Has anyone installed the nVidia drivers on Etch (Testing)

**Daan** · 09-02-2006

I'm trying to install the nVidia drivers on my Debian Etch system, but there's so many different packages and so many different how-to's...

I've tried following this how-to:

http://home.comcast.net/~andrex/Debi...tallation.html

but I fail at the step where it says "m-a auto-install nvidia". I'm told "Package nvidia-kernel-source has no installation candidate", yet I have main, non-free, and contrib in my repositories list.

Also, the official nVidia installer doesn't work, because gcc versions don't match or something.

What did you do to get it working?

**Zelmo** · 09-02-2006

I always do it with the nVidia installer. To get around the gcc mismatch, install the version of gcc that was used to build your kernel. IIRC, the installer will tell you which version that is. You don't need to remove your current gcc. They will both be installed in /usr/bin, with their version number as part of the name. Debian puts a link from /usr/bin/gcc to the most recently installed version. So on my laptop, for example, I get this listing of gcc compilers in /usr/bin:

Code:

$ ls -l /usr/bin/gcc*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      7 2006-08-10 20:25 /usr/bin/gcc -> gcc-4.1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  81072 2006-03-18 10:08 /usr/bin/gcc-3.3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  93712 2006-05-07 15:31 /usr/bin/gcc-4.0
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 183440 2006-08-15 10:05 /usr/bin/gcc-4.1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     10 2006-08-10 20:25 /usr/bin/gccbug -> gccbug-4.1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  15963 2006-03-18 10:00 /usr/bin/gccbug-3.3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  16256 2006-05-07 15:28 /usr/bin/gccbug-4.0
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  16283 2006-08-15 10:03 /usr/bin/gccbug-4.1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   2018 2006-08-09 17:56 /usr/bin/gccmakedep

The top four lines (after the ls command) are the ones of interest here. You can see that /usr/bin/gcc points to /usr/bin/gcc-4.1, and that I also have gcc-3.3 and gcc-4.0 installed. When a program calls gcc, the one that's linked gets used.

So if my kernel was compiled with gcc-4.0, here's a quick and easy way to get nVidia's installer to also use gcc-4.0:

Code:

# rm /usr/bin/gcc
# ln -s /usr/bin/gcc-4.0 /usr/bin/gcc

Then I can run the installer, which no longer complains about a gcc mismatch. And when that's done, if I want to go back to using gcc-4.1, I do the above commands again but change the name:

Code:

# rm /usr/bin/gcc
# ln -s /usr/bin/gcc-4.1 /usr/bin/gcc

**Daan** · 09-02-2006

Zelmo, you have saved the day. I spent hours trying to get it done, and after reading your advice... Ta-da...!

Now I can use opengl and all.

Next problem: grapics are slow now, slower than before. When I minimize a window, it disappears line for line, form left to right, top to bottom...

Any ideas why?

**Daan** · 09-03-2006

Hmmm. Looked like I cheered too early. This morning the X server wouldn't start, though it did yesterday, with the nVidia logo...

The xorg log file doesn't show any errors, but it's last line is "Intilializing extension GLX"

What can I do to get opengl to work? I need the driver, right?

This is the xorg.conf the nVidia installer installed:

Code:

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder3)  Tue Aug  1 21:11:12 PDT 2006

# xorg.conf (Xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands as root:
#
#   cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom
#   md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf >/var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.md5sum
#   dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Default Layout"
    Screen         "Default Screen" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "Files"

			# local font server
	# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
    FontPath        "unix/:7100"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/CID"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
    FontPath        "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "bitmap"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "ddc"
    Load           "evdev"
    Load           "extmod"
    Load           "freetype"
    Load           "glx"
    Load           "int10"
    Load           "record"
    Load           "type1"
    Load           "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Generic Keyboard"
    Driver         "keyboard"
    Option         "CoreKeyboard"
    Option         "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc104"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Configured Mouse"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "CorePointer"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Generic Monitor"
    HorizSync       31.0 - 69.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 120.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "NVIDIA Corporation NV20 [GeForce3 Ti 500]"
    Driver         "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Default Screen"
    Device         "NVIDIA Corporation NV20 [GeForce3 Ti 500]"
    Monitor        "Generic Monitor"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       1
        Modes      "1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       4
        Modes      "1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes      "1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       15
        Modes      "1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes      "1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

and this is the xorg.conf before nVidia was set up (and which I'm now using again):

Code:

# xorg.conf (Xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands as root:
#
#   cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom
#   md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf >/var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.md5sum
#   dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
	FontPath	"unix/:7100"			# local font server
	# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"bitmap"
	Load	"dbe"
	Load	"ddc"
	Load	"dri"
	Load	"evdev"
	Load	"extmod"
	Load	"freetype"
	Load	"glx"
	Load	"int10"
	Load	"record"
	Load	"type1"
	Load	"vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Keyboard"
	Driver		"keyboard"
	Option		"CoreKeyboard"
	Option		"XkbRules"	"xorg"
	Option		"XkbModel"	"pc104"
	Option		"XkbLayout"	"us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"NVIDIA Corporation NV20 [GeForce3 Ti 500]"
	Driver		"nv"
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Generic Monitor"
	Option		"DPMS"
	HorizSync	30-69
	VertRefresh	50-120
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Device		"NVIDIA Corporation NV20 [GeForce3 Ti 500]"
	Monitor		"Generic Monitor"
	DefaultDepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		1
		Modes		"1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		4
		Modes		"1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		8
		Modes		"1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		15
		Modes		"1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		16
		Modes		"1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		24
		Modes		"1919x1919" "1264x948" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Default Layout"
	Screen		"Default Screen"
	InputDevice	"Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice	"Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Mode	0666
EndSection

**Daan** · 09-03-2006

And now I've uninstalled, and installed again the driver, using the nVidia installer and its xconfig utility, without restarting my computer, and it works again... The xorg.conf it installed is exactly the same... puzzled...

**Zelmo** · 09-03-2006

I suspected something like that might happen, but didn't bring it up because I hoped I was an isolated case. The first time I installed the nvidia drivers, they stopped working after I rebooted. It turns out the links that get installed as /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.1 and /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 were pointing to old GL libraries (Mesa ones, I think) after the reboot. After changing them to point to the new nvidia GL libraries in the same directory and restarting X, everything was peachy again.

I haven't had that problem since, so I thought it was a fluke and hoped people normally wouldn't have to deal with it. But it probably happened on your machine too.

**Daan** · 09-03-2006

Where should they point to? During boot up I got a message saying: "Removing NVIDIA TLS Links"...

Code:

schmauck:/var/log# ls -l /usr/lib/*GL*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      21 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.1 -> libGLcore.so.1.0.8774
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8161228 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.1.0.8774
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     653 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libGL.la
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      10 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libGL.so -> libGL.so.1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      17 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.1.0.8774
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  543724 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1.0.8774
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  685654 2006-05-29 04:56 /usr/lib/libGLU.a
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      11 2006-09-02 11:20 /usr/lib/libGLU.so -> libGLU.so.1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      20 2006-06-30 13:34 /usr/lib/libGLU.so.1 -> libGLU.so.1.3.060402
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  499468 2006-05-29 04:56 /usr/lib/libGLU.so.1.3.060402
schmauck:/var/log# ls -l /usr/lib/*NV*
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 185050 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libXvMCNVIDIA.a
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     25 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libXvMCNVIDIA_dynamic.so.1 -> libXvMCNVIDIA.so.1.0.8774
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 170732 2006-09-03 12:22 /usr/lib/libXvMCNVIDIA.so.1.0.8774
schmauck:/var/log#

**Daan** · 09-03-2006

Now I've reinstalled the driver and I'm using it right now, by those files libGL.so.1 and libGLcore.so.1 point to the same places.

Hmm...

Code:

schmauck:/etc/X11# ls -l X.old X
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 2006-09-02 18:56 X -> /usr/X11R6/bin/Xgl
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 2006-06-30 13:35 X.old -> /usr/bin/Xorg

Maybe these links got messed up after the reboot? Let's see...

It's the same after a reboot...

**antidrugue** · 09-03-2006

You may have to specify the proper path for Xorg 7.0 modules.

Code:

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0.8762-pkg1.run --x-module-path=/usr/lib/xorg/modules

But I guess you don't need to anymore with the new "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8774-pkg1.run" drivers.

**Daan** · 09-04-2006

I solved the problem. Following http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=37383 I removed /etc/init.d/nvidia-glx-legacy. After reinstalling the driver using the official nVidia installer, all was fine even after a reboot.

The above mentioned script deleted the TLS links at boot up. I suspect the script is a Debain thing as it refers to another script which says "For use with the Debian nvidia-glx package". I had tried such a Debian package from the repositories before, I had removed it also, but maybe without the scripts that came with it.

Thank all for your help!

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