Can't get nvidia graphics driver to work

English Hardware
#1

Dear all,

my eternal gratitude to anyone who can save my machine!!!

I made the mistake of trying to install an nvidia graphics driver from the download.nvidia.com/opensuse11.2 repository. My card is a PCI quadro nvs 295 so looks like it should be supported. The installation and update of the kernel seemed to be successful, but for some reason sax2 doesn’t seem to recognise the nvidia card, even when I run “sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia” and I’m stuck with the VESA framebuffer graphics default in /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section “Device”
BoardName “Framebuffer Graphics”
Driver “nv”
Identifier “Device[0]”
VendorName “VESA”
EndSection

I changed to the nv driver myself to get X running again, if I use “Driver nvidia” X doesn’t start, but gives me some kind of error message:

() NVIDIA(0): Depth 16, (–) framebuffer bpp 16
(==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 565
(==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
() NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration
(II) NVIDIA(0): Support for GLX with the Damage and Composite X extensions is
(II) NVIDIA(0): enabled.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:15:0:0.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Please see the COMMON PROBLEMS section in the README for
(EE) NVIDIA(0): additional information.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
(EE) NVIDIA(0): *** Aborting ***
(II) UnloadModule: “nvidia”
(II) UnloadModule: “fb”
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

presumably because the driver isn’t properly configured?

dmesg gives:

10.336291] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x23:0xffffffff:684)
10.336298] NVRM: rm_init_adapter(0) failed

I’ve found tons of threads on this kind of thing but I only seem to be making things worse trying to fix it. If anyone can give me a hint and fix my pathetic-looking desktop I’d be very grateful!!! At the moment nothing that uses opengl will work either :frowning:

Mike

#2

If you have not already, please read the practical theory guide for nVidia graphic cards: openSUSE Graphic Card Practical Theory Guide for Users - nVidia

Note that rather than use “sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia” you can also use the configuration tool provided by nvidia (which is what I do):

nvidia-xconfig

This MUST be run while in run level 3.

If that does not work, then I would speculate that the proprietary nvidia driver (or one of the applications needed for it to work) are not properly installed.

#3

Thanks for the fast reply! I hadn’t seen that reference, but I think I’ve tried everything mentioned already. I had another go at re-installing and the build still seems to complete ok (last section of the output below). I ran nvidia-xconfig separately after installing and X still won’t start (same error as before, can’t open device file…). If I switch to “nv” driver I can start X but with a rubbishy-looking desktop and half of my apps won’t work. Right now I’d be happy to get nv working properly again! Any ideas about how I can check for installation problems in supporting software? Is this something to do with my monitor not being recognised? It worked fine before I started all this :\

→ Searching for conflicting OpenGL files:
→ done.
→ Installing ‘NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86’ (96.43.16):
executing: ‘/sbin/ldconfig’…
executing: ‘/sbin/depmod -aq’…
→ done.
→ Driver file installation is complete.
→ Running post-install sanity check:
→ done.
→ Post-install sanity check passed.
→ Shared memory test passed.
→ Running runtime sanity check:
→ done.
→ Runtime sanity check passed.
→ Would you like to run the nvidia-xconfig utility to automatically update you
r X configuration file so that the NVIDIA X driver will be used when you res
tart X? Any pre-existing X configuration file will be backed up. (Answer: N
o)
→ Installation of the NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86
(version: 96.43.16) is now complete. On SuSE Linux/United Linux please use
SaX2 now to enable the NVIDIA driver

#4

I confess all that stuff in your post about “post-install sanity check” and “shared memory check” and “runtime sanity check” etc … means nothing to me. I’m just an average user an no guru.

I always install the openSUSE nvidia driver “the hardway” which is NOT hard. I do not rely on someone elses build which could be messed up. If it is going to be messed up it will be messed up because its my fault, and the ugly person who looks at me in the mirror in the morning will just get uglier. :’(

Anyway, you could take a read here: NVIDIA/The hard way - openSUSE Pay close attention to the prerequites !

If you run:

nvidia-xconfig

then do NOT run

sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia

… that site is very confusing to me in that respect.

Also, I always remove any /etc/X11/xorg.conf file BEFORE I run “nvidia-xconfig”.

#5

A note about sax2.

It is depreciated in openSUSE. That means it is no longer actively being maintained. Hence it may not handle newer hardware well.

In addition reference the “nv” drivers. Nvidia just announced they will no longer provide support to the open source community for the “nv” driver. That means in the near future, I anticipated the “nv” driver “may” be depreciated (that is my guess). There is also a “nouveau” driver for nvidia that is in the wings, and will be seen in use on openSUSE-11.3 (so I have read) but I have no experience wrt the nouveau driver, and hence I can not in all honesty pass in recommendations there.

#6

Thanks for the useful info! I originally tried it ‘the easy way’ which is probably where things got broken. I’ve since tried to uninstall and repeat ‘the hard way’, the results of which are what I posted above. It all seems to install fine but every time I try to start X I get the same “NVIDIA: Could not open the device file /dev/nvidia0” error followed by the original error message from my first post. Only the nv driver will work so I don’t have much choice there. No matter what I do with nvidia-xconfig I don’t get a conf file that works (also just tried deleting the original first) :frowning:

I’ve reconfigured my Dell monitor manually and recovered a decent looking desktop, but I need a couple of OpenGL apps that were working before. As far as I can see there’s no chance of getting OpenGL to work with nv? Nouveau looks a bit too nouveau for my level of Linux experience so I’ll keep that as a last resort…

#7

Are you trying to build this in run level 5 or in run level 3 ?

You should do this in run level 3.

I also recommend you boot direct to run 3 when you do this and do not enter run level 3 by the “init 3” command. I know, all the guides are enamoured with the “init 3” method, but my coming from the school of hard-knocks and linux-screwups, I have encountered obscure cases where a module is not unloaded properly with the “init 3” method. Hence I recommend a direct boot to run level 3 from the boot/splash screen.

#8

Nice idea. I just tried reinstalling after booting directly to runlevel 3, but still the same old error message. Is there anyway to get more information on what exactly is wrong? The current error doesn’t seem to say much. I’ve been using the “nvidia-bug-report.sh” script, but apart from the errors above it doesn’t tell me much

#9

Did you rebuild again in run level 3 ?

I think the places to look for errors are dmesg, Xorg.0.log, and .xsession (I think I have the last file name correct).

You can look for dmesg errors by typing:
dmesg > dmesg.txt #and open up dmesg.txt with a text editor.

You can find the xorg log under:
/var/log/Xorg.0.log #I’m going by memory so hopefully I have this correct. I’m not at a linux PC

You can find .xsession under:
/home/yourusername/.xsession #again, 'm going by memory so hopefully I have this correct. I’m not at a linux PC.

#10

I forgot to mention. Ensure you install a 32-bit driver on a 32-bit openSUSE and a 64-bit driver on a 64-bit openSUSE.

If you have 64-bit hardware with a 32-bit openSUSE then you need to use a 32-bit driver.

#11

oldcpu wrote:

>
> oldcpu;2152089 Wrote:
>> then do NOT run
>> >
> Code:
> --------------------
> > > sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia
> --------------------
>> > … that site is very confusing to me in that respect.
> A note about sax2.
>
> It is depreciated in openSUSE. That means it is no longer
> actively
> being maintained. Hence it may not handle newer hardware well.
>
> In addition reference the “nv” drivers. Nvidia just announced they
> will no longer provide support to the open source community for
> the “nv” driver. That means in the near future, I anticipated the
> “nv” driver
> “may” be depreciated (that is my guess). There is also a
> “nouveau” driver for nvidia that is in the wings, and will be seen
> in use on openSUSE-11.3 (so I have read) but I have no experience
> wrt the nouveau driver, and hence I can not in all honesty pass in
> recommendations there.
>
Just for info: I have 11.3 with the nouveau driver running because
its the only one I can get to run on 11.3. It does not support 3D or
composting from what I can see. I tried most of the steps outlined
in other threads to get the nvidia driver working. (use hardway). No
luck so far.

–
Russ
| openSUSE 11.2 (2.6.31.12-18-desktop) x86_64 | KDE 4.4.1 release
225 | Intel Core 2 Dual E7200 | 4 GB RAM | GeForce 8400 GS | 320GB
Disc (2) |

#12

I hadn’t looked at .xsession till now, but I can’t find anything there. I’ve been through the other places already. Thanks a lot for all your time, though!!

#13

Fixed! rotfl! Thanks for all the tips!! It turns out I’d given up trying different driver versions too soon. I eventually downloaded one that works and everything’s looking great. Now, back to work…

#14

Hi, Mike!

Pls tell me, does it post you a message “Unknown videocard detected. Press “Enter” to scan possible solutions or wait for …seconds to continue” or something of this kind? If your “default answer”=yes;), then we both have the same problem. Something goes wrong, though sax2 at runlevel 3 showed me a nice pic (light blue and gray waves), and asked me if the picture was the one I’d like to see…