Nvidia Graphics Drivers and Update pack 4

[Darcy]

Do the instructions in this post apply to LMDE update 4 and LMDE 201204 latest release.

I assume there would be some changes since the latest Nvidia driver is now 295.2
This is in the Package Manager but there are many packages to choose from, so I don't know what the differences are between Proxima Centauri's post and latest packages.

[zerozero]

Darcy, if your card uses the 295.20 driver (you better check that because older ones use different drivers, but in the first post there's a link for a nvidia page where you can check that), all you have to do with the new 201204 release is (i did it last night with a gts250)
- update your system fully;

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apt install nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-glx build-essential nvidia-settings nvidia-xconfig

and the (very important before reboot)

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sudo nvidia-xconfig

this always works for me (hope it works for you as well

[Darcy]

zerozero - Thank you this worked easily.

I will just add that for dual monitors:

1) After reboot run:

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sudo nvidia-settings

2) Change settings to Twin-View

3) Save settings to X-config

4) Reboot

After this my dual monitors were set up properly and working fine.

[zerozero]

zerozero - Thank you this worked easily.

you're welcome

I will just add that for dual monitors:

and thanks for that bit, i don't use dual monitors, so i missed that

[roger64]

This is the last step I have to do to conclude my - up to now successful - LMDE64 install on my Toshiba L750-T10N laptop.

On LM12, lspci -v gives me this

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01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0dec (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device fc50
   Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
   Memory at c2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
   Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
   Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
   I/O ports at 4000 [size=128]
   [virtual] Expansion ROM at c3080000 [disabled] [size=512K]
   Capabilities: <access denied>
   Kernel driver in use: nvidia
   Kernel modules: nvidia_current, nouveau, nvidiafb

01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
   Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device fc50
   Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
   Memory at c3000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
   Capabilities: <access denied>
   Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
   Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

As you can see I have nvidia_current. I had just to install nvidia-settings right away and then soften the unpleasant brightness of the screen. For me it was a nice and easy solution.

On LMDE however, on the same laptop, I only have nouveau and when I tried to install nvidia-settings, Synaptic informed me that it had to install some other packages which were conflicting with other ones, that the best solution for it would be after installation to start again. Well, this concluded by a blinking cursor on a black screen and a reinstall.

This time, I ask advice: how to properly install nvidia_current and nvidia-settings without breaking anything?

I've read the whole thread and more.
Downloaded sgfxi and know that my card is supported by default drivers.
Read the Debian way in this thread beginning mostly with installing nvidia-kernel-dkms.

I have ONE kernel. Do I need to install a second one to modify this 3.2 kernel?
Can I do all these operations from my 3.2 kernel?

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 $ ./nvidia-versions.sh
Your card is supported by the default drivers.
roger@lmde64 ~/Téléchargements $ uname -r
3.2.0-2-amd64


[roger64]

This is to report success.

First, to give me boldness, I save with Clonezilla.

sudo apt-get install nvidia-kernel-dkms
installs automatically a lot of things and build the kernel driver.

At one time, I was warned that nouveau was conflicting. So...
sudo apt remove --purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau libdrm-nouveau1a
again this command triggered the suppression of some other dependencies (100 megs).

I wanted to finish with
sudo nvidia-xconfig
I had to install it first together with nvidia-settings. He told me he installed a xorg.conf file.

Then I rebooted. I have a flashing NVIDIA screen. Everything looks OK. I used nvidia-settings to correct the brightness.
OK Solved for me.

Nota: for virtualbox users, the install of NVIDIA drivers requires the install of driver kernel modules. Your virtualbox needs to be aware of them. The best way seems to be to install, not only dkms (this, at this point is already done) but also virtualbox-dkms. The latest one install its own virtualbox package. If you installed beforehand an Oracle package, you've better get rid of it before installing virtualbox-dkms. This is life.

[Haagentis]

Hello from France everybody.

I may have a slight problem, using the very last LMDE XFCE 32 bit 201204 RC (fresh install) with 686 PAE kernel, on my asus EEEPC 1201PN with nvida ION gpu.

This install is customised with beautiful faenza variant icons and a stunning wallpaper and GTK theme. Candy for my eyes.

Tonight, I installed the nvidia drivers 295.20 using the method described in the topic with apt install nvidia kernel etc etc etc, then I created the X config file using the second command suggested.

I then did even better ! I blacklisted and suppressed the "nouveau" drivers.

So, very proud of myself, I reboot.

To find myself stuck at terminal, requesting login. No GUI, nothing. Only terminal. No more beautiful icons, wallpaper, and gtk theme... only the terminal, spitting its disdain to my face. And probably laughing too while requesting to login (who knows, maybe saying nasty things about my mother...).

I recall having felt some strange and utter pain in my gentleman parts, then saying something like "Ouhlala..." (With the propper tone, it means "I might feel a sudden urge to randomly kill people in the street, then bang my head to a wall until death").

I'm a casual user, I really don't know what to do... Does someone knows some magical command that would force LMDE to use the nvidia drivers that are installed ?

Thank you very much in advance.

(I already tried to use again every command that were in the terminal memory, but it tells me that nvidia drivers are already installed with the "apt get bla bla bla" command... after reboot, I'm still stuck at terminal...).

[roger64]

I am not expert so take this with a grain of salt.

First, when we do this a first time; it's better to save before (Clonezilla or other). If need be it's a 5 minutes restore.

Second, I think you should know if your card is supported by the default drivers. There is a script to download at Nvidia and to run who tells you just this. It's nvidia-versions.sh.

Did you before rebooting execute : sudo nvidia-xconfig?

Sorry, that's all that come to my mind. Bon courage. No way to upload the script and I do not remember where I took it...

[äxl]

"Ouhlala..."

I don't know if this is the right thread. Maybe someone should split this?
Have you tried to type:

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startx

Also maybe you could give us the content of

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/var/log/Xorg.0.log

[Oscar799]

Split from viewtopic.php?f=191&t=82424 as it is heading in another direction

[Haagentis]

Hello !

Sorry for this topic relocation thingy.

Well ! Thank you all for your answers !

Anyway: I thoroughly followed the instructions that were given, and i DID sudo nvidia-xconfig BEFORE reboot.

I did 2 fresh installs for testing, installing ONLY 686-PAE kernel (for my intel atom n450 cpu) before installing 295.20 (required for nvidia ION gpus) drivers. Those two times, I did not uninstall the "nouveau" drivers.

Same result. I'm stuck on console after rebooting.

"Startx" gives me "No screen found", see attached file. But I don't know how to open the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log from the console (I recently learned "cd" to locate the file, but i don't know what to write in order to open it).

Could the 295.20 drivers stocked on linuxmint repos be corrupted ? Or could they be incompatible with 686-PAE kernel ? Then, should I use a 64 bits LMDE distro ? I only have 2gigs of RAM though...

I let you meditate on that ! The voices that tell me to kill kitten are to loud for me to focus on anything right meow.

[badmofo12345]

To display the contents of a log file, use the cat command

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cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log

It might say permission denied... if so, preface the command with sudo.

Also, if it's too much for you to read on your screen, use the less command instead

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less /var/log/Xorg.0.log

And then use the arrow keys to scroll, and press "q" to exit back to the command line.


Also, it looks like you didn't correctly install the kernel modules... follow this guide step by step and you'll be in business
http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDr ... ee_drivers

I recommend trying the dkms method, or the make assistant method... both work well and are easy.

[Haagentis]

Great ! I'll try your method !

Thank you for your help ! I'll get back to you when I'll get that done !

[Haagentis]

The DKMS method WORKED !

Thank you so much for your pertinent help !

This method should be pinned for the nvidia users who could not get their drivers to work !

The counterpart would be that if the kernel changes, the drivers are out. But the document was very technical and I doubt I understood all of it, english not being my native language.

[badmofo12345]

It is pinned

Well, the link is at least. I just personally recommend the dkms method (there's 5 methods total).

And yeah, you always have to redo the kernel module when updating your kernel, regardless of what method you used. Technically, the DKMS method SHOULD automatically redo the module every time you update your kernel... but I've had issues with it before, and had to do it manually (which is very easy if the DKMS method works for you).

Glad I could help!