Problems after recent upgrade of NVIDIA driver

[V_Andretta]

Hello,

I'm using a Dell Precision M65 portable workstation, often plugged to a
docking station and with an external monitor attached. The graphic card is an nVidia Quadro FX 350M.

I've been using openSUSE 11.2 until recently (with KDE 4.3.5). Then, during a routine update, the nVidia driver was upgraded from version 260.19.44 to 270.41.06. Desktop effects stopped working, and even after disabling them, some applications (presumably relying on direct rendering) do not work properly.

I decided then to install openSUSE 11.4. The problems remain, with the additional issue that I can't switch anymore between the external monitor and the laptop display. I've tried several options using nvidia-settings; the original configuration when the system was working was "TwinView", "Cloned".

Direct rendering is still on:

phoebe:~ # glxinfo | grep -i rendering
direct rendering: Yes

but glxgears, for instance, while giving very high FPS, produces only a black window instead of the usual rotating gears.

The problem seems similar to the one cited here:

openSUSE:Most annoying bugs 11.4 - openSUSE

However, in my case, it appears with a driver newer than 270.29, so I am not sure this is the same issue.

I also tried to follow the advices given here:

SDB:NVIDIA troubleshooting - openSUSE

without success.

I also noticed that my card (Quadro FX 350M) is no longer in the list of supported cards for that driver (the closest I could find is Quadro FX 360). But, again, it may not be relevant for this issue.

So, at this stage I'm considering downgrading to the previous version of the driver (260.19.44). Before doing that, however, I thought to check if anybody has any suggestion for workarounds, or for configuring options I may have missed. Any hint would be very much welcome.



Summary of HW/SW:

Model: Dell Precision M65
CPU: Intel Core2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz
Graphic Card: nVidia Quadro FX 350M
Driver: NVIDIA 270.41.06
OS: Linux 2.6.37.6-0.5-desktop i686 [openSUSE 11.4 (i586)] + KDE 4.6.00 (4.6.0) "release 6"

The problem started with:

Driver: NVIDIA 260.19.44
OS: Linux 2.6.31.14-0.8.1-desktop i586 [openSUSE 11.2 (i586)] + KDE 4.3.5

and were absent with:

Driver: NVIDIA 260.19.44
OS: Linux 2.6.31.14-0.8.1-desktop i586 [openSUSE 11.2 (i586)] + KDE 4.3.5

[martin_helm]

The newest driver from nvidia explicitly lists the card you have
(the 275.09.07), if you want to give it a try you need to install the binary
driver the so called hard way.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...07-driver.html
look at the supported products tab.
I also see you run 32 bit, I think to remember that the 32 bit drivers from
nvidia had some trouble sometimes (without remebering the details since I
run 64 bit everywhere). Maybe you want to consider to switch to 64 bit, your
laptop should support that (but by no means I know if that will improve your
situation).

--
PC: oS 11.3 64 bit | Intel Core2 Quad Q8300@2.50GHz | KDE 4.6.4 | GeForce
9600 GT | 4GB Ram
Eee PC 1201n: oS 11.4 64 bit | Intel Atom 330@1.60GHz | KDE 4.6.4 | nVidia
ION | 3GB Ram

[V_Andretta]

The newest driver from nvidia explicitly lists the card you have
(the 275.09.07), if you want to give it a try you need to install the binary
driver the so called hard way.
NVIDIA DRIVERS 275.09.07 Certified
look at the supported products tab.

I was inclined to go for downgrading (since I know that version works), but I
guess trying the newest driver won't take that long. Thanks for pointing to that link.

I also see you run 32 bit, I think to remember that the 32 bit drivers from
nvidia had some trouble sometimes (without remebering the details since I
run 64 bit everywhere).

Maybe: the bug reports I have cited do indeed mention that the 64 bit versions
are immune from that problem.

Maybe you want to consider to switch to 64 bit, your
laptop should support that (but by no means I know if that will improve your
situation).

I imagine switching to 64 bit implies reinstalling the OS from scratch: I don't suppose it's possible to do some "upgrade", isn't it? But that might be an option for the next install (12.x probably).

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

[martin_helm]

I simply do not know if an "upgrade" from 32 to 64 bit is possible without a
new install. But if you have luck the newer driver has a better performance
on 32 bit, and you always have the option to uninstall it and go back to the
old one for which you know it works.
Let us know if the 275 improves your situation or not it might be a useful
information for others who come along this thread.
I wish you luck.

--
PC: oS 11.3 64 bit | Intel Core2 Quad Q8300@2.50GHz | KDE 4.6.4 | GeForce
9600 GT | 4GB Ram
Eee PC 1201n: oS 11.4 64 bit | Intel Atom 330@1.60GHz | KDE 4.6.4 | nVidia
ION | 3GB Ram

[V_Andretta]

Let us know if the 275 improves your situation or not it might be a useful
information for others who come along this thread.

So, I have tried the 275.09.07 driver: same problems.
I have downgraded to 260.19.44, the latest driver I've found working on my machine, and indeed the situation seems to be back to normal. I haven't tried yet the external monitor (I'm on vacation:need to be back to my office for that), and desktop effects are rather slow. But it's definitely better than the 270+ drivers.

[V_Andretta]

Update: today I docked the laptop, and tried the external monitor. I tried a couple of configurations (TwinView+Cloned, External Monitor+Absolute Offset), but the resolution on the laptop display is always forced to be the one of the external monitor (92x92 dpi) instead of the proper one (145x145 dpi). Also, I couldn't find a way to switch display using the hotkey (Fn-F8 on this laptop)

I remember that when I installed openSUSE 11.2 I was very pleased that the hotkey would work without any special settings. Same thing for the display resolution, or maybe with just a little tweaking (perhaps via sax2, but I can't remember).

Since sax2 is no longer available, I can't try that route.

I had saved the old xorg.conf, but using that one that didn't help either. Although, I forgot to save the content of the directory /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d, which maybe had some relevant settings.

Any ideas anybody?