Install Nvidia proprietary drivers in LinuxMint UPDATED 2014

[ridobe]

@roblm - This is very good information. Thanks for posting.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[AndrewXP]

DISCLAIMER B. This is for current Nvidia graphics card support only, this will not work for legacy cards. If you have a legacy card use the "Addition Drivers" tool included in LinuxMint.

I have a GeForce4 MX 420, which NVIDIA regard as a "legacy" card. However, there is an x86 download provided for it, called "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.23-pkg1.run". Can I not expect this to install OK? Admittedly, I am having problems disabling Nouveau at the moment, without which the install won't work. I'm trying to get the computer to boot straight into a bash shell as a possible workaround, but this isn't straightforward either (see this topic: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 81#p847781 - note that since I started that topic I've found the more specific NVIDIA download mentioned earlier in this paragraph).

Where is the "Addition Drivers" tool? I'm using Mint 16 Xfce 32-bit (new installation).

[jooke]

But what can I do if I have nvidia drivers "96". Because of as of today, the latest "96" driver only supports X.org 1.9.

[AndrewXP]

DISCLAIMER B. This is for current Nvidia graphics card support only, this will not work for legacy cards. If you have a legacy card use the "Addition Drivers" tool included in LinuxMint.

I have a GeForce4 MX 420, which NVIDIA regard as a "legacy" card. However, there is an x86 download provided for it, called "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.23-pkg1.run". Can I not expect this to install OK? Admittedly, I am having problems disabling Nouveau at the moment, without which the install won't work. I'm trying to get the computer to boot straight into a bash shell as a possible workaround, but this isn't straightforward either (see this topic: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 81#p847781 - note that since I started that topic I've found the more specific NVIDIA download mentioned earlier in this paragraph).

Where is the "Addition Drivers" tool? I'm using Mint 16 Xfce 32-bit (new installation).

Further to my previous post, I've now managed to disable Nouveau. Next time I tried the NVIDIA install I got a message about libc headers missing, so I fixed that. Now I get this error from the NVIDIA install:

ERROR: The kernel header file
'/lib/modules/3.11.0-12-generic/build/include/linux/version.h' does not
exist. The most likely reason for this is that the kernel source files
in '/lib/modules/3.11.0-12-generic/build' have not been configured.

Now I'm well and truly stumped. At least the bog standard 1024X768 display I'm left with is an improvement on Nouveau...

[jooke]

That is the same problem which I have. You can't build it when you have xorg version > 1.9.

[AndrewXP]

That is the same problem which I have. You can't build it when you have xorg version > 1.9.

How do I tell which version of xorg I have? I'm beginning to wonder whether I might be better off replacing Mint 16 with Mint 13 (supported until April 2017). Comments, anyone?

[roblm]

How do I tell which version of xorg I have? I'm beginning to wonder whether I might be better off replacing Mint 16 with Mint 13.

Open the Terminal and type this command to open the “Xorg.0.log” file:
gedit /var/log/Xorg.0.log

Look at the second line, which looks like this: X.Org X Server 1.11.3
This is the version for Xfce 13. Xfce 16 has version 1.14.3.

One of my older computers also has the GeForce4 MX 420, with an Athlon XP 2500 CPU. I didn't expect any success in
installing the Nvidia-96 driver from Nvidia's website with Xfce 16 but I did some testing anyway. I got the same result you got.
Same result with Xfce 15. With Xfce 14 and 13, the installation stopped part way into the process. I gave up after many attempts,
trying every option I could think of.

I have another old computer that has an even older GeForce2 MX 200 and an Intel Pentium 4 CPU. On this system I could install
both Xfce 13 and 14. The Nvidia-96 driver installation went smoothly and appeared to be successful on both. After rebooting the
Xfce 14 installation, the Nvidia driver was not enabled, even though it appeared to be by looking at the “xorg.conf” file. On the
Xfce 13 installation, after rebooting I got a black screen. Testing several kernel boot parameters failed.

These results really surprised me. On Nvidia's Driver Downloads screen for this driver, after selecting “Release Highlights”, the
information says: Added support for X.Org xserver versions 1.11 and 1.12.
Maybe you will have more success with your system.

[roblm]

AndrewXP,

Here is an update of my last post. I removed the GeForce 4 MX 420 video card from the computer with the Athlon XP 2500 CPU,
which would not install Xfce 13, and swapped it with the GeForce2 MX 200 video card on the computer with the Intel Pentium 4 CPU,
which was able to install Xfce 13 but had the black screen after installing the Nvidia-96 driver. I then installed the downloaded
Nvidia-96.43.23 driver and it worked perfectly this time. The only problem was with the refresh rate. This system still has a CRT
monitor and the highest refresh rate that could be set in Settings → Display was 62 Hz, where 75 Hz is desirable. I corrected that by
opening the Nvidia Settings Utility with the command "sudo nvidia-settings" and changed the refresh rate to 75 Hz there.

[AndrewXP]

AndrewXP,

Here is an update of my last post. I removed the GeForce 4 MX 420 video card from the computer with the Athlon XP 2500 CPU,
which would not install Xfce 13, and swapped it with the GeForce2 MX 200 video card on the computer with the Intel Pentium 4 CPU,
which was able to install Xfce 13 but had the black screen after installing the Nvidia-96 driver. I then installed the downloaded
Nvidia-96.43.23 driver and it worked perfectly this time. The only problem was with the refresh rate. This system still has a CRT
monitor and the highest refresh rate that could be set in Settings → Display was 62 Hz, where 75 Hz is desirable. I corrected that by
opening the Nvidia Settings Utility with the command "sudo nvidia-settings" and changed the refresh rate to 75 Hz there.

Thanks, roblm. I've now downgraded to Mint 13 and managed to activate the NVIDIA v96 driver via the Additional Drivers facility. My only problem then was, like you, the refresh rate, which, according to Menu | Settings | Display can be either 50 or 51 Hz, where my monitor would support 75 Hz. If I run nvidia-settings as you suggest (it's also available via Menu | System | NVIDIA X Server Settings) I get the following message when I click on X Server Display Configuration:

Unable to load X Server Display Configuration page:

The NVIDIA X driver on DELL-PC-LM13:0.0 is not new
enough to support the nvidia-settings Display Configuration page.

The display I'm left with is not quite as good as the adapter-specific driver I was using under Windows XP, but is a considerable improvement on the Nouveau driver provided under Mint 16. When Mint 13 support ends in April 2017 it may be the end of the road for my NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 adapter, and therefore probably for my DELL Dimension 4550, in which the adapter was fitted at purchase, and which will by then have performed over 14 years of service!

Thanks again for your help,
Andrew.

[roblm]

AndrewXP,

Are you using a CRT or flat panel monitor? I would try to install the Nvidia-96 driver you previously had downloaded from the Nvidia
website, like I did. It probably is a newer version than the one in Additional Drivers. It is supposed to have support for X.Org xserver
versions 1.11 and 1.12, and Xfce 13 has version 1.11. Remove the Nvidia driver in Additional Drivers first and then install the
downloaded Nvidia-96 driver.

The Nvidia Settings Utility should by opened in the Terminal, not in the menu, with the command "sudo nvidia-settings", or the changes
to the refresh rate won't be saved.

When Xfce 13 reaches it's end of support, you could try LMDE. On my system with the GeForce 4 MX 420 video card, I've tried LMDE
with the Cinnamon desktop and the only minor problem is that the background color of the opened menu doesn't display perfectly
because of this old video card. LMDE with the Mate desktop would probably be better since it has less demanding hardware requirements.

[AndrewXP]

AndrewXP,

Are you using a CRT or flat panel monitor? I would try to install the Nvidia-96 driver you previously had downloaded from the Nvidia website, like I did. It probably is a newer version than the one in Additional Drivers. It is supposed to have support for X.Org xserver versions 1.11 and 1.12, and Xfce 13 has version 1.11. To remove the Nvidia driver, open Additional Drivers and select the “xserver-xorg-video-nouveau” driver first and then install the downloaded Nvidia-96 driver.

Thanks, roblm. It's an LCD flat-panel monitor. Actually, it appears that the NVIDIA version installed through Additional Drivers is the same as the one I downloaded previously, i.e. 96.43.23. Anyway, I'm reasonably happy with my display now. Onwards and upwards!

[roblm]

AndrewXP,

I replaced the CRT monitor with a flat panel monitor and removed the downloaded Nvidia-96 driver. There was no proprietary
driver available in Additional Drivers. I added the PPA x-swat/x-updates, which has newer drivers, and then the Nvidia-96 driver
was available in Additional Drivers. After installing it, Display lists the same refresh rates as yours and I saw the same message
you got after opening the Nvidia Settings Utility.

It appears that the correct rates are not being listed. Typing xrandr in the Terminal shows the same rates but the monitor is not
being detected correctly. Look at the picture below. You see the message "Failed to get size of gamma" and the monitor is named
default. If detected correctly the third line would say something like DVI or VGA connected. I suspect you will show the same.

xfce-13-xrandr.png

The monitor is usually set to it's optimal refresh rate, which is 60 Hz for most flat panels. This is the rate that is displayed when I
checked the monitor's on-screen menu, so your actual refresh rate is probably 60 Hz.

With the downloaded Nvidia driver, any changes I made in the Nvidia Settings Utility was also seen in the on-screen menu.
I also added the PPA xorg-edgers/ppa later, which can have even newer drivers, but it had the same driver.

[ridobe]

In my first post in this topic, I stated how I've been unable to install Nvidia drivers downloaded from the Nvidia website in Mint 16.
I checked that site recently to see if newer drivers were available for my video card, which is a GeForce 210. The 331.67 driver
was available, which supports video cards in the GeForce 8 series and newer. This driver would not install at first but after some
more investigation and testing I was able to get it installed. I first had to open the Synaptic Package Manager and install the
package → libc6-dev. This also installs the package → libc-dev-bin. Both were needed. These packages are both already installed
in Mint 14 and 15 Cinnamon, but not in Mint 16. During the installation there was a different message with this driver. It stated that the
nvidia-installer would also install the libvdpau and libvdpau_trace libraries.

nvidia install-2.jpg

Libvdpau1 is already installed in Mint 14 but not in 15 or 16. It contains those two packages. So I uninstalled the Nvidia driver and
and installed the packages libvdpau1 and libvdpau-dev in Synaptic and then tried to reinstall the 331.67 driver and older Nvidia
drivers, the 319.17 and 325.15, but they would not install. Evidently the libvdpau package that comes with the Nvidia 331.67 driver is
not exactly the same as the package in Synaptic, or there's some other reason. I couldn't find any newer versions either.

I didn't use the method of installation suggested in this topic, but used the method I've always used in Mint 14 and 15. The nouveau
driver has to be disabled first so it doesn't load in the initial ramdisk image that is created early during startup and later in the kernel. I
manually disable that driver by creating a file named “disable-nouveau.conf” by opening the Terminal and typing:
gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf

Then add these two lines to the opened file:
blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0

Save the file. To disable nouveau in the ramdisk, open the Terminal and type:
gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Look for the line: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
Change it to : GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash rdblacklist=nouveau"

Some use this command: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nouveau.blacklist=1"

The first step in disabling nouveau can be done automatically by the nvidia-installer but the second cannot. Save the file and open
the Terminal and type these two commands:
sudo update-grub
sudo update-initramfs -u

Move the downloaded Nvidia driver to your "/home/user-name" directory. Rename the file "N.run" so you don't have to type that long
name later. Reboot and then enter the virtual terminal tty1 by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1. Then type these commands:
sudo service mdm stop
sudo sh N.run
Answer "yes" at all the screens. After installation type: sudo service mdm start

@roblm

Your homework and tutorial is what finally earned me success with a manual install of nvidia drivers. I have struggled to the point where I was using the xorgedgers ppa until I figured out how to do so. I never gave up but I came close. What the ppa was doing is essentially what you had us do in the first step and that is to create the file disable-nouveau.conf. That was the difference.

Thanks for your help.

[AndrewXP]

AndrewXP,

[...]

It appears that the correct rates are not being listed. Typing xrandr in the Terminal shows the same rates but the monitor is not
being detected correctly. Look at the picture below. You see the message "Failed to get size of gamma" and the monitor is named
default. If detected correctly the third line would say something like DVI or VGA connected. I suspect you will show the same.

xfce-13-xrandr.png

The monitor is usually set to it's optimal refresh rate, which is 60 Hz for most flat panels. This is the rate that is displayed when I
checked the monitor's on-screen menu, so your actual refresh rate is probably 60 Hz.

With the downloaded Nvidia driver, any changes I made in the Nvidia Settings Utility was also seen in the on-screen menu.
I also added the PPA xorg-edgers/ppa later, which can have even newer drivers, but it had the same driver.

Roblm, I did indeed get the same response to xrandr, and my on-screen menu does show 60 Hz. I guess I'll have to do without 75 Hz with the v96.43.23 driver I'm using, but, as I said before, the display will do!

[ridobe]

New nvidia (beta) driver 337.19 out today:

Code: Select all

ridobe@xubuntu:~$ inxi -SG
System:    Host: xubuntu Kernel: 3.15.0-rc4-ridobe-050514 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Xfce 4.11.6 Distro: Ubuntu 14.04 trusty
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK104 [GeForce GTX 760] X.Org: 1.15.1 driver: nvidia Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz, 1920x1080@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: GeForce GTX 760/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 337.19

[roblm]

ridobe,

I noticed in your post that you upgraded the kernel to the latest version available, which is 3.15.0-rc4. Since I've never used Xubuntu,
I wanted to test it on my extra partition before responding to your post. I'm sure you saw this message during the Nvidia driver installation:

"The CC version check failed:

The compiler used to compile the kernel (gcc 4.6) does not exactly match the current compiler (gcc 4.8.2). The linux 2.6 kernel module
loader rejects kernel modules built with a version of gcc that does not exactly match that of the compiler used to build the running kernel.

If you know what you are doing and want to ignore the gcc version check, select “No” to continue installation. Otherwise, select “Yes” to
abort installing, set the CC environment variable to the name of the compiler used to compile your kernel, and restart installation. Abort
now? Yes or No."

Here's what Nvidia says about going ahead with an installation where there is a gcc compiler (GNU C compiler) mismatch:

“This may be perfectly fine, but there are cases where this can lead to unexpected behavior and system crashes”.
“You should compile the NVIDIA kernel module with the same compiler version that was used to compile your kernel”.

This information is from the “NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver README and Installation
Guide”, Chapter 8. Common Problems.

Here's the link:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/L ... blems.html

Xubuntu comes with the 3.13 kernel. To check what version of the gcc compiler was used to build the running kernel, you can type
this command in the Terminal:
cat /proc/version
For the 3.13 kernel the output is gcc 4.8.2

To check what version of the gcc compiler is installed with Xubuntu and is used to build kernel modules, then type this command:
gcc -v
The output is again 4.8.2.

After installation of the 3.15.0-rc4 kernel and running this command again:
cat /proc/version
The output is gcc 4.6.3, so that kernel was compiled with a different gcc version.

I assume you got that kernel from this site:
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/

All of those kernels have been compiled with gcc version 4.6.
Hopefully you won't experience any problems. Did you install the newer kernel to correct a critical problem?

[ridobe]

roblm,
Thanks for replying. I appreciate your posts.

No, I'm not getting that error because I'm compiling straight from source. https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kerne ... x.git/log/

I'm not getting any critical errors at all. I am just trying to learn as much about the kernel build as I can. I build a few times a week, "nightlies" if you will, so I'm always building whats been merged. I experiment with stripping modules I don't need, optimizing, etc. I'm really just getting started but I love this stuff.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[roblm]

ridobe,

When I get some extra time then I plan on experimenting with building kernels like you're doing.

So if you're building your own kernel, then you should get “gcc version 4.8.2” when using this command in the Terminal:
cat /proc/version

Is that what you get?

[ridobe]

^Yes, it is.

Code: Select all

ridobe@xubuntu:~$ cat /proc/version
Linux version 3.15.0-rc5-ridobe-050914 (ridobe@xubuntu) (gcc version 4.8.2 (Ubuntu 4.8.2-19ubuntu1) ) #1 SMP Fri May 9 17:06:08 EDT 2014

[za8bit]

followed the tutorial step by step, trying to install Nvidia driver 331.67

after finishing i did CTRL+ALT+F1 and its telling me

"Failed to start the X server. It is likely that it is not set up correctly."

I viewed the x server outout and at the bottom it says
"(EE) no screens found (EE)"

I would appreciate any help

P.S. though I'm not new to linux or mint, I am still quite new to the terminal commands so please keep that in mind

thanks