[SOLVED] Nvidia driver

[jmitchell151]

I have just built my first computer and installed Jaunty. First time ever on a Linux OS. I am trying to get a driver installed for my GPU (nvidia ION on a zotac ionitx a-u mb). I downloaded the latest driver from Nvidia but have no idea how to install it. I've tried several different approaches I found on the internet with no success (I still can't enable visual effects!). Please let me know what information you need me to post (and exactly how to get you that information - I know really nothing about this OS).

Thanks,

Jason

[reed9]

Easiest way is to install through the Drivers Manager.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

[jmitchell151]

When I go to System=>Administration=>Hardware Drivers it says "no proprietary drivers are in use on this system." I can't figure out if there's something I'm supposed to see in the box that I can then activate? Is there something I need to do first to get the Nvidia drivers to show up in the hardware drivers window?

[devils casper]

Execute this

sudo lspci | grep -i vga
grep -i driver /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Post output here.

[scutiform]

Jaunty 9.04 has the drivers for your graphics card. It seems to be a bad installation causing the problem. Try a re-install and then click on system > administration > Hardware Drivers (it doesn't seem to auto start during install like previous versions)

[jmitchell151]

Execute this

sudo lspci | grep -i vga

03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 087d (rev b1)

grep -i driver /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Driver "mouse"
driver "kbd"
driver "nvidia"

Post output here.

[jmitchell151]

One update - not sure why but now I am able to access the nvidia x server settings when I couldn't before. The entire 32 inch monitor is now filled up too rather than just part like before! However it doesn't have the most recent driver (173.14.16 listed - the one I downloaded is 185.18.36). I also still can't activate visual effects.

[jmitchell151]

Jaunty 9.04 has the drivers for your graphics card. It seems to be a bad installation causing the problem. Try a re-install and then click on system > administration > Hardware Drivers (it doesn't seem to auto start during install like previous versions)

to do a reinstall do I just reinsert my cd and reboot? Will it reformat my hard drive and wipe out all the updates n application installs that I've done if I do this?

[waterhead]

I have two mobos with the nVidia ION chipset in them. I very much doubt that the driver available from Ubuntu supports this GPU.

Here is what I do to install the proper driver:

First, install the prerequisites needed to compile the driver.

sudo apt-get install linux-source build-essential

Then download the driver. Go to this site:

Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

Select these options:
Product Type: ION
Product Series: ION
Download Type: Graphics Drivers
Operating System: Linux 32-bit (or 64-bit depending on the system installed)
Language: (select your language)

Click the "Search" button, then download the driver it finds for you. Download it to your home directory, not your Desktop, as it will be easier to locate later. The driver that it finds for me is this one:

NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.18.36-pkg1.run

To install the driver, follow these instructions:

1) Stop the X-server.

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

2) Open a terminal display using the key combination: Ctrl+Alt+F1. Then login with your username and password.

3) You need to direct the terminal to the folder that contains the downloaded nVidia driver file. Do this using the cd command (Change Directory). If you saved in your home folder, as I recommended, use this command (replace <username> with your actual username):

cd /home/<username>

4) Install the driver. You need root privileges to do this, so use sudo.

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.18.36-pkg1.run

It will ask a few questions, but I don't recall exactly what they are. Don't just accept the defaults, as it won't install then. Allow it to search for a driver (it never finds one). Then let it compile the driver. Say "Yes" to allowing it to modify the xorg.conf file.

When done, reboot.

sudo reboot

You should be greeted by the nVidia Splash screen during boot. This means the driver is installed.

If you ever update the kernel, you will have to re-install the nVidia driver for the new kernel.

I hope that you enjoy the Zotac mobo. I also have the ION-A-U, and I love it! I am running MythTV with a Hauppauge HVR-950Q USB HDTV tuner. I had to compile the MythTV SVN version to support the ION chipset (called VDPAU). But if version 0.22 ever comes out, it will support the ION chipset without having to compile it.

[jmitchell151]

Paul,

I followed your directions and the install seemed to go great. Then I rebooted and not so good...

Here's the error I get on startup:

Ubuntu is running in low graphics mode.
The following error was encountered. You may need to update your configuration to solve this
(EE) Nvidia(0): failed to initialize the nvidia kernel module.
Please see the (ee)nvidia(0): system kernel log for additional error messages and
(ee) nvidia(0): consult the nvidia readme for details.
(ee)nvidia(0): ***aborting***
(ee)screens found, but none have a usable configuration.

This is the same error I got the last time that I tried to install the driver. The last time I had this issue I think that I asked it to troubleshoot the problem and I got the screen to work but it referenced an old driver. This time I told it to create a new configuartion file.

Now when I go to NVIDIA X Server Settings I get the errror:
You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run 'nvidia-xconfig' as root), and restart the X server.

Any ideas on what I should do?

BTW I'm running the 64 bit version of Jaunty if that makes any difference.

Thanks,

Jason