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Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

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bluesdog
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#166 Post by bluesdog »

Check the nvidia build log file located at /var/cache/modass

Are you building for a stock kernel?

What nvidia-kernel-source are you using?

173.14.09-5 won't build correctly against the 2.6.30 kernels

You can safely use the nvidia-kernel-source 190.53-2 from sid, and the matching nvidia-glx driver.

Add Sid non-free deb and deb-src to your /etc/apt/sources.list, but remove it later

BrainCheese
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#167 Post by BrainCheese »

That was it. I used Sid for the drivers and everything installed correctly. Thank you very much!!!!!!

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Hadret
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#168 Post by Hadret »

Any luck with nvidia drivers from repositories (or not) and kernel 2.6.33 (experimental, sidux or liquorix)?

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#169 Post by mzilikazi »

Hadret wrote:Any luck with nvidia drivers from repositories (or not) and kernel 2.6.33 (experimental, sidux or liquorix)?
Try this one:

Code: Select all

echo deb http://frickelplatz.de/debian/ sid main contrib non-free > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/frickelplatz.list
apt-get update
apt-get install frickelplatz-keyrings
apt-get install nvidia-kernel-source
m-a a-i -t nvidia
apt-get install nvidia-glx

Code: Select all

# apt-cache policy nvidia-kernel-source nvidia-glx
nvidia-kernel-source:
  Installed: 190.53-2+c0.towo.1
  Candidate: 190.53-2+c0.towo.1
  Version table:
 *** 190.53-2+c0.towo.1 0
        500 http://frickelplatz.de sid/non-free Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     190.53-1 0
        500 http://mirrors.xmission.com sid/non-free Packages
     173.14.09-5 0
        500 http://mirrors.xmission.com stable/non-free Packages
        500 http://mirrors.xmission.com testing/non-free Packages
nvidia-glx:
  Installed: 190.53-1
  Candidate: 190.53-1
  Version table:
 *** 190.53-1 0
        500 http://mirrors.xmission.com sid/non-free Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     173.14.09-5 0
        500 http://mirrors.xmission.com stable/non-free Packages
        500 http://mirrors.xmission.com testing/non-free Packages
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AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-55 / 1.5G
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T2390 @ 1.86GHz / 3G

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TheExplorer
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#170 Post by TheExplorer »

Excuse me since I'm new on this forum as I have switched from 'evil ubuntu' to debian and loved it really much :)

I used to do the following steps, either with stock or custom kernels in Ubuntu:

Install linux headers and other needed packages like xserver-xorg-dev etc.
Alt+F1
# /etc/init.d/gdm stop
./NVIDIA-xxx.pkg1.run
# /etc/init.d/gdm start

That's it!

Should I really make all these manipulations in order to install official Nvidia driver???
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#171 Post by julian67 »

TheExplorer wrote: Should I really make all these manipulations in order to install official Nvidia driver???
If the advantages of doing it the Debian way are valuable to you, then yes. Otherwise, there's not really any point. I don't. I find using the installer from nvidia's ftp reliable, easy and quick. Like you I log out (though I don't use a log in manager), log into a console as root and run the script. A two minute job.
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#172 Post by bluesdog »

dkms makes nvidia module/driver installation/update ridiculously simple

Only available in Squeeze (or Sid), but when Squeeze goes stable, I expect the number and frequency of nvidia install related posts will drastically decrease

startgame412
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#173 Post by startgame412 »

Hello I'm currently using ubuntu 10.04 but I don't like it because it is not stable on my computer. I would like to switch back to debian squeeze for it's stability but I can't install the non free driver for my nvidia card because the nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx package is not in squeeze. I need this package because it has the drivers for my nvidia geforce mx 440 card. I am able to install this in lenny without a problem but this does not seem to work in squeeze. Is there something I can do to get this to work in squeeze? I would be using the debian squeeze kernel which is 2.6.32 at the moment. Want to ditch ubuntu for debian's stability. Thanks.

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#174 Post by bluesdog »

startgame412 wrote:... the nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx package is not in squeeze....
The package is available in Sid/unstable.

Code: Select all

$ apt-cache policy nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx
nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 96.43.16-1
  Version table:
     96.43.16-1 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org sid/non-free Packages
$ apt-cache search nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx
nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx-ia32 - NVIDIA binary Xorg driver (96xx legacy version)
nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx - NVIDIA binary Xorg driver (96xx legacy version)
nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-source - NVIDIA binary kernel module source (96xx legacy version)
nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6-amd64 - NVIDIA binary kernel module for 2.6 series compiled for amd64
nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6-openvz-amd64 - NVIDIA binary kernel module for 2.6 series compiled for openvz amd64
nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6.26-2-amd64 - NVIDIA binary kernel module for Linux 2.6.26-2-amd64 (legacy version)
nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6.26-2-openvz-amd64 - NVIDIA binary kernel module for Linux 2.6.26-2-openvz-amd64 (legacy version)
You could try temporarily adding the Sid repo to your sources, then do a simulation to see what else besides the module the package would pull in.

eg.

Code: Select all

aptitude update
aptitude install nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx -s
If you go this route, remember to remove or comment out the Sid repo afterwards!

startgame412
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#175 Post by startgame412 »

Thanks but what about a package for nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6.32.2 which I think is the current kernel in squeeze. Wouldn't I need a package such as this if this is the kernel I will be using in squeeze? Will the nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx source package make make the nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6.32.2 package? Thanks.

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#176 Post by bluesdog »

startgame412 wrote:Thanks but what about a package for nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6.32.2 which I think is the current kernel in squeeze. Wouldn't I need a package such as this if this is the kernel I will be using in squeeze? Will the nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx source package make make the nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-2.6.32.2 package? Thanks.
Yes, a module build may be necessary. Module-assistant should do the job, I think. Run module-assistant w/o any switches to invoke interactive mode, and see what's available

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#177 Post by craigevil »

[nvidia dkms] For Squeeze users. Ensure you have <non-free sources> added.
"aptitude install linux-headers-2.6-`uname -r | sed 's,.*-,,'` nvidia-glx nvidia-xconfig && nvidia-xconfig -o /etc/X11/xorg.conf"
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#178 Post by bugsbunny »

with dkms, as long as you're installing recommends (and if you're not you should override on the command line to do so for this) all you need to do is:

Code: Select all

aptitude install nvidia-kernel-dkms
I recommend adding nvidia-settings to that, but everything else you need will get pulled in. The one possible exception is the kernel-header package, since if you have multiple kernels installed and a header package for ANY of the kernels the dependency will have been fulfilled. The solution to that is to make sure that you always install a header package in conjunction with a kernel image.

Actually the following will ensure that you install recommends no matter what you're settings and is all that's needed.

Code: Select all

aptitude -r install nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-settings
Note that I recommend you pull from unstable, even if you're running primarily testing. testing is still at -1, while sid is up --4. The -2 version added recommends for vdpau (which won't automatically get pulled in with -1). For more see the changelog: Debian Changelog current nvidia-graphics-drivers

nvidia-xconfig tends to add a bunch of cruft. I recommend you not use, or even install, it except as a measure of last resort. With current setups all you should need in most cases is the Device section in order to specify the driver. You can also specify driver specific options in there. Here's my current one (including some commented out settings, and some I could esaily delete since they';re set to the default value):

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Default Device"
	Driver		"nvidia"
	Option		"NoLogo"	"False"
#	Option		"DPI"	"133 x 133"
	Option		"Coolbits"	"5"
#	Option		"ModeDebug"	"False"
EndSection

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#179 Post by Job »

In my situation I want to only install nvidia-kernel-dkms and leave behind everything else the package is pulling. I was reading about the "hold" command but I am not certain about its usage.
Is there a straight way to tell aptitude not to install something else coming with a package?
Job
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#180 Post by bugsbunny »

Job wrote:In my situation I want to only install nvidia-kernel-dkms and leave behind everything else the package is pulling. I was reading about the "hold" command but I am not certain about its usage.
Is there a straight way to tell aptitude not to install something else coming with a package?
Job
Can you explain exactly what you're hoping to accomplish? nvidia-kernel-dkms by itself, with none of it's dependencies, is worthless and won't really do anything. Generally speaking hard dependencies (as opposed to recommends or suggests) have to get pulled in, otherwise you end up with broken packages.

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#181 Post by Job »

bugsbunny wrote:
Job wrote:In my situation I want to only install nvidia-kernel-dkms and leave behind everything else the package is pulling. I was reading about the "hold" command but I am not certain about its usage.
Is there a straight way to tell aptitude not to install something else coming with a package?
Job
Can you explain exactly what you're hoping to accomplish? nvidia-kernel-dkms by itself, with none of it's dependencies, is worthless and won't really do anything. Generally speaking hard dependencies (as opposed to recommends or suggests) have to get pulled in, otherwise you end up with broken packages.
Right and I ended up breaking my system. Should have waited for your answer. Now I can't get back into my system, I don't have network connection in recovery mode. yahi. I am kicking myself. :oops: I wanted to see if dkms will recognize the nvidia driver already installed. Boy I was wrong....
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#182 Post by Job »

Fixed. I will never mess with that again.
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#183 Post by tabernakel »

I tried both the NVIDIA way, and the source compile way described above, and found both of them troubling. For example, the NVIDIA way didn't recognize my card, immediately making things complicated. On the other hand, the Debian source compile way described above caused one processor core of my dual-core setup to "vanish" when the underlying kernel was recompiled, probably because of some mysterious flag that I should have set and that had (of course) not been mentioned in the HOW-TO. Therefore I cannot advise either of them unless you want to fiddle with (and learn to know) some funny build settings and waste loads of time on stuff you probably never wanted to know.

However, I found a very easy and foolproof way buried in the long NVIDIA HOW-TO of the debian wiki! It should be perfect for anyone who
a) doesn't need a specific NVIDIA driver version - most can probably live very well with the ones provided in the Debian repositories
b) has an aversion of compiling kernel packages whose compile flags and side effects probably noone fully (!) understands
c) doesn't like to play around with runlevels either

If the above is true for you, try this (without quotes):
- "su"
- "aptitude install nvidia-kernel-2.6.32-5-686" (version in package name must match the kernel you're running, check using "uname -a" if unsure)
- "aptitude install nvidia-glx" (neccessary only first time)
- "aptitude install nvidia-xconfig" (neccessary only first time)
- "nvidia-xconfig" (neccessary only first time)
- reboot
- "glxinfo |grep rendering" -> if everything worked, the output should be "direct rendering: Yes"

If you have more than one kernel installed (I grub start the 686 kernel to run the machine, but like to have an additional 486 kernel as an gnome-capable backup if I somehow manage to break the 686 kernel) you need to repeat the steps not marked with "neccessary only first time" after booting the respective kernels. :wink:

morean51
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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#184 Post by morean51 »

i tried only nvidia i was getting problem

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Re: Nvidia driver - Debian way, custom (or not) kernel.

#185 Post by BenB »

The hardware listing software for gnome as root user gives this output for vga compatible driver.

product: C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] [10DE:3D0]
vendor: nVidia Corporation [10DE]
bus info: pci@0000:00:0d.0

Which driver version do I then need?

I am looking at http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_32667.html and can not find a match.
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