Problems installing nVidia binary drivers

[Oceanwatcher]

I installed from USB flashdrive from the dailies two days ago.

Running from the USB flashdrive, things looked good. But after installing, I am only getting 1024x576 on my laptop display (should be 1280x800).

So I thought I should install the nVidia binary driver - I have a Geforce Go 7400 and it looks like it is supported in the latest version of the binary driver:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...10-driver.html

I first tried the "Additional driver" installer, but it failed. This is from the log of the last attempt:

2012-01-30 09:23:44,555 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,556 DEBUG: KMH enabled: False
2012-01-30 09:23:44,591 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,592 DEBUG: KMH enabled: False
2012-01-30 09:23:44,656 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current_updates).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current-updates/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current-updates/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,657 DEBUG: nvidia_current_updates is not the alternative in use
2012-01-30 09:23:44,730 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,730 DEBUG: KMH enabled: False
2012-01-30 09:23:44,754 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,754 DEBUG: KMH enabled: False
2012-01-30 09:23:44,793 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current_updates).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current-updates/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current-updates/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,795 DEBUG: nvidia_current_updates is not the alternative in use
2012-01-30 09:23:44,836 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,836 DEBUG: KMH enabled: False
2012-01-30 09:23:44,861 DEBUG: NVidia(nvidia_current).enabled(): target_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf current_alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf other target alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf other current alt /usr/lib/nvidia-current/alt_ld.so.conf
2012-01-30 09:23:44,861 DEBUG: KMH enabled: False

So I also tried downloading the driver from the nVidia page, loggin in to a console (no X running) and install it. No luck now either. I have no idea on how to interpret the log above, so if anyone understand it, please let me know.

If I could just find a way to set the resolution to 1280x800, I'd be happy for now! The computer feels very snappy, so I would love to keep it.

[kc1di]

Hi Oceanwatcher,

Just a quick question when you installed the Nvidia Driver from the console did it install correctly? where there any error message in the console?

The other possibility is that the new driver is not being run on boot up.

Also make sure your not using NV or Nouveau drivers they conflict with Nvidia drivers.

check out this wiki if you haven't already it has some good info on what to uninstall.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

[Oceanwatcher]

You are right, I forgot to uninstall the Nouveau drivers first. BUT - why did I not get the correct resolution with the Nouveau driver? When running from the USB flashdrive, it was perfect, but installing it on the harddisk did not give me the 1280x800 option...

Anyway - I am back to 11.10 as I needed to get some work done :-) Will try again a bit later. 12.04 looks GOOD! And definitely more snappy than 11.10 on my computer at least. Too bad my current laptop is only 32 bit. Would have been nice to add some more ram and be able to run 64-bit. But as far as I can tell, my Centrino-duo powered laptop (Dell XPS M1210) can only run 32bit OS.

[oshunluvr]

Likely, viewing your /var/log/Xorg.0.log files in both instances (HD vs. USB) would reveal a difference in the default handling of the nouveau driver.

With regards to the nvidia driver; IMO, using the driver provided at the nvidia site may result in some issues because it's a generic version (meaning for any linux OS) whereas the Kubuntu provided DKMS driver in the repos is "tuned" for Kubuntu and will generally cause less issues. The Kubuntu provided driver is usually only a point or two behind the nvidia driver.

As far as RAM - you can use more than 3GB of ram with a 32-bit processor by installing the PAE kernel. You might be better off saving the money for a newer machine down the road. Some Centrinos support 64-bit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino

[Oceanwatcher]

Encouraged by your answer, I took a new look at the 32/64 issue. It has been some time since I looked, and this time I did a search for the processor (the Wikipedia article was good, but I had no idea how to identify my processor in there). But searching for T7200 gave me a page at Intel that said it was 64bit. So I downloaded 11.10 64bit and put it on the flash drive. It run very nice! In fact, so nice I am now considering installing it... And the graphics seemed very ok here.

So I guess I will be back in another forum section if I see any problems. Thank you for the tip!