[techieMoe]

I find myself retelling how to manually install the NVIDIA 3D drivers an awful lot. Here's a short tutorial that should work on any distro:

**Installing the Drivers**

1. Make sure you have the kernel-sources, gcc and make packages installed.

2. Download the latest driver from Nvidia's site

3. Go into runlevel 3 (no GUI). This can be acheived several ways:

a) By typing CTRL+ALT+F1(or F2-F6), then logging in as root and typing init 3

b) By typing a 3 at the GRUB boot prompt.

c) By editing your /etc/inittab. See below for details.

d) Debian/Ubuntu users may need to use /etc/init.d/gdm stop instead.

4. Log in as root user, if you aren't already.

5. Find the driver you just downloaded and run it using something like sh NVIDIA-1.0.8174.run

6. If it gives you any of the errors below, ignore them and continue:

a) It warns you about rivafb support.
b) It tells you it can't find a precompiled kernel module off the Nvidia website.

7. Stay logged in as root and type modprobe nvidia

NOTE:As of version 8174 of the Nvidia driver, you no longer need to manually edit your xorg.conf file. Skip steps 8 and 9 if you are installing this version or newer.

8. Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf in the section marked "Devices" that looks something like this:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Nvidia Geforce 2"
    Driver      "nv"

9. Change the "nv" line to "nvidia"

NOTE: Some distributions use XFree86 instead of X.org. The steps are the same, you're simply editing a different file: the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file.

10. Log out as root, and back in as a regular user, then type startx

11. If you see the Nvidia logo flash then you're done. If not your X Windows will error out. Start a thread, post the errors, and we'll try and help you from there.


**Editing your /etc/inittab**
Some distributions require you to edit your /etc/inittab file in order to boot in to non-graphical mode, which is required in order to install the Nvidia drivers. Here is how you do it:

1. Log in as root user from a console window by typing su and your root (administrator) password when it prompts you.

2. Open up your /etc/inittab file with a simple text editor. Any one will do but I like pico, so for example purposes that's what I'll use:

pico /etc/inittab

3. Look for a line that looks something like this:

id:5:initdefault

4. Change the 5 to a 3

5. Save the file and reboot.

6. Once Linux goes through its regular boot screens you should be greeted with a simple text login screen. Continue from step 4 above.


keywords: suse Install NVIDIA 3D Driver