Mdv 2008.1 and nVidia GeForce 9400 GT

Did anyone succeeded in installing the driver for the nVidia GeForce
9400GT video card on mandriva 2008.1?

I just bought a PC with this video card and I re-installed mandriva
2008.1 (I want to wait a bit more before installing 2009). The installer
did not recognized the video card and therefore installed a generic vesa
driver. I also tried to download the driver directcly from the nvidia
site (version 177.80) but it did not compile (so I am guessing there is
something wrong with mandriva).

Any clues or info?

Best regards,
Mauro

Mauro Orlandini wrote:
[color=blue]
> Did anyone succeeded in installing the driver for the nVidia GeForce
> 9400GT video card on mandriva 2008.1?
>
> I just bought a PC with this video card and I re-installed mandriva
> 2008.1 (I want to wait a bit more before installing 2009). The installer
> did not recognized the video card and therefore installed a generic vesa
> driver. I also tried to download the driver directcly from the nvidia
> site (version 177.80) but it did not compile (so I am guessing there is
> something wrong with mandriva).
>
> Any clues or info?
>
> Best regards,
> Mauro[/color]

To compile it, you need kernel-source. kernel-devel may work, but
kernel-source certainly will. If you are using nVidia's own driver, I
doubt that it will be Mandriva's fault.

HTH,

Doug.
--
Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to
you.
- Elbert Hubbard

Il Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:39:31 +1100, Doug Laidlaw ha scritto:
[color=blue]
> To compile it, you need kernel-source. kernel-devel may work, but
> kernel-source certainly will. If you are using nVidia's own driver, I
> doubt that it will be Mandriva's fault.[/color]

Hi Doug,

I made some progress... 8-)
I compiled the driver following the instructions given in the
nvidia site. At the end of the installation log is written

----------------------
-> done.
-> Kernel module compilation complete.
ERROR: Unable to load the kernel module 'nvidia.ko'. This happens most
frequently when this kernel module was built against the wrong or
improperly configured kernel sources, with a version of gcc that differs
from the one used to build the target kernel, or if a driver such as
rivafb/nvidiafb is present and prevents the NVIDIA kernel module from
obtaining ownership of the NVIDIA graphics device(s).

Please see the log entries 'Kernel module load error' and 'Kernel
messages' at the end of the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for
more information.
-> Kernel module load error: insmod: error inserting './usr/src/nv/nvidia.ko':
-1 Invalid module format

Looking in the log I found the cause of the error:

nvidia: version magic '2.6.24.7-2mnbcustom SMP mod_unload 686 ' should be
'2.6.24.7-server-2mnb SMP mod_unload 686 '

that is, there is a mismatch between kernel and its source.
Giving a look in the /usr/src directory I found

linux -> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb

therefore the problem could be due to the fact that the linux source is
really linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb while the system is linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb

I have both of them because I installed kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1
(it istalled automatically) and kernel-source-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1
(that I installed for compiling the nvidia module). I will try to change the
link and find out if it works. I will let you know...
[color=blue]
> Doug.[/color]

Thanks, Mauro

Il Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:09:08 +0000, Mauro Orlandini ha scritto:
[color=blue]
> Looking in the log I found the cause of the error:
>
> nvidia: version magic '2.6.24.7-2mnbcustom SMP mod_unload 686 '
> should be '2.6.24.7-server-2mnb SMP mod_unload 686 '
>
> that is, there is a mismatch between kernel and its source. Giving a
> look in the /usr/src directory I found
>
> linux -> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
> linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb
>
> therefore the problem could be due to the fact that the linux source is
> really linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb while the system is
> linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb
>
> I have both of them because I installed
> kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1 (it istalled automatically)
> and kernel-source-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1 (that I installed for compiling
> the nvidia module). I will try to change the link and find out if it
> works. I will let you know...[/color]

OK. I did the change and the module compiled and installed.

Now I have a question: the directory linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb contains much
more files than linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb. Which one should I link as
the "true" kernel source?

Regards, Mauro

Mauro Orlandini wrote:
[color=blue]
> Il Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:09:08 +0000, Mauro Orlandini ha scritto:
>[color=green]
>> Looking in the log I found the cause of the error:
>>
>> nvidia: version magic '2.6.24.7-2mnbcustom SMP mod_unload 686 '
>> should be '2.6.24.7-server-2mnb SMP mod_unload 686 '
>>
>> that is, there is a mismatch between kernel and its source. Giving a
>> look in the /usr/src directory I found
>>
>> linux -> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
>> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
>> linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb
>>
>> therefore the problem could be due to the fact that the linux source is
>> really linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb while the system is
>> linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb
>>
>> I have both of them because I installed
>> kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1 (it istalled automatically)
>> and kernel-source-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1 (that I installed for compiling
>> the nvidia module). I will try to change the link and find out if it
>> works. I will let you know...[/color]
>
> OK. I did the change and the module compiled and installed.
>
> Now I have a question: the directory linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb contains much
> more files than linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb. Which one should I link as
> the "true" kernel source?
>
> Regards, Mauro[/color]
The "true" kernel source is probably the one with more files. The other is
probably from kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1. The "devel"
kernel RPM has only those things that you need most of the time. It is my
understanding that it should have been sufficient, but I had a similar
problem with the latest kernel 2.6.27.4-desktop-1mnb. You should be able
now to uninstall the "devel" package, because you have it aggain in the
source. But what do you need to link now? That should happen automatically.

Doug.
--
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to
improve the world.
- Anne Frank.

Mauro Orlandini wrote:[color=blue]
> Now I have a question: the directory linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb contains much
> more files than linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb. Which one should I link as
> the "true" kernel source?[/color]

What are you running as your kernel? Run uname -a and see what shows
up. You need for /usr/src/linux to point to the package that exactly
matches the running kernel. Or, simply delete the linux symlink and
let the nVidia installer look around a little bit more to find what
it needs. It is usually successful at finding things, but can be
mislead by finding something that points to the wrong place.

NVidia is picky. If you have
kernel-desktop-2.6.27.4-1mnb-1-1mnb2
then you need
kernel-desktop-devel-2.6.27.4-1mnb-1-1mnb2

If you install something such as
kernel-source-2.6.27.4-1mnb-1-1mnb2
or anything with source in the name, the nVidia installer will
regard that as having the files needed when preparing a module
for a custom-compiled kernel. It will look inside the .config
file in the top directory of the kernel-source* directory tree,
and try to see if the designator there matches the designator
compiled into your running kernel. If what it finds does not
match, it refuses to compile the module.

Unless you wish to roll your own kernels, get the standard
kernel package and the devel package that goes with it, and use that
when compiling nVidia and other 3rd-party drivers.

If you do wish to roll your own, get the kernel source package,
configure and compile that, and with that kernel booted run
the nVidia installer to create the module for it.

Cheers!

jim b.



--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.

Doug Laidlaw wrote:
[color=blue]
> Mauro Orlandini wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Il Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:09:08 +0000, Mauro Orlandini ha scritto:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Looking in the log I found the cause of the error:
>>>
>>> nvidia: version magic '2.6.24.7-2mnbcustom SMP mod_unload 686 '
>>> should be '2.6.24.7-server-2mnb SMP mod_unload 686 '
>>>
>>> that is, there is a mismatch between kernel and its source. Giving a
>>> look in the /usr/src directory I found
>>>
>>> linux -> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
>>> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
>>> linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb
>>>
>>> therefore the problem could be due to the fact that the linux source is
>>> really linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb while the system is
>>> linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb
>>>
>>> I have both of them because I installed
>>> kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1 (it istalled automatically)
>>> and kernel-source-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1 (that I installed for compiling
>>> the nvidia module). I will try to change the link and find out if it
>>> works. I will let you know...[/color]
>>
>> OK. I did the change and the module compiled and installed.
>>
>> Now I have a question: the directory linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb contains much
>> more files than linux-2.6.24.7-server-2mnb. Which one should I link as
>> the "true" kernel source?
>>
>> Regards, Mauro[/color]
> The "true" kernel source is probably the one with more files. The other
> is
> probably from kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1. The "devel"
> kernel RPM has only those things that you need most of the time. It is my
> understanding that it should have been sufficient, but I had a similar
> problem with the latest kernel 2.6.27.4-desktop-1mnb. You should be able
> now to uninstall the "devel" package, because you have it aggain in the
> source. But what do you need to link now? That should happen
> automatically.
>
> Doug.[/color]

One thing you can try is on MCC, re setup the display. If you manually pick
an Nvidia card and have your update sources set up it should ask you that
there is a proprietary driver and asks if you want to use it, if you say
yes it should set everything up and all you should have to do is restart
your X session (ctrl + alt + backspace) and if you see the nvidia splash
screen you know it works. Thats how I have to do it with my Nvidia card.

Il Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:46:53 +1100, Doug Laidlaw ha scritto:
[color=blue]
> The "true" kernel source is probably the one with more files. The other
> is probably from kernel-server-devel-2.6.24.7-2mnb-1-1mnb1. The "devel"
> kernel RPM has only those things that you need most of the time. It is
> my understanding that it should have been sufficient, but I had a
> similar problem with the latest kernel 2.6.27.4-desktop-1mnb. You
> should be able now to uninstall the "devel" package, because you have it
> aggain in the source. But what do you need to link now? That should
> happen automatically.[/color]

Indeed, that's what I did. Now it links to the 2.6.27.4-desktop-1mnb, but
I think that there is a conflict between the kernel-source-latest and the
kernel-server-latest packages: the two should be mutually exclusive and
should not be possible to have both installed... Anyway, now I have the
nvidia module running and this is what I wanted... 8-)
[color=blue]
> Doug.[/color]

Thank you,
Mauro

Il Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:39:54 +0000, Mauro Orlandini ha scritto:
[color=blue]
> Indeed, that's what I did. Now it links to the 2.6.27.4-desktop-1mnb,
> but I think that there is a conflict between the kernel-source-latest
> and the kernel-server-latest packages: the two should be mutually
> exclusive and should not be possible to have both installed... Anyway,
> now I have the nvidia module running and this is what I wanted... 8-)[/color]

I reply to myself: I just discovered that by un-installing the kernel-
server-latest package, the uname of my system changed too. Now they are
aligned:

cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.24.7-server-2mnb (qateam@titan.mandriva.com) (gcc
version 4.2.3 (4.2.3-6mnb1)) #1 SMP Thu Oct 30 18:40:15 EDT 2008

ls -l /usr/src
linux -> linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb
linux-2.6.24.7-2mnb

So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)

Now everything is set.

Mauro

on Thursday 06 November 2008 20:49
in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva
Mauro Orlandini wrote:


[snip][color=blue]
> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)[/color]
[snip]

They should not conflict. All of the kernels are compiled
from the same source, just the configuration changes.


--
sig goes here...
Peter D.

Mauro Orlandini wrote:[color=blue]
> I reply to myself: I just discovered that by un-installing the kernel-
> server-latest package, the uname of my system changed too. Now they are
> aligned:[/color]
<snip>[color=blue]
> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)[/color]

Actually, you can have all the kernel packages installed that you
want, but the symbolic links have to be correct for what you want to
do, or you must follow the instructions for compiling drivers for
a system not currently running and then installing. For more details
(and some other info):

/usr/src/nvidia-current-177.80-3mdv2009.0/README
(vary name to fit your current nvidia installer directory)

Cheers!

jim b.


--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.

On Friday 07 November 2008 03:55, someone identifying as *Jim Beard* wrote
in /alt.os.linux.mandriva:/
[color=blue]
> Mauro Orlandini wrote:
>[color=green]
>> I reply to myself: I just discovered that by un-installing the kernel-
>> server-latest package, the uname of my system changed too. Now they are
>> aligned:
>>
>> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
>> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)[/color]
>
> Actually, you can have all the kernel packages installed that you
> want, but the symbolic links have to be correct for what you want to
> do, [...][/color]

My advice to anyone would be to ditch the symbolic links alltogether and
simply edit your bootloader configuration to point directly to the actual
kernel and initial ramdisk images instead. It's really not that hard to
do, and - listen up newbies ;-) - yes, you may need to open up a dreaded
commandline console to do it, but that's all part of working at a UNIX
system.

Don't use any Mandriva GUI utility. You can use a GUI editor - started from
the commandline after you've /su'ed/ to root - and the shell in the
terminal window, e.g.

(note: "#" precedes comments)

su -
# Enter the root password here

kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst &
# This will start /kwrite/ with root privileges and free up
# the shell again for interactive use since the editor will be
# started in the background

# With the editor open, enter the following commands in the
# terminal window:

cd /boot
ls -l

# Look at the symbolic links. They are filenames in a different
# color - turquoise on my system - with an arrow behind them,
# indicating to what other file they point.
#
# Compare with the file in the editor, edit the file and then
# delete the pertaining symlinks one by one.
#
# Save the file, close the editor, and hit /Ctrl+D/ in the terminal
# window to exit the root shell and return to your unprivileged
# user shell. Press /Ctrl+D/ again to exit that shell and close
# the terminal window.

Hope this was helpful. ;-)

--
*Aragorn*
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)

On Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:18:56 -0500, Aragorn <aragorn@chatfactory.invalid> wrote:
[color=blue]
> My advice to anyone would be to ditch the symbolic links alltogether and[/color]

Also edit /etc/sysconfig/installkernel and set NOLINK="yes" to prevent the
installation of a new kernel via urpmi from creating new symlinks.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change nomail.afraid.org to ody.ca to reply by email.
(nomail.afraid.org has been set up specifically for
use in usenet. Feel free to use it yourself.)

Aragorn wrote:[color=blue]
> On Friday 07 November 2008 03:55, someone identifying as *Jim Beard* wrote
> in /alt.os.linux.mandriva:/
>[color=green]
>> Mauro Orlandini wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> I reply to myself: I just discovered that by un-installing the kernel-
>>> server-latest package, the uname of my system changed too. Now they are
>>> aligned:
>>>
>>> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
>>> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)[/color]
>> Actually, you can have all the kernel packages installed that you
>> want, but the symbolic links have to be correct for what you want to
>> do, [...][/color]
>
> My advice to anyone would be to ditch the symbolic links alltogether and
> simply edit your bootloader configuration to point directly to the actual
> kernel and initial ramdisk images instead. It's really not that hard to
> do, and - listen up newbies ;-) - yes, you may need to open up a dreaded
> commandline console to do it, but that's all part of working at a UNIX
> system.
>
> Don't use any Mandriva GUI utility. You can use a GUI editor - started from
> the commandline after you've /su'ed/ to root - and the shell in the
> terminal window, e.g.
>
> (note: "#" precedes comments)
>
> su -
> # Enter the root password here
>
> kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst &
> # This will start /kwrite/ with root privileges and free up
> # the shell again for interactive use since the editor will be
> # started in the background
>
> # With the editor open, enter the following commands in the
> # terminal window:
>
> cd /boot
> ls -l
>
> # Look at the symbolic links. They are filenames in a different
> # color - turquoise on my system - with an arrow behind them,
> # indicating to what other file they point.
> #
> # Compare with the file in the editor, edit the file and then
> # delete the pertaining symlinks one by one.
> #
> # Save the file, close the editor, and hit /Ctrl+D/ in the terminal
> # window to exit the root shell and return to your unprivileged
> # user shell. Press /Ctrl+D/ again to exit that shell and close
> # the terminal window.
>
> Hope this was helpful. ;-)
>[/color]

All good information, but the symlink under discussion was
/usr/src/linux (and maybe /lib/modules/linux*/build and
/lib/modules/linux*/source). If any or all of these point
to something other than what you are trying to compile an nVidia
driver for, the nvidia compiler/installer may become confused,
choke and barf error messages.

Symlinks in /boot can likewise cause problems, which likewise can be
avoided by removing the symlinks and using regular path/file names.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.

Peter D. wrote:[color=blue]
> on Thursday 06 November 2008 20:49
> in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva
> Mauro Orlandini wrote:
>
>
> [snip][color=green]
>> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
>> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)[/color]
> [snip]
>
> They should not conflict. All of the kernels are compiled
> from the same source, just the configuration changes.[/color]

The configuration changes are critical when you are
compiling/installing nVidia drivers for a new kernel.
The nvidia package checks the name of the running kernel
against the name in the source or -devel- config or
..config file and some other places. If they do not match,
it will not compile and install the new drivers.

You can download a new kernel, and download the source code for that
kernel, and then try to compile nVidia drivers for the new kernel
while it is running. It will not work.

You can download a new kernel, and download the -devel- package for
that exact kernel, and then the nVidia compiler/installer will
prepare the drivers and install them.

Cheers!

jim b.


--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.

on Saturday 08 November 2008 14:51
in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva
Jim Beard wrote:
[color=blue]
> Peter D. wrote:[color=green]
>> on Thursday 06 November 2008 20:49
>> in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva
>> Mauro Orlandini wrote:
>>
>>
>> [snip][color=darkred]
>>> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
>>> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)[/color]
>> [snip]
>>
>> They should not conflict. All of the kernels are compiled
>> from the same source, just the configuration changes.[/color]
>
> The configuration changes are critical when you are
> compiling/installing nVidia drivers for a new kernel.
> The nvidia package checks the name of the running kernel
> against the name in the source or -devel- config or
> .config file and some other places. If they do not match,
> it will not compile and install the new drivers.[/color]

You should be able to compile any of the Mandriva source.
[color=blue]
> You can download a new kernel, and download the source code for that
> kernel, and then try to compile nVidia drivers for the new kernel
> while it is running. It will not work.[/color]

That is very strange.

Try;
cd /usr/src/linux
make clean
cp /boot/config .config
make oldconfig

Maybe you need some obscure name change in /usr/src/linux/Makefile
You will probably have to remove the "custom" from there.

Then compile with something like;
ionice -c3 make -j2
make modules_install
make install

I am assuming that you do everything as root, which is
technically naughty.

[color=blue]
> You can download a new kernel, and download the -devel- package for
> that exact kernel, and then the nVidia compiler/installer will
> prepare the drivers and install them.[/color]

If that is what works then that is what you should do.


--
sig goes here...
Peter D.

Peter D. wrote:[color=blue]
> on Saturday 08 November 2008 14:51
> in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva
> Jim Beard wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Peter D. wrote:[color=darkred]
>>> on Thursday 06 November 2008 20:49
>>> in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva
>>> Mauro Orlandini wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>>> So the "original sin" was to install both kernel-source-latest AND
>>>> kernel-server-latest (but may be a warning should have helped...)
>>> [snip]
>>>
>>> They should not conflict. All of the kernels are compiled
>>> from the same source, just the configuration changes.[/color]
>> The configuration changes are critical when you are
>> compiling/installing nVidia drivers for a new kernel.
>> The nvidia package checks the name of the running kernel
>> against the name in the source or -devel- config or
>> .config file and some other places. If they do not match,
>> it will not compile and install the new drivers.[/color]
>
> You should be able to compile any of the Mandriva source.[/color]

If you compile a kernel from source, install it, and while it is
running compile new nVidia drivers, that will work.

But you cannot use the full source code when compiling drivers
for a kernel downloaded as a binary, without some fancy modifications.
[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> You can download a new kernel, and download the source code for that
>> kernel, and then try to compile nVidia drivers for the new kernel
>> while it is running. It will not work.[/color]
>
> That is very strange.
>
> Try;
> cd /usr/src/linux
> make clean
> cp /boot/config .config
> make oldconfig
>
> Maybe you need some obscure name change in /usr/src/linux/Makefile
> You will probably have to remove the "custom" from there.[/color]

The last time I went for the brass ring using this approach, I found
three places where the kernel identifier had to match, in the .config
file, in a makefile (top level? or elsewhere?), and in a file under
the architecture 386 tree.

Complicating matters, you may have a symbolic link /usr/src/linux
that the nvidia installer will look at, and there may be symbolic
links source and maybe build in the trees under /lib/modules. The
nVidia installer apparently looked at those, too, and if they point
to the wrong location it could bollix things.
[color=blue]
> Then compile with something like;
> ionice -c3 make -j2
> make modules_install
> make install[/color]

The README has instructions for the exact commands.[color=blue]
>
> I am assuming that you do everything as root, which is
> technically naughty.[/color]

You have to do the install as root, due to permissons on the
directories. Conventional wisdom says to use chown -R user: *
in the top of the source code tree to become owner of all files
and compile as regular-user you.[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> You can download a new kernel, and download the -devel- package for
>> that exact kernel, and then the nVidia compiler/installer will
>> prepare the drivers and install them.[/color]
>
> If that is what works then that is what you should do.[/color]

This is indeed the easiest.

Of course, the above assumes that the compiler used to compile the
kernel and the compiler used to compile the drivers are the same
version. A mismatch there will also bollix things.

The nVidia module is integrated very tightly into the kernel, for
speed, and the module and kernel have to match up exactly. Changes
in library routines, for example, can botch things quite thoroughly.

When everything lines up nicely, all works beautifully. When things
get out of kilter, I have found it a PITA trying to figure out what
has to be changed to straighten things out.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.