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nVidia graphics card help needed (SOLVED)

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    #16
    Re: nVidia graphics card help needed (SOLVED)

    1. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dkms

    2. APT (and graphical tools based on it) always prefers later versions. So yes, once you add that repository and update your package list, installing nvidia-current will grab the bits from that repository.

    3. nvidia-graphics-drivers is the name of the source package, but it will appear in package managers as nvidia-current.


    Originally posted by JontomXire
    one guy said he installed the raw drivers directly from the nVidia website. Hunting around I found a web page that said that the install script basically does everything for you. You need kernel source (or maybe just the headers?) and it builds the drivers to match the kernel. However that guy also said he always rebuilt his own kernel.
    I've so far avoided getting in situations where I want to rebuild kernels. It isn't 1980 anymore, I don't feel like I should have to be doing something this low level just to make my PC work!

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      #17
      Re: nVidia graphics card help needed (SOLVED)

      Hmm. In the end I forgot to instal DKMS, but it all worked fine anyway. In fact I followed advice from another forum, downloaded "linux-source" and ran the nVidia install script and it worked like a dream! It built a driver/kernel interface layer to match my kernel, moved old copies of OpenGL out of the way and installed it's own OpenGL, updated the xorg.conf file, everything!

      Then I installed Wine and discovered that it is important to install Wine BEFORE installing the drivers

      However I just ran through the same driver install process again (it only takes a few minutes) and it detected the previous drivers and remvoed them before installing afresh.

      Very very easy and highly recommended, and you get much more current drivers than using APT, and from what I've been told they are better and more reliable than even the PPA ones.

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        #18
        Re: nVidia graphics card help needed (SOLVED)

        You don't need to install DKMS on its own, because if another package needs that, APT's dependency resolver will take care of that for you. Notice that nvidia-current includes just such a dependency:

        Code:
        sriley@SRiley-T410:~$ apt-cache rdepends dkms
        dkms
        Reverse Depends:
         fglrx
         nvidia-current
         virtualbox-4.1
         virtualbox-4.0
         openvswitch-datapath-dkms
         nvidia-96
         virtualbox-guest-dkms
         virtualbox-dkms
         open-vm-dkms
         virtualbox-ose-guest-dkms
         virtualbox-ose-dkms
         oss4-dkms
         lirc-modules-source
         bcmwl-kernel-source
         open-vm-dkms
         xtables-addons-dkms
         virtualbox-ose-guest-dkms
         virtualbox-ose-dkms
         tp-smapi-dkms
         speakup
         oss4-dkms
         openvswitch-datapath-dkms
         openswan-modules-dkms
         openafs-modules-dkms
         ndiswrapper-dkms
         lirc-modules-source
         iscsitarget-dkms
         dahdi-dkms
         blcr-dkms
         batmand-gateway-dkms
         batman-adv-dkms
         backfire-dkms
         nvidia-current
         nvidia-96
         nvidia-173
         fglrx
         bcmwl-kernel-source
        I'm wondering, if by following the build procedure you discovered, you might introduce odd behaviors. For example, you might have to recompile every time your kernel updates itself. It's also interesting to note that you had problems with WINE installation order. I installed WINE after I installed nvidia-current, and WINE performs well.

        You mention that your procedure resulted in newer drivers, which piques my interest. What version number do you see? On Natty, nvidia-current gives me 280.13.

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          #19
          Re: nVidia graphics card help needed (SOLVED)

          Yes, I'll probably; need to update my graphics drivers when the kernel updates. it's no biggy.

          The driver version Ihave is the same as yours, 280.13, but the ones Lucid Lynx was offering me were much older if I remember correctly.

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            #20
            Re: nVidia graphics card help needed (SOLVED)

            If you want to install the "raw" (aka unpackaged) drivers from the nividia site, you can. The downside of that is no automatic updates or support and every time you update your kernel, you have to manually re-install the drivers. Also it puts a few of the files in different directories than the Ubuntu standards so advices/fixes from Ubuntu users may not always apply. You also will have to purge the ubuntu packaged drivers first to avoid conflicts. You don't have to really rebuild your own kernel, the nvidia script rebuilds it as is with it's drivers installed. This used to be (3 years ago) the best way to get updated drivers. Now-a-days the packagers keep up to date with nvidia within a day or two.

            DKMS = Dynamic Kernel Module Service: does automatically what the nvidia script does manually. Every time you install a new kernel, it will automatically rebuild it with the drivers. The one thing you have to ensure is that you also install kernel-headers with each updated kernel as they are required by dkms. dkms will not install the headers automatically. If they are missing, it will just hold off on the kernel rebuild until you install the headers.

            Please Read Me

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