nVidia Drivers and X server

[eryx]

Hello

First off I am a n00b, I just switched to Ubuntu from windows. I have hit a will with installing the NVIDIA drivers:

nvidia.com
/object/
linux_display_ia32_180.51

.html


Linux Display Driver - x86

I have gone through the instructions for installing these drivers and Ran into the "exit X server" where I am stuck.

us.download.nvidia.com/
XFree86/
Linux-x86/
180.51/
README/chapter-04.html

I can get the program to run in Terminal but it simply says that it appears I am running x server and that It can't install, it than refers me back to the link above.

I have also looked at the " X server configuration file" in
nvidia
.com/object/linux_display_ia32_180.51
.htm

step 3

but it was just a bunch of files that I had no Idea how to use or open. They have extensions like .c, .h and .m4. Clicking on these just opens them in a text editor and trying to run them from my Terminal does nothing either.

I thought I found the answer in this forum:

linuxforums
.org/forum/redhat-fedora-linux-help/40769-exit-x-server.
html

But I have tried every step in it and still can't get my server x to shut off.

I am running the newest version of Ubuntu (9.04) which is most likely why this is not working.

Can anyone out there point me in the right direction


(please excuse the links as this is my first post and I am not aloud to put any URLs in it)

thanks

[MikeTbob]

Hello and welcome to the Forums.
Check this link for booting into single user mode, which is what you need, rather than trying to kill X by hand.
Boot Linux Grub Into Single User Mode
Another thing, I am confused a little bit about which driver you have downloaded, did you download the ia32_180.51 driver? What are your system specs? You need to make sure you download the correct version for your machines architecture.

[reed9]

There are easier ways to install the nvidia drivers in Ubuntu. Look here.

[eryx]

Thanks for taking a look at my post.

I tried reed9's idea and it worked very well. I was able to get the drivers installed and use the Nvidia X server setting to open up the video settings.

I also played around with the sigle user mode, thanks MikeTbob, though I think I should read up on it more as I mistakenly uninstalled the drivers that I had previously installed.



So a new supriese was waiting for me when I installed the Drivers, It turns out that you can't apply the setting directly, you have to save them in a config file and than when the computer is reset it will load the new config file.

fair enough.

The problem is the config file is in etc/x11/xorg.conf and I can't change it. I am able to save it in a different location but it loads the config file from this location anyway. I tried overriding it. I have tried to use the text editor but it won't let me.

I read the sticky at the beginning of this area of the forum "Using sudo in place of root login in Ubuntu" I guess it makes sense for security reasons but how would you copy a file form one location to another using sudo in terminal.

Thanks again for all your help

[devils casper]

The problem is the config file is in etc/x11/xorg.conf and I can't change it. I am able to save it in a different location but it loads the config file from this location anyway. I tried overriding it. I have tried to use the text editor but it won't let me.

I read the sticky at the beginning of this area of the forum "Using sudo in place of root login in Ubuntu" I guess it makes sense for security reasons but how would you copy a file form one location to another using sudo in terminal.

sudo mv <soruce>  <destination>

If you want to edit xorg.conf or any other file in GUI with root privileges, press Alt+F2 and type this

gksu gedit <file_path>

For xorg.conf

gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

[eryx]

Thanks so much devils casper.

I ended up using the

gksu gedit <file_path>

it took me a few tries to understand that I was suppose to click on "Run with file" .

but I also used the

sudo mv <soruce>  <destination>

to move the file as well, I am sure I will use this knowledge in 100's of other ways.
though I hope installing video drivers is the hardest thing that I will do in the near future.

Thanks again to everyone who took a look at this post and posted replies

[reed9]

There is also a GUI program called nvidia-settings you can use to adjust some settings.

sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings

You do need to run it with root priveleges to write the config file as well.

gksu nvidia-settings

[cosmicharade]

why not just use Synaptic or the Hardware Drivers system option?

[bigtomrodney]

why not just use Synaptic or the Hardware Drivers system option?

This is the best way (as reed already suggested). Also please bear in mind that you do not need to edit xorg.conf as X configures itself dynamically. Editing the file in fact will force override the correct settings suggested by EDID and the presence of driver modules so you can end up making more work for yourself.

In fact you don't need to reboot either - that is a fallacy. That is the default behaviour in Ubuntu to make it friendly to inexperienced users. You can simply load the nvidia modules and restart the X server/GDM. For reference you can use the steps below. First, switch to a VT by hitting CTRL+ALT+F1 and logging in there.

sudo modprobe nvidia
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

That should allow your system to run with the new nVidia drivers without a reboot.