Nvidia Quadro FX 4800 driver problems

Hi All,

A while ago I installed Apache/mysql (and a few other related packages) via yast. However, after doing so, the xserver would no longer start (a lot of seg faults in the error logs). After doing a load of troubleshooting and trying different things (including updating the kernel), I got rid of the errors by updating to a newer version of libxml2 and zlib.

But I still can’t get to a gui! Here’s what I’ve done so far:

I’m running sles 11.0 64bit, the kernel is 2.6.31.5-0.1-default. I uninstalled the nvidia drivers which were currently installed and followed the directions here:
SDB:NVIDIA drivers - openSUSE

with zypper to install the drivers that match the current kernel. I then ran
sax -r -a
and rebooted. However, when I try to log in, no gui appears (black screen). I can ssh into a terminal though, so I did and ran:
rcxdm restart
Which then produces errors like:

gdm[27222]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.286671 seconds
gdm[27222]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.526436 seconds
gdm[27222]: WARNING: GdmLocalDisplayFactory: maximum number of X display failures reached: check X server log for errors

The end of the /var/log/Xorg.0.log has these errors in it:
(EE) NVIDIA: Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module. Please check your
(EE) NVIDIA: system’s kernel log for additional error messages.
(II) UnloadModule: “nvidia”
(II) Unloading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/updates//drivers/nvidia_drv.so
(EE) Failed to load module “nvidia” (module-specific error, 0)
(EE) No drivers available.

Help?! Please let me know any additional info you brilliant folks may require,

Thanks,
~josh

So you have a pretty old nVidia card which I think requires an older nVidia driver. Read through this thread that might provide some help.

11.3 Nvidia FX5500 driver problem (173.14.25)

Thank You,

Hi James, thanks for the response. The Quadro FX 4800 card came out in 2009. Are graphics moving so fast that a year old card is considered legacy?? Whether it is or isn’t though, the work around doesn’t seem to work for me.

startx – -ignoreABI
xauth: creating new authority file /root/.serverauth.31011

X.Org X Server 1.6.5
Release Date: 2009-10-11
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: openSUSE SUSE LINUX
Current Operating System: Linux cgs-guanine 2.6.31.5-0.1-default #1 SMP 2009-10-26 15:49:03 +0100 x86_64
Build Date: 02 November 2009 12:04:43PM

    Before reporting problems, check [X.Org Wiki - Home](http://wiki.x.org)
    to make sure that you have the latest version.

Markers: (–) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: “/var/log/Xorg.0.log”, Time: Thu Oct 14 11:30:59 2010
(==) Using config file: “/etc/X11/xorg.conf”
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/prism54, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ipw2200, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ipw2100, it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf line 2: ignoring bad line starting with ‘options’
FATAL: Module nvidia not found.
(EE) NVIDIA: Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module. Please check your
(EE) NVIDIA: system’s kernel log for additional error messages.
(EE) Failed to load module “nvidia” (module-specific error, 0)
(EE) No drivers available.

Fatal server error:
no screens found

Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
at X.Org Wiki - Home
for help.
Please also check the log file at “/var/log/Xorg.0.log” for additional information.

giving up.
xinit: No such file or directory (errno 2): unable to connect to X server
xinit: No such process (errno 3): Server error.

Although, I didn’t expect this to work (running from an ssh terminal) so to be absolutely sure, I’d have to probably go to the physical server and test this command.

~josh

joshearl1 Hi James, thanks for the response. The Quadro FX 4800 card came out in 2009. Are graphics moving so fast that a year old card is considered legacy?? Whether it is or isn’t though, the work around doesn’t seem to work for me.
Well, nVidia does seem to be going faster than the speed of light, but I was not thinking QFX when I saw 4800, sorry. Here are the things I normally say to anyone installing a new video card which is nVidia, but I am not sure about using the QFX-4800.

You should look at this document before proceeding on…

SDB:Configuring graphics cards - openSUSE

Then, take a look at the procedure I use to install the nVidia driver as I install openSUSE 11.3:

  1. During the install, when you have the option to change your booting setup, I add nomodeset to the kernel load command for the normal load/start of openSUSE. This kernel startup option is already present for the Failsafe selection for openSUSE. You must use YaST / Software Management / View / Patterns and install three development packages, Base / Kernel & C/C++.
  2. During the first start of openSUSE, I download the latest nVidia Video driver to the downloads folder.
  3. I change/save the System/Kernel option NO_KMS_IN_INITRD from “No” to “Yes” in the /etc/sysconfig Editor in Yast.
  4. I do an update of openSUSE on the first run of openSUSE and then a restart/reboot.
  5. In grub OS selection I add the command line option “3” to the openSUSE start line so that I just go to the run level three terminal prompt.
  6. I login in as root and change to the /home/user/Downloads folder.
  7. I run/install the NVIDIA video driver using “sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-256.53.run” and answer all questions as appropriate for my system.
  8. Type in reboot at terminal prompt to restart the system with new video driver.

Next I had someone say they also had to do this:

I was able to fix the issue on my system by doing the following:

  1. Make sure I have the proprietary nvidia driver installed.
  2. CNTL ALT F2 and login as root. Then do an init 3
  3. Run the following command as root: nvidia-xconfig
  4. The nvidia-xconfig command will create an xorg.conf file.
  5. Edit the “Device” section in the xorg.conf file and add the following line: Option “UseCompositeWrapper” “True”
  6. Restart and it should be working. I also pasted an example of my “Device” section.

Section “Device”
Identifier “Device0”
Driver “nvidia”
VendorName “NVIDIA Corporation”
Option “UseCompositeWrapper” “True”
EndSection

And when all else fails, I normally think about upgrading to kernel version 2.6.35.7. I have a script that can do this very well for you. Be aware, that reloading your kernel will require reloading the nVidia driver.

S.A.K.C - SuSE Automated Kernel Compiler

In the end, you need to visit nVidia and determine for sure you are downloading the correct video driver for Linux and for 32 or 64 bit as you have loaded.

Thank You,

-You must use YaST / Software Management / View / Patterns and install three development packages, Base / Kernel & C/C++.

A couple things: I’ve seen this advice (I believe from you in other posts) before, but I’m not actually sure which packages are best: for the c/c++ I assume you mean gcc (got it: version 4.3.2 is default, gcc-4.4 is also installed if I need it specifically) but I’m not sure about the base/kernel. I do have kernel-default, kernel-desktop, and kernel-firmware all installed according to yast (version 2.6.31.5-0.1-default), and I did recently upgrade the kernel with yast (from 2.6.27.39-0.3-default). Are these the packages you mean?

Next, NO_KMS_IN_INITRD is not an option in my /etc/sysconfig (I think this might have been added in a later version of SuSE? I’m @ v. 11.0 64bit) Should I manually add this to the sysconfig file? And if I do, does it matter where I put it in in the file, or just anywhere is ok?

-In grub OS selection I add the command line option “3” to the openSUSE start line so that I just go to the run level three terminal prompt.
can I just “init 3” or does this have to be from the grub menu?

Sorry, I’ve only been really seriously using linux for a year or two now, and even less than that with SuSE, thanks for your help so far!

~josh