install nvidia in debian the simple way

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ptesone · #1 Post by **ptesone** » 2005-07-13 15:27

I actually found this text on a google search for: debian nvidia install
and found it to be very useful. . .

Simple instructions on how to install nVidia drivers for XFree86 on
Debian written by Len Sorensen.
(LSorensen on irc.debian.org, lsorense -at- csclub.uwaterloo.ca)
Last updated March 23 2005.
Feel free to email reports on this information working or not working
and any suggestions you have on making it better.

Note:
At this time these are the debian versions:
woody: Debian 3.0 stable release
sarge: Debian testing release (will be next stable release when done)
sid: Debian unstable (will never be released, but provides packages for
testing after they have been tested for a while.)

Note: As of this time, there are NO nvidia drivers in sarge. You would
have to add sid sources to your sources.list and pin the system to sarge
to get access to the nvidia drivers. I will try to add this information
later. For now it still applies to woody and sid.

Step 0: Cleaning up the mess from nvidia's installer (if you used it first)

Make sure to remove all the garbage created by the nvidia installer,
since it places files in different locations, and may cause problems
even after following these instructions. It is supposed to have an
uninstall option. Something like: nvidia-installer --uninstall should
do it. I have not used it myself, since doing it this way is so simple
and works very well, and of course: It is `The Debian Way'. The
--uninstall option should remove everything it installed (At least I
hope so.)

Do NOT try to mix and match with the debian packages and the nvidia
installer. They do not get along, they don't agree on where files should
go or how just about anything should be done. It's one way or the other.
To do it right the Debian way, all traces of the nvidia installer has
to go.

Step 1: Preparing your package sources

For people running woody:
If you are running debian woody, which does not include the nvidia
drivers, add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb http://www.backports.org/debian woody nvidia-graphics-drivers dpatch
deb http://www.backports.org/debian woody nvidia-kernel-common xfree86

then run 'apt-get update' to update the package lists.

For people running sarge or sid:
Ensure you have main contrib non-free in your /etc/apt/sources.list since
the nvidia drivers are in non-free and some of the helpers are in contrib.

Step 2: Ensure your kernel is the right version.

The nvidia driver requries a 2.4 or 2.6 kernel at the moment.

For woody users:
If you are not running 2.4.18 on woody built for your cpu type, you
should fix that first. For Pentium Pro, Celeron, P2, P3 and P4
use the package 'kernel-image-2.4.18-686', for Duron and Athlon use
'kernel-uimage-2.4.18-k7', and for older pentium and k6 systems, use
'kernel-image-2.4.18-386' At some point soon, 2.4.24 might become
available for woody in which case you want to use that instead.

Remember to reboot after installing a new kernel so that you are running
the right one.

For people running sarge or sid:
For sarge and sid please make sure you are running an up to date kernel
so that the headers matching it can be installed. The simplest way to
do this is to do:
> apt-get install kernel-image-2.4-686
or
> apt-get install kernel-image-2.4-k7
or
> apt-get install kernel-image-2.6-686
or
> apt-get install kernel-image-2.6-k7

That will keep you running the latest kernel released (either 2.4.x
or 2.6.x). If the command to install kernel-headers fails later, you
didn't do this step right.

Remember to reboot after installing a new kernel so that you are running
the right one.

Step 3: Installing needed packages for building the nvidia kernel module.
Install a few packages needed:
> apt-get install nvidia-kernel-source nvidia-kernel-common

If you are running a debian kernel do this:
> apt-get install kernel-headers-`uname -r`
> export KVERS=`uname -r`
> export KSRC=/usr/src/kernel-headers-`uname -r`
Note that the two lines above are NOT single quotes. They are backticks
(on the same key as ~ on a US layout keyboard).

If you built your own kernel, just make sure you know where the source
for it is located so you can set KSRC variable to that location.
> export KVERS=`uname -r`
> export KSRC=location of your kernel sources or headers
Note that the two lines above are NOT single quotes. They are backticks
(on the same key as ~ on a US layout keyboard).

Step 4: Building and installing the nvidia kernel module
Build the kernel module package:
> cd /usr/src
> tar xvzf nvidia-kernel-source.tar.gz
> cd modules/nvidia-kernel
> debian/rules binary_modules
Then install it:
> cd ..
> dpkg -i nvidia-kernel-`uname -r`*deb
> depmod -a

Step 5: Installing and configuring the nvidia glx X driver
Install the last few packages:
> apt-get install nvidia-glx nvidia-glx-dev xserver-xfree86

Now you are ready to change X to use the new driver. Configure X
normally using:
> dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
And configure the monitor, resolution, mouse, etc settings as you need
and select nvidia instead of nv as your driver.

Note: Any user that wants to run 3D code must be in the video group.
To add a user to the video group do this:
> adduser youruser video
The next time they login to X they will have 3D access.

That's it. You should be running the new X. You should see the nvidia
logo when X starts if you are succesfully running the new driver.

Keep in mind that whenever a new version of the nvidia driver comes out,
or whenever you upgrade to a newer kernel, you will have to go through
these steps again to build the nvidia kernel module to match the new
driver and/or new kernel.

Notes:
If the nvidia modules doesn't load automatically and the X server
complains about it, add 'nvidia' to /etc/modules to make it auto load
on boot.

When upgrading, the simplest is to reboot afterwards to make sure X and
the kernel module are using the same version. You could also stop X,
rmmod nvidia, modprobe nvidia, start X again.

Hooo Ujin oooH · #2 Post by **Hooo Ujin oooH** » 2005-07-26 21:29

wow its a long msg i dont understand why ppl cant install the nvidia driver without making a book .its very simple

1) download the nvidia driver from nvidia www.nvidia.com
2)save it to ur hd
3)Open a shell ,log under root type "su" ur password
4)install the kernel header for u kernel type "uname -a" to know ur version use synaptic to get it or apt-get
5)go into consol mode type /etc/init.d/gdm stop
6)give the perm to the nvidia to run type "chmod +x NVIDIA.xxxx.run"
7)run it type "./Nvidia.xxx.run"
8)go to /etc/X11
9)open the xorg.conf or xfree (im under xorg) type nano xorg.conf
10) find the video driver section ,replace the x driver by nvidia
11)remove dri,glcore in x11 option
12)save it crt+o leaving nano crt+x
13)testing the new driver type "startx"
14) it works? yes return in consol enable gdm type "/etc/init.d/gdm start

Hooo Ujin oooH · #3 Post by **Hooo Ujin oooH** » 2005-07-26 21:35

#
# there my xorg.conf you should make ur own !
# to kill xorg crtl+alt+backSpace
#

# xorg.conf.dpkg-new (Xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf.dpkg-new manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf.dpkg-new" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands as root:
#
# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.dpkg-new /etc/X11/xorg.conf.dpkg-new.custom
# md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf.dpkg-new >/var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.dpkg-new.md5sum
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "record"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "fr"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
#Option "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "6600"
Driver "nvidia"
# BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Écran générique"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 28-50
VertRefresh 43-75
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "6600"
Monitor "Écran générique"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

dfx · #4 Post by **dfx** » 2005-07-27 14:38

Hooo Ujin oooH wrote:wow its a long msg i dont understand why ppl cant install the nvidia driver without making a book .its very simple

1) download the nvidia driver from nvidia www.nvidia.com
2)save it to ur hd
3)Open a shell ,log under root type "su" ur password
4)install the kernel header for u kernel type "uname -a" to know ur version use synaptic to get it or apt-get
5)go into consol mode type /etc/init.d/gdm stop
6)give the perm to the nvidia to run type "chmod +x NVIDIA.xxxx.run"
7)run it type "./Nvidia.xxx.run"
8)go to /etc/X11
9)open the xorg.conf or xfree (im under xorg) type nano xorg.conf
10) find the video driver section ,replace the x driver by nvidia
11)remove dri,glcore in x11 option
12)save it crt+o leaving nano crt+x
13)testing the new driver type "startx"
14) it works? yes return in consol enable gdm type "/etc/init.d/gdm start

You can save yourself a step by replacing steps 6 and 7 with "install the drive by typing sh NVIDIA.xxx.run"

You will also need to keep the driver (don't delete it) because if you recompile your kernel, you will have to reinstall the NVIDIA driver.

ujin · #5 Post by **ujin** » 2005-07-27 21:31

Ashinberry · #6 Post by **Ashinberry** » 2005-07-28 01:21

Alternatively to all of that you could type: