Nvidia issue

[Peter Rus]

I installed the nvidia drivers as described in the Fedora faq.

When I want to start X I get this error:

Checking for module nvidia.ko: [FAILED]
nvidia.ko for kernel 2.6.18-1.2798.fc6 was not found. [WARNING]
The nvidia driver will not be enabled until one is found. [WARNING]


What do I need to do about this? recompile the module or something?

[Dies]

What does

uname -a

have to say? Does the driver you installed match the running kernel?

[A.Serbinski]

His uname -r will say 2.6.18-1.2798.fc6

Peter: You don't have the nvidia kernel module installed for your running kernel. Forget the FAQ, go to the nvidia website and download the latest driver for your architecture (ie, if you're running x86_64 fedora, download the x86_64 nvidia driver). All you need to do to install that driver is "chmod +x NVIDIA...", then "NVIDIA..." and follow the prompts.

[Peter Rus]

If that is what I have to do, I am in trouble.

Because after installing that driver my fps in glxgears are like 11fps and desktopeffects etc are really, really laggy.

Where to start debugging? On Debian Etch the Nvidia drivers worked better. thats for sure. So it is not something with my hardware.

[Dies]

Sorry, I was in a hurry yesterday, I meant to ask for the ouput on a couple more things but obviously I forgot to. The key question was:

"Does the driver you installed match the running kernel?"

I'm guessing you're booting into an older kernel when a new one is available.

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

If there is newer kernel then the one you're running listed - should be - then the driver you installed is for that one and rebooting into it should be all that's needed.

*BTW - it's not recommended to use the Nvidia installer on Fedora since it replaces system libraries, the preferred way is with the kmod packages, not only that but you avoid the hassle of having to manually re-install the drivers whenever the kernel is updated.

[Peter Rus]

[root@rusdesk0 ~]# rpm -qa 'kernel*' --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|sort
kernel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686
kernel-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i686
kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686
kernel-devel-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i686
kernel-headers-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i386
[root@rusdesk0 ~]# uname -r
2.6.20-1.2925.fc6

Thats what I get, not sure if this is okay or not, tell me what to do.

So, what I did before:

I installed the kmod package, didnt work, as you see in the posts above. Then I used the nvidia installer. The xorg.conf it generated did not function well, desktop effects could not be enabled, and the resolution was too low. ( I can edit this last thing though)

when I used my xorg.conf file from Debian Etch, desktop effects did work. but where laggy (see the glxgears related post above)

So, what now? the update manager tells me to update right now, so I will be doing this.

[Dies]

[root@rusdesk0 ~]# rpm -qa 'kernel*' --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|sort
kernel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686
kernel-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i686
kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686
kernel-devel-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i686
kernel-headers-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i386
[root@rusdesk0 ~]# uname -r
2.6.20-1.2925.fc6

Thats what I get, not sure if this is okay or not, tell me what to do.

So, what I did before:

I installed the kmod package, didnt work, as you see in the posts above. Then I used the nvidia installer. The xorg.conf it generated did not function well, desktop effects could not be enabled, and the resolution was too low. ( I can edit this last thing though)

when I used my xorg.conf file from Debian Etch, desktop effects did work. but where laggy (see the glxgears related post above)

So, what now? the update manager tells me to update right now, so I will be doing this.

OK so now you're running the newer kernel, yesterday you were running 2798.
Unless you uninstalled the kmod it should be working, but since it's not try re-installing it.

su -
yum remove kmod-nvidia -y
yum clean all
yum install kmod-nvidia -y
mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
nvidia-xconfig
shutdown -r now

**What video card are you using? if you're using an older one then you might have to adjust the command to kmod-nvidia-96xx or kmod-nvidia-legacy. Not sure about those I have newer cards.**

[Peter Rus]

Dies, I do not use a legacy card, I use a 5500.

Well, it did not work, the server didnt start (the three flashes).
I run the .20 kernel now, and installed the kmod drivers.

I am doing a major update now. I don't think it will change anything, but you never know.

[Peter Rus]

Hmm, stanton finleys tutorials say:

To prevent SElinux problems with the ATI fglrx or nVidia modules type the following in the root terminal:

setsebool -P allow_execstack=1

Hit enter. Also type:

setsebool -P allow_execmod=1

Hit enter. Reboot your machine. Your ATI fglrx or nVidia drivers should be enabled after you reboot.

And I did get some permission problems. So, after the updates complete, I will reboot and then reinstall the drivers with the fixed security as above, then I will reboot and see if this fixes something.

[Peter Rus]

Lol, I think I fuxed up things a bit. And I want kde anyway, dont try to stop me ;)
I am going to reinstall fedora core 6 now, and be back in an hour if all goes well. Then I will try again.

[Peter Rus]

How to fix this:

update all packages (after a fresh install in my case)

then do:

setsebool -P allow_execstack=1
setsebool -P allow_execmod=1

then run the nvidia installer

and then I used my old debian etch xorg.conf file. thing is, with the desktop effects enabled, I can not see anything in my terminal, its just one big white square (xterm works though, but thats no sollution). When I start a fullscreengame it has an framerate of 2fpm (yeah, minutes, yeah). And windows do not have decoration. So, any suggestions?

[scott_g]

I have the same problem mentioned here. I tried the below steps; and now, the xorg crashes on boot.
Unless you uninstalled the kmod it should be working, but since it's not try re-installing it.

su -
yum remove kmod-nvidia -y
yum clean all
yum install kmod-nvidia -y
mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
nvidia-xconfig
shutdown -r now

**What video card are you using? if you're using an older one then you might have to adjust the command to kmod-nvidia-96xx or kmod-nvidia-legacy. Not sure about those I have newer cards.**


Attached is my xorg.conf (i can still boot to text mode). My graphics card is a nvidia 7600gs. Everything is updated, I believe. Before I performed the steps above, I would get the same error message that started this thread.

Thanks for any input, it is appreciated, as I cant access the GUI :(

Edit:
Now I think I'm really in trouble; when I boot up into windows using my grahics card, all I get is a screen with many multiple colours on it. I don't know how drivers from one os could affect another? HELP?? Thanks

Thanks,
Scott

[Dies]

I have the same problem mentioned here. I tried the below steps; and now, the xorg crashes on boot.


Attached is my xorg.conf (i can still boot to text mode). My graphics card is a nvidia 7600gs. Everything is updated, I believe. Before I performed the steps above, I would get the same error message that started this thread.

Thanks for any input, it is appreciated, as I cant access the GUI :(

Thanks,
Scott

I have two 7600GS, they work great in SLI. :p
Yeah, I know that's not helpful.

It looks like you didn't do this step:

mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old

Since there is a lot of stuff in your file that shouldn't be there.

Try this config I attached and see what happens.

[scott_g]

I did that mv step, but i think it gave me an error for some reason... so after i put the new one in, i still have to restart the NVIDIA service, correct?

Thanks for the reply,
Scott

[Dies]

I would just reboot, but you really just need to restart X, it should reload everything.

[scott_g]

OK, I copied that conf file to the machine, but I still get the original error (the incorrect kernel error) on the reboot.

**The GUI loads once it gets to the login screen.

Any more ideas?

Thanks a lot,
Scott

[Dies]

Well let's get back to the beginning then - post the output of:

uname -a

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

yum list *nvidia*

[scott_g]

uname -a:


Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.18-1.2798.fc6 #1 SMP Mon Oct 16 14:37:32 EDT 2006 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux


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


kernel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686
kernel-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i686
kernel-headers-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i386


yum list *nvidia*


Installed Packages
kmod-nvidia.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.20_1.29 installed
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia.i386 1.0.9755-3.lvn6 installed
Available Packages
kmod-nvidia.i586 1.0.9755-2.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx.i586 1.0.9631-4.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx.i686 1.0.9631-4.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx-PAE.i686 1.0.9631-4.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx-PAE-debug.i686 1.0.9631-4.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx-debug.i686 1.0.9631-4.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx-kdump.i686 1.0.9631-4.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-96xx-xen.i686 1.0.9631-4.2.6.19_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-PAE.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-PAE-debug.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-debug.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-kdump.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy.i586 1.0.7184-3.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy.i686 1.0.7184-3.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy-PAE.i686 1.0.7184-3.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy-PAE-debug.i686 1.0.7184-3.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy-debug.i686 1.0.7184-3.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy-kdump.i686 1.0.7184-3.2.6.20_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-legacy-xen.i686 1.0.7184-3.2.6.19_1.29 livna
kmod-nvidia-xen.i686 1.0.9755-2.2.6.19_1.29 livna
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-96xx.i386 1.0.9631-5.lvn6 livna
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-96xx-devel.i386 1.0.9631-5.lvn6 livna
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-devel.i386 1.0.9755-3.lvn6 livna
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-legacy.i386 1.0.7184-2.lvn6 livna
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-legacy-devel.i386 1.0.7184-2.lvn6 livna


Thanks a lot for your help... I've been trying to do this for a little over a week, and have been going in circles :(

Thanks,
Scott G.

[Dies]

kernel-2.6.20-1.2925.fc6.i686

That's the latest kernel you have available, and that's the one for which the driver was installed but:

Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.18-1.2798.fc6 #1 SMP Mon Oct 16 14:37:32 EDT 2006 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

you're still running the old kernel for some reason :confused:

Just reboot and make sure you choose to boot the newer kernel and everything should be fine, when grub comes up hit any key to access the menu then select the newest kernel.

If you still have problems after booting into the new kernel then try reinstalling like I posted earlier and rebooting again into the new kernel.

You should make the new kernel the default, if you have problems with that post:

/boot/grub/grub.conf

[scott_g]

I did a yum update today, and downloaded the new 2933 kernel; it seems to work great, the nvidia drivers work without errors, and desktop effects are perfect. I used to be booting the 2798 kernel, and the nvidia drivers were for the 2925 kernel, so i think that was the problem.

Thanks a million for your help.

There's only one other problem; when I try to boot into windows, after the Windows XP screen, when it would ask you for your login name, the screen goes black, saying no input, it didnt do this before I installed linux. Any ideas?

Thanks again,

Scott

[Dies]

Shut down, then power off the machine completely for a few seconds maybe 10-15 before booting Windows, unplug it if you have to, then see if it still happens.

[scott_g]

Same thing; the only way I can get windows to work is if I remove the card, and use the integrated graphics that came with the computer :( . This isnt as good especially since I'm keeping windows for the games :D.

Thanks again,
Scott

[Dies]

Hmm, never had that problem or anything like it really. About the worst I've had is that sometimes when I boot Windows, like once a month or something, the theme won't apply right, lol.

Anyways, you should probably start a new thread describing the problem in detail, so others will see it and it won't get lost in this one. Hopefully someone has some ideas for you.

Name it something like "Fedora works but now Windows doesn't", that should get a lot of people to look and maybe one will know what's up. ;)

[leigh123linux]

Same thing; the only way I can get windows to work is if I remove the card, and use the integrated graphics that came with the computer . This isnt as good especially since I'm keeping windows for the games .




Is there a option in your bios to select which graphics card you use i.e PCI-EX ,AGP or internel?

[Dies]

Is there a option in your bios to select which graphics card you use i.e PCI-EX ,AGP or internel?

In my bios? :confused:

Nope, no AGP, or integrated graphics.

Oh, you were asking him..... :D

[leigh123linux]

In my bios? :confused:

Nope, no AGP, or integrated graphics.

Oh, you were asking him..... :D

I was asking scott g :)

[scott_g]

Is there a option in your bios to select which graphics card you use i.e PCI-EX ,AGP or internel?


I checked the BIOS; there is an option for it. It lists PCI, PCI-e, and onboard. I tried selecting PCI-e (it had PCI selected originally), and now the computer displays a green background with dark lines, slanted across it.

Thanks for the interest,
Scott

[scott_g]

I tried a yum update, and it said there was nothing marked for updating. Is it possilbe for something in linux to permanently change a piece of hardware like a graphics card?

Thanks,
Scott

[scott_g]

I tried those steps with the same result. Any other ideas?

Thanks again,
Scott

[scott_g]

I just installed the 2933 kernel this morning, with the updated kmod-nvidia package as well; same result.

Thanks for the idea though,
Scott

[scott_g]

I think theres a broken link somewhere in that post?

Scott

[scott_g]

As Dies suggested, I have started a new thread on this topic, titled Fedora works, but Windows doesnt anymore. The url is: http://forum.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?p=767004 .

Thanks again,
Scott