Redhat 7.3 Nvidia card and 'X' problem (I swear I really tried)

[Namtar314]

Hello

I'm trying to get x to run on my dell inspiron 8100 but I keep having problems. These are the directions that I followed:

""""
rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel-(version).i386.rpm
rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-(version).rpm
edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 replace:
Driver "nv"
with:
Driver "nvidia"
startx and it should now work.
""""

But it dosen't work. It outputs error messages like:
Fatal server error:
no screens found

and

(EE) Failed to load module nvidia (module does nto exist


Please help
-Namtar

[bwkaz]

What does /sbin/modprobe NVdriver as root tell you? Anything? If not, try starting X again.

If that doesn't help, then attach your /var/log/XFree86.0.log file.

[Namtar314]

/sbin/modprobe NVdriver says nothing
/sbin/modprobe nvdriver says can't locate module nvdriver

Thank you so much

[JohnT]

Why did you think you needed the Nvidia driver downloaded and installed? Just curious.:)

[Namtar314]

I did a google search for linux on laptops and 8100 and found a webpage with those instructions.

I'm a total newbie so I just blindly followed them.

:)

Guess that's bad huh?

Namtar

[The Whizzard]

Did you get any errors while installing the RPMs? Are the RPMs you have even remotely match your kernel version?

About the only sure way to do it would be to get the source and compile it your self. This can be a bit scarry if you never done anything like this before but it's really not too dificult.

If you do compile it from source, make sure you have the source for your current kernel, or it will not compile.

[GonzoJohn]

Originally posted by Namtar314
Hello


I'm trying to get x to run on my dell inspiron 8100 but I keep having problems. These are the directions that I followed:

""""
rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel-(version).i386.rpm
rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-(version).rpm
edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 replace:
Driver "nv"
with:
Driver "nvidia"
startx and it should now work.
""""

But it dosen't work. It outputs error messages like:
Fatal server error:
no screens found

and

(EE) Failed to load module nvidia (module does nto exist


Please help
-Namtar

If you read the install instructions on the NVidia site, that is NOT the only thing you need to do with the XF86Config-4 file.

Make sure you follow these directions:

http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-2960/README.txt

Specifically the section about modifying your XF86Config file.

[Namtar314]

I didn't get any error messages when installing the RPMs.

If I were to compile the kernel from source (absolutly terrified at the thought) how would I do that?

-Namtar

[GonzoJohn]

Having used Dell Inspirons before, they usually use ATI video cards (I think, not 100% certain). Did you specify NVidia when you ordered it?

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Namtar314
I did a google search for linux on laptops and 8100 and found a webpage with those instructions.

I'm a total newbie so I just blindly followed them.

:)

Guess that's bad huh?

Namtar

Were you not able to get the stock "nv" driver to work?

[JohnT]

There's some interesting reading at this newsgroup on the Nvidia drivers. Start at this page and continue to the next.




http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-dell-laptops/messagesearch?query=nvidia

[bwkaz]

Well, the X log finds a GF2 Go card in the notebook, so I'd say he's looking for the right thing. ;)

Farther down in the log, it's saying that it tries to load GLcore, dri, and drm. Make sure the lines that say Load "dri" and Load "GLcore" are commented out (# character at the start of them).

Later, it says "can't load module nvidia, module not found", which almost sounds like the GLX rpm didn't finish, or didn't do ... something right.

Ummm... basics first, I guess... is there an nvidia_drv.o file in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers? If there is, what permissions does it have (what does ls -l /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/nv* say)? Normally only root has access to that directory, and X is running as root on top of that, so it should be able to read the file regardless of permissions... but check it anyway.

You may want to get rid of the /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a, as it will probably interfere with proper 3D rendering when you do get it working. Or, actually, you could rename it instead, that'd probably be safer. Call it XXXlibGLcore.a or something.

The version of GLX and kernel RPMs matched, correct? Both were 2960? (there isn't much reason to use anything older)

Oh, wait, a couple more pieces of info would be good: the full name of the kernel package you used, and also the output of cat /proc/version.