_III]

In your xorg.conf (/etc/X11/xorg.conf), check that in section;

Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
EndSection

Check that the upper module path isn't commented out (remove # to uncomment it). If you don't have above section, add it as it is above, after the 'Section "ServerLayout"'

After that, run the driver installation again (kmod-nvidia)

Also, if installation goes fine, check that drivers are enabled in

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600/GeForce 6600 GT]"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
EndSection

Check that 'Driver' is 'nvidia', not 'nv', if you have to change that, restart X to enable nvidia drivers.

Remember, you need to be root to edit the file and remember to backup the file before modifying it

One more thing, when you're installing kmod-nvidia, check that the version matches your kernel version (`uname -a` displays your kernel info, e.g. 2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6 the version in kmod-nvidia must match 2911)

Well, my /etc/X11/xorg.conf is as follows
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder3) Mon Feb 26 23:38:46 PST 2007

# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "single head configuration"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 30.0 - 110.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 150.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1600x1024" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

So sorry, Pete, I guess that didn't work.

I just noticed the error is "no such device" and not "no such file" -- This could be a /dev problem. Does "ls /dev/nvidia*" return anything?
Firewing1

Firewing1, /dev/nvidia does not exist! Is this the problem!? :D

[Firewing1]

Well, first things first, remove the entire "Modules" section from your xorg.conf - All of that can be automatically done by XOrg 7.x so it's not needed.
As for the /dev/nvidia stuff, that's a problem. On my system I have:
/dev/nvidia0
/dev/nvidia1
/dev/nvidia2
/dev/nvidia3
/dev/nvidiactl
Firewing1

[bseltzer]

Wait a minute... Wasn't there some mention of a GeForce 4 at the start of this thread? If so, shouldn't the 96xx series drivers be installed rather than the 97xx?

I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me that I ran into a similar situation when the 96xx/97xx split first happened and I was running a GeForce 4 MX 430. Unintalling the 97xx drivers "yum" had so blithely "updated" for me and re-installing with the 96xx drivers solved that.

FWIW,
Bert

[Firewing1]

Yes, if you're using below NV30 (FX series is NV30, so it's the breakpoint) you have to use xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-96xx and kmod-nvidia-96xx
Firewnig1

[Dies]

Wait a minute... Wasn't there some mention of a GeForce 4 at the start of this thread? If so, shouldn't the 96xx series drivers be installed rather than the 97xx?

I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me that I ran into a similar situation when the 96xx/97xx split first happened and I was running a GeForce 4 MX 430. Unintalling the 97xx drivers "yum" had so blithely "updated" for me and re-installing with the 96xx drivers solved that.

FWIW,
Bert

Well, I feel stupid, I must have gotten confused with the other guy that had a 6600, whoops. :D

[tomoir_III]

Hey, Firewing. Sorry for not answering on my own thread for a while, I was sorta busy. Anyhow, I do have the nvidia devs:
# ls /dev/n*
/dev/null /dev/nvidia1 /dev/nvidia3 /dev/nvram
/dev/nvidia0 /dev/nvidia2 /dev/nvidiactl

So should I install the 96xx drivers or just delete the above devices and attempt another reinstallation?

[Firewing1]

Yeah, try with the 96xx it should help
Firewing1

[tomoir_III]

Hey, now I have even worse problems. Every time I boot, my screen is not detected! Aaaaaagh!!!! But Fedora is able to use the default settings to start the X server, but still. Having to so that everytime I boot!!!! And also, my sound is completely broken, sometimes I boot and the soundcard's detected, sometimes I boot and it isn't (lately, its never ben detected!)! This is just so frustrating! :mad: :'( I'm even having terrible thoughts of going back to Winblows! This is awful!

I really hope that FC7 will fix these bugs!

But in the meantime, I'm not even worried about nVidia. Heh, that's just a luxury now. I want my screen to be detected! Oh, goodness!

Please, help!

[Firewing1]

Try removing your xorg.conf and using system-config-display to create a new one
Firewing1

[tomoir_III]

But everything in the system-config-display is okay, and fitting. Or should I still delete the original xorg.conf and use system-config-display to make a new one?

[3006828]

yes have you installed the 96 module yet?

when you do, the original xorg.conf you had will work fine.. if you still have it :P

[tomoir_III]

lol, holding on to that configuration file like for dear life! So to install the 96 module, I'll just use Firewing1's tutorial for nVidia Drivers? But I do remember installing only the GeForce 4 card module that I needed. What should I install for the correct module?

[tomoir_III]

Yes! It worked!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Halleeeeeluuuuuujaaaaaah!

lol, sorry about that.. Ahem.
All I had to do was
yum remove kmod-nvidia
as well as removing all the other non-96xx nvidia packages with yum, and then proceeding to install the 96xx packages with yum. Rebooted, and that nvidia splash screen really made my day :D lol. I didn't have to manually edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf, thankfully!

Thanks, pete_1967, Firewing1, Dies, and 3006828 for the help! :)

[bseltzer]

Yes! It worked!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Halleeeeeluuuuuujaaaaaah!

lol, sorry about that.. Ahem.
All I had to do was
yum remove kmod-nvidia
as well as removing all the other non-96xx nvidia packages with yum, and then proceeding to install the 96xx packages with yum. Rebooted, and that nvidia splash screen really made my day :D lol. I didn't have to manually edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf, thankfully!

Thanks, pete_1967, Firewing1, Dies, and 3006828 for the help! :)

Glad to hear the driver change resolved your problem. The minute you mentioned having a GeForce 4, I kinda thought I knew what was up.

Regards,
bert