LMDE 15 Problem installing Nvidia FX5800

[paul1951]

Hi All,

New to Linux. We have a Sun Ultra 40 M2 with 2 AMD Opteron 3.2GHz CPUs, 16GB of memory and a Nvidia Quadro FX5800. We have tried to install LMDE 15 with no success. When the install CD opens the Cinnamon screen we click install Linux Mint. The display hangs and on several attempts two band appear at the bottom of the screen full of random pixels. The driver we are trying to install is is 331.20. The problem is I cannot install 15 on this machine with this video card. Any suggetions would be greatly appreciated.

[Monsta]

What is "LMDE 15"?

[paul1951]

Typo, I meant Linux Mint Debian Edition 15.

Any help on why I cannot install Nvidia FX5800?

Thanks,

Paul

[AlbertP]

Mint Debian edition has no version numbers like these, it is a rolling release.

Do you mean Mint 15 (Ubuntu based) or Mint Debian?

On Mint 15 you might be able to install "nvidia-173-updates" from the repository.

Driver versions newer than 173 do not support the FX 5000 series of GPUs, you need the legacy 173 driver series.

[paul1951]

I meant Mint Debian. The problem I have is when the machine boots from the live CD and then tries to install. The Cinnamon screen comes up and when install Mint is selected the screen locks up. A window opens but no text is visible and the mouse does not work. I originally installed Mint Debian with the original FX3700 graphics card with no issues.
Wanted some better graphics performance so we installed the FX5800. The problem is we cannot get past the screen locking up. Is there another solution? I have looked at other posts here on the forum but they all show Mint working with a menu of what driver to install. Yes, we did download the legacy driver. Any help on this would be appreciated.

[AlbertP]

Excuse me, I thought you meant a GeForce FX 5800 card when I read "FX5800".
The Quadro FX 5800 is a much newer card that does not require a legacy driver.

You can boot the "compatibility mode" by pressing a key during "Automatic boot in 10 seconds". It will be slow, but it will allow you to install Mint. After installation, you can again try to install some kind of driver if necessary. Installing a driver before installing Mint is not a good idea anyway.

[paul1951]

Again, sorry for the confusion. It is a Quadro FX5800. I just tried the compatibility mode with no success. The live CD boots up OK and when the Cinnamon screen appears I click on the driver update I believe it is called and a window opens. The problem is there is no text. Possible a font problem?? Also tried opening a terminal window and the same problem occurs. A window opens with no text and clicking on the mouse does nothing.

I was wrong about the FX5800 driver in my last post.

At this point I do not know how I can get this card installed. Without even a terminal window there is not much I can do to even disable the nouveau driver.

Is there any other possible solution?

Thanks

[Monsta]

Have you tried other editions/versions of Mint? Mint 13 LTS? Mint 16?
Also it can be a good idea to try MATE instead of Cinnamon.

You said you're

New to Linux

and that means LMDE is not recommended for you anyway.

[Paulm]

Paul1951 I agree with Monsta if you are new to Linux, Mint 13 LTS or Mint 16 will be easier for you to start with.

But if you want to get hands-on, install LMDE-MATE (its super!) The installation default graphic driver is 'Nouveau' and will work with most graphic cards also it should be no problem integrating with your Kernel updates.
I would not not use a proprietary graphic driver till you get more used to tweaking your system.
The default install Linux Kernel is a I486 and will only use one CPU core, if you have a multi-core computer change to an i686 after install (it is in synaptic).

Ask in the forum if you need help, have fun.

[AlbertP]

Paulm, if you had read the first post of the topic well you should have seen that the default driver (Nouveau, indeed) does not work.

We have tried to install LMDE 15 with no success. When the install CD opens the Cinnamon screen we click install Linux Mint. The display hangs and on several attempts two band appear at the bottom of the screen full of random pixels.

[dagon]

Moved here by moderator. I forgot to mention it, sorry for the confusion!

[Paulm]

Thanks AlbertP
Will not be posting on this forum again, so there is no need for you to get upset.

[paul1951]

First, thank you all for your patience and help.

Will try Mint 13 LTS or Mint 16 and MATE and let you all know how the install works out.