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Nvidia legacy driver 304.137 working with Linux Mint 20 x64 xfce

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:54 pm

by burrezo

Hi all,

After getting nvidia-304xx-legacy drivers work in Debian 10 Buster amd64, Antix19.3_x64 and MX Linux 19.3_x64, this is the way to make it in Linux Mint 20 xfce 64.

My PC: Asus P5N73-AM (chipset NForce 610i, integrated nvidia 7050) + Xeon x5450 [775 mod] + 4Gb Ram + SSD

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P5N73AM/

[1] Fresh install linuxmint-20-xfce-64bit.iso, at first graphical boot, open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t):

1a - Choose the highest resolution supported by your monitor in console mode, if unknown to you:

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sudo apt install hwinfo
sudo hwinfo --framebuffer

Edit /etc/default/grub , edit / un-comment / add:

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[...]
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=3
[...]
GRUB_GFXMODE=1400X1050
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

Note 1400x1050 is the highest resolution of my GPU, supported by my monitor, yours may be other one.

Save/quit and:

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sudo update-grub

1b - Blacklist nouveau drivers, create the file /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf with this content:

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blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0

Save/quit and:

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sudo updadate initramfs -u
sudo reboot

[2] When grub boot-menu shows up, press letter ‘e’, move to the end of the line linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-26-generic root=UUID=………………….. ro quite splash , and add a ‘3’ at the end, like this:

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     linux     /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-26-generic root=UUID=………………….. ro quite splash 3

Press ‘F10’ to continue, the system starts in terminal mode, log in normally with your user/password.

[3] Remove Xorg 1.20 (nvidia legacy driver 304xx only works up to Xorg 1.19):

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sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-core

[4] Install git, we will need it later:

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sudo apt install git

[5] Edit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-repositories.list , comment everything, and at the end, add:

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deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic main restricted

Save/quit and:

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sudo apt-get update

[6] Install Xorg 1.19 and some packages needed:

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sudo apt install xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-libinput

[7] Download the Nvidia official proprietary driver for your old nvidia GPU, in my case is a 7050, but I suppose this method will work with A LOT of old chipsets/cards ( https://www.nvidia.es/Download/driverRe ... px/123847/ <- ‘SUPPORTED PRODUCTS‘ tab )

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wget https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/304.137/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137.run

Make the file executable:

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chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137.run

Extract, NOT execute, the file (note the ‘-x’ at the end):

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./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137.run -x

Directory ‘NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137‘ is created.

[8] Get some patches from Jorge Maidana ( https://github.com/jorgem-seq ) FOLLOW & LIKE/STAR HIS WORK PLEASE!

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git clone https://github.com/jorgem-seq/NVIDIA-Linux-304.137-patches.git

[9] Navigate into the 'NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137' directory, and apply the patches, IN ORDER, up to the patch needed, depending on the kernel installed, so, in this case, with a clean install, the kernel is 5.4.0, so, only patches 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004, 0005, 0006, 0007 and 0008 are needed (adjust your path when patching, depending on where the files were downloaded, extracted, cloned, etc...)

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patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0001-disable-mtrr-4.3.patch
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0002-pud-offset-4.12.patch
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0003-nvidia-drm-pci-init-4.14.patch
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0004-timer-4.15.patch
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0005-usercopy-4.16.patch 
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0006-do_gettimeofday-5.0.patch
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0007-subdirs-5.3.patch
patch -p1 <../NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.137-patches/patches/0008-on-each-cpu-5.3.patch

[10] Execute the nvidia installer:

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sudo ./nvidia-installer

The installer shows some kind of trouble with 32bits glx libs compatibility, but you can install anyway.

After finish with no errors:

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sudo update-initramfs -u

[11] Mark xserver-xorg-core package as NOT upgradeable:

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sudo apt-mark hold xserver-xorg-core

[12] Restore Linux Mint default repositories, comment the last line added, un-comment all the others, and:

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sudo apt-get update

[13] Disable xfce4 compositor, edit: /home/user/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml , use_compositing need to be set 'false':

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     <property name=”use_compositing” type=”bool” value=”false”/>

And reboot:

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sudo reboot

[14] For transparencies and other effects In xfce, at main menu, go to Settings -> Sessions and Startup -> Application Autostart, and +Add:

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     Name: Compton
     Description: Compton compositor
     Command: compton
     Start: on login

[15] Final upgrade and reboot, open a terminal:

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sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo reboot

https://i.ibb.co/82zJfgn/Captura-de-pan ... -39-04.png

The performance increase is huge with proprietary Nvidia drivers with these old GPUs in comparison with nouveua drivers, enjoy your nvidinosaur!!

Re: Nvidia legacy driver 304.137 working with Linux Mint 20 x64 xfce

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 6:57 pm

by hugomenezes

Thks dude! You deserve a beer with this post! Please put your paypal!