NVidia driver install fails - maybe

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer video hardware
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robert_m
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue 02 Feb 2016, 05:20
Location: Monterey Bay, California

NVidia driver install fails - maybe

#1 Post by robert_m »

I'm new on the forum, I want to use Puppy and a portable Vault for my passwords to my personal accounts.

My video problem may have resolved while I was thrashing about, my uptime is now about 3 hours since my video crashed my system.

How do I know that is the problem? Mint 17 behaved the same way, and installing NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.131 fixed the problem:

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**     configuration: driver=nouveau latency=0   !!!Does Not Work!
**     configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0    :P   problems gone
I am running on
Asus M2N-MX SE Ram: 2GB installed
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+
graphics Integrated in the NVIDIA ® GeForceTM 6100 Graphics
Processing Unit (GPU) High definition video processing with maximum resolution of 1920 x 1440 x 32bpp pixels (@75Hz)

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sudo lshw -c video
  *-display               
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430]
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
I have an X2Gen 1280x1024 monitor that is working perfectly with Mint now that I have installed NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.131

Puppy version Precise 5.7.1 32 bit

Puppy is installed as 1) USB flash drive 2)4gb CF flash, both behave the same.

Trying to install the driver that should work failed:
I found (and reproduced) the failure during nvidia driver install:

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# /mnt/sda5/tmp/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.131.run
Verifying archive integrity... OK
Uncompressing NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86 304.131.................................................................................................................................................
///
/// the gui failed, no useful error message, returned to prompt.
///

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# cat /var/log/nvidia-installer.log 
nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Tue Feb  2 15:42:00 2016
installer version: 304.131

PATH: /bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11R7/bin:/root/my-applications/bin:/usr/games

nvidia-installer command line:
    ./nvidia-installer

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
ERROR: Unable to find the system utility `ldconfig`; please make sure you have the package 'glibc' installed.  If you do have glibc installed, then please check that `ldconfig` is in your PATH.
# date
Tue Feb  2 15:42:48 PST 2016

It is the same error that I got when I tried to install the .pet
"error, package nvidia-glx-304.131-k3.14.56_6.0.5_PAE.pet failed to install"

My problem may have resolved when I ran xorgwizard and selected "simple nv driver" but I what to know what that is!
I have three questions:
1) How can I determine which Driver is Running on my system?
2) Is the app "NVIDIA X Server Settings" supposed to be on my system? It is on Mint, that's how I got the driver that worked, and it shows which driver is running. You can see it in this forum discussion http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 873#801873 but I cannot find it in my menu.
3) I can not find QuickPet - perhaps I can get a driver using it.

Thanks for any help or pointers, I have been reading posts in the forum, but I have not found answers. I really like Puppy, so many great tools in such a small package!

-Rob
Last edited by robert_m on Wed 03 Feb 2016, 19:58, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#2 Post by bigpup »

You need to remove any Nvidia drivers you did install.
Use Puppy Package Manager (PPM) uninstall.
Puppy version Precise 5.7.1 32 bit
The only Nvidia driver pets, that will work, are ones that were compiled specifically for Precise 5.7.1

Graphic drivers pets
are specific to the Kernel that is used by the specific Puppy version.

So, to use a pet it has to be a pet made for Precise 5.7.1.
nvidia-glx-304.131-k3.14.56_6.0.5_PAE.pet is made for Tahrpup 6.0.5. Will not work

Do a search specifically for Precise 5.7.1 driver package pet.

how to get Nvidia driver compiled for your version of Puppy.

Make sure you have about 200mb free space in your save file first..

You will need the Nvidia driver package from Nvidia.
The Precise 5.7.1 devx sfs, and Precise 5.7.1 kernel source sfs packages. (added programs and data needed for compiling)

1 Download the NVidia Linux package for your card.
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.131.run

2 Download the devx sfs file for for Precise 5.7.1.

3 Download the kernel sources sfs file for Precise 5.7.1

4 Enable both sfs files in the bootmanager, and reboot..

5 After rebooting, and making sure both sfs files are enabled..
Drop out of X to the command prompt and run the installer..
/mnt/sda5/tmp/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-304.131.run
Let the installer do its thing, and watch for any errors..
(If you have the wrong driver, which I did the first time around, the installer scans your card, and will tell you which package you need...)
When it is finished, reboot...
After rebooting, run xorgwizard, and choose nvidia..
Ta-da...
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

User avatar
perdido
Posts: 1528
Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013, 16:29
Location: ¿Altair IV , Just north of Eeyore Junction.?

#3 Post by perdido »

Welcome to the forum!

First, some answers for your questions.


robert_m
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue 02 Feb 2016, 05:20
Location: Monterey Bay, California

#4 Post by robert_m »

Thank you bigpup for the instructions, and perdido for filling in some detail.

I was laying awake last night trying to understand way the driver is specific to the Puppy Version. Knowing that it is specific to the kernel version makes more sense.

I woke up this morning to a wonky Ubuntu system - it's my family computer, I avoid unnecessary experiments on it, and need to keep it, and the printer it hosts, online.

Do you think the "error, package nvidia-glx-304.131-k3.14.56_6.0.5_PAE.pet failed to install" was because I do not have a 3.14 kernel? Just asking because installing pets is new to me. My kernel:

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# uname -a
Linux puppypc31372 3.9.11 #1 SMP Sat Jul 27 19:40:54 GMT-8 2013 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux
Now I am back to Puppy and will report back on progress

- Rob
Yo estaba perdido , ahora me encontró .

User avatar
perdido
Posts: 1528
Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013, 16:29
Location: ¿Altair IV , Just north of Eeyore Junction.?

#5 Post by perdido »

Q- Do you think the "error, package nvidia-glx-304.131-k3.14.56_6.0.5_PAE.pet failed to install" was because I do not have a 3.14 kernel?

A- That is the reason. That package will only work with kernel 3.14.56 indicated by k3.14.56 in the file name. You need one that has k3.9.11 in the file name to match the kernel version in the uname -a output.



Estoy perdido todo el tiempo, mi nombre dice todo.

robert_m
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue 02 Feb 2016, 05:20
Location: Monterey Bay, California

#6 Post by robert_m »

The NVidia driver is installed and running, and I have access to a version of the "NVIDIA X Server Settings" utility.
The utility is not directly under Menu, it is found
Menu=>setup->xorg video wizard=>resolution changer
then in the resoluton changer dialog there is an blue NVIDIA logo which, when I moused over I saw that it is a button that takes me to another dialog box.

I am not able to change the resolution in xorg dialog, even though it looks as though you should be able to, you have to click on th eNVIDIA button and the click "xserver display configuration" to change it. It does work In the NVIDIA dialog, you can display the current resolution, get the driver version.

I discovered that opening a terminal and use xrandr is more straightforward for some things

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 # xrandr -s 800x600
 # xrandr -s 1280x1024
Thanks to perdido for pointing me to the proper pet file, from http://shinobar.server-on.net/puppy/pre ... 3.9.11.pet
The install went as expected, and I got promted to disable the nouveau driver that was running and reboot.

Now I can get back to draining the swamp.

User avatar
perdido
Posts: 1528
Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013, 16:29
Location: ¿Altair IV , Just north of Eeyore Junction.?

#7 Post by perdido »

Thanks for reporting back with success and the additional information about a missing "NVIDIA X Server Settings" menu entry.

It seems you are either missing the nvidia-settings.desktop file from the usr/share/applications/ directory, or if present, then that file has the line NoDisplay=true which would prevent generation of a menu entry.

To add the menu entry, check if there is a nvidia-settings.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/ - if there is, you can open it with a text editor and see if it has NoDisplay=true, that line prevents displaying a menu entry. Delete that line and save, run "fixmenus" (no quotation marks) from the terminal, then restart JWM (to regenerate the menu), the menu entry should then show. Or you can just use the file I hot-linked to above, which provides a menu entry at --Menu>Setup>NVIDIA X Server Settings

Some additional info about desktop files can be found at http://puppylinux.org/wikka/AppsDesktop


.

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