Installing Nvidia Drivers on Mandrake 9

[jclem 0]

Well, I finally took the linux plunge. Everything went pretty smooth. It did take me about 20 minutes to get figure out which line to add to the Xfree86 config to get my scroll wheel working, but I digress. I'm running the latest Mandrake distro (9.2) and I can't get the nvidia drivers installed. I get in to the root console and start to run the driver installer but it stops me because Xserver is running. How do I stop xserver in order to install the driver? Better yet, can you point me to a good newbie guide in general? Thanks in advnace.

[Dapper Dan 0]

Strangely enough, I ran into this very same problem last night! There may be an easier way, but this is how I did it under Red Hat 9. If you feel comfortable editing files, you may want to try this as well, but of course, I can't be resposible if something goes amiss...

 

You'll have to edit your /etc/inittab file. Become root and type "gedit", without the quoteations and press enter.

 

click "open", and in the left hand pane, double click the "../ " 2 times.

 

In the left hand pane, scroll down to /etc and double click it.

 

look for "inittab" in the right pane, and double click it. gedit will then open the inittab file.

 

look for the line..

 

id:5:initdefault:

 

edit this line and change the "5" to a "3"

 

save, exit and reboot the computer.

 

This time, your "user manager thingie" will not come up for you to enter your name and password because you will now not be in X windows. You will have to enter your username and password at the command line.

 

become root (and if you're online) type:

 

nvidia-installer --update

 

...and follow the instructions. If not online, or if that doesn't work, run the NVIDIA installer as you did before and follow the instructions. The installer should work now. After completion, at the command prompt, type "startx" and press enter. This will start X and will put you back in runlevel 5.

 

log in as usual, and return to gedit as above. Go back to /etc/inittab and change the "3" back to a "5". Also while in gedit, find and open /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, and look for a line under...

 

Section "Device"

 

and where you see "nv", change it to "nvidia" (this time only, with the quotes just as you see them)

 

save this file, exit out of gedit, reboot, and everything should work as before except your new updated Nvidia module willl be installed.

[jclem 0]

I'll try it when I get home.

[jclem 0]

I've gotten past the x server runnig issue. Now I'm getting an error message because I don't ahve the Kernel header file. It gives me the option of having the installer search the Nvidia ftp site, but does not find what it needs. It gives an example of where to find the Kernel souce rpm on red hat but it doesn't appear to be in the same place in Mandrake. There has got to be an easier way to do this.

[Admiral LSD 0]

Mandrake *should* provide the kernel source somewhere, have a look on your distro CDs. If it's not there, have a poke around the FTP archives and download it from there. Also, make sure the kernel source you're downloading matches the kernel version you're running (which you can find out by typing uname -r at the prompt) otherwise it probably won't work.

[Dapper Dan 0]

Is this what you're running?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-4496.html

 

This "how to" is for Mdk 9.2, but should be very helpful...

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/answers.php?action=viewarticle&artid=30

 

Believe it or not jclem, installing the new nvidia modules used to be MUCH more difficult than it is now, and that was only a year ago! Thankfully nvidia is on the ball with Linux now, and are taking the time to try to make our life easier. Don't worry, you'll figure this out, and will gain a great deal of valuable Linux knowledge in the process.

 

By the way, check your XF86Config. See if under the "Device" section by "driver", there is an "nv" there or an "nvidia." I'm not sure if Mdk still uses the "nv" drivers.

[Dapper Dan 0]

found this too...

 

http://www.computing.net/linux/wwwboard/forum/23157.html

[jclem 0]

Well, thanks toi the replies here and some google searches I was able to find out that Mandrake did not include the kernel source rpm with the 9.2 iso. I downloaded it and reran the driver install. I went from 4 FPS in the included light-cycle game to over 250. I'd say the drivers are working. Thank you for the assistance. I'd like to take a moment to let you know how impressed I am with the Linux comunity. Everyone is helpful, there is no condecension here. I am looking forward to learning more...

[Admiral LSD 0]

Quote:

Believe it or not jclem, installing the new nvidia modules used to be MUCH more difficult than it is now, and that was only a year ago!

The only thing that was difficult about installing them a year ago was trying to use the RPMs, installing them from the source tarballs was a piece of cake and much less hassle.

[Dapper Dan 0]

Quote:

The only thing that was difficult about installing them a year ago was trying to use the RPMs, installing them from the source tarballs was a piece of cake and much less hassle.

I never tried installing the tarballs, I guess I wrongly assumed that would have been even more difficult!

[Dapper Dan 0]

Quote:

Well, thanks toi the replies here and some google searches I was able to find out that Mandrake did not include the kernel source rpm with the 9.2 iso.

Google is the best friend a Linux user can have! I'm really glad you were able to get this working for you!