nVidia and Xorg.conf

[ljt04]

So I recently put a new graphics card into my 86_64 box, running Feisty Fawn. Everything was working fine except Beryl, which when I tried to load it, would flash the screen and then simply return to the Kwin manager.
I figured the problem was with the new video card, and sought to download drivers for it. I went onto the nVidia site and downloaded the recommended driver, then tried to install it.
I got an error saying that I needed to install the package without X running, so I logged off my computer, rebooted it in the restore mode (init=1) and then tried again. A whole new list of errors came up. I restarted X, went to the forums online, and read that I probably needed to remove old versions of Nvidia drivers. I opened up adept and proceeded to uninstall:
nvidia-glx
nvidia-kernel-common
linux-restricted-modules

I then killed X again, and tried to install the freshly downloaded driver... again no luck, an error about improper compilers and no libc headers. However, this time I couldn't restart X (and thus can't get back into my Kubuntu Desktop). I'm pretty sure the problem is that I deleted those old drivers. My Xorg.conf file from about a week ago (a backup) has two lines about nvidia-xconfig at the top that my new xorg.conf doesn't have...

So I had a few thoughts about what I should try and do... and would like input on them:

1) Install the previously deleted files, and re-edit the xorg.conf
2) Simply set the old backup Xorg.conf as the xorg.conf used to load X. I'm worried thought that with those other files deleted, using the old config file won't help here....
3) Successfully install the new Nvidia Driver from the terminal. (I can post the error messages achieved from the attempts at installing the driver if this is deemed the best route).

Thanks in advance,
lewis

[dibl]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

Given that it's already a mess, you might want to try and let the Envy installer do the work for you. Get it here:

http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

follow instructions to download and install Envy, open a console window and type

sudo envy -t

and possibly it will take care of the driver (re-)installation for you.

[ljt04]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

thanks for the quick reply
I had some trouble getting the Envy program while locked out of the GUI, but with the instructions from the link you gave me (very detailed walkthrough in the guides section) i got X up and working again

lewis

[ljt04]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

New and Somewhat tangential QuestioN:
I'm back in the GUI now, trying to get Beryl running. When I run it from the command line i get:

Detected xserver                : NVIDIA

Checking Display :0.0 ...

Checking for XComposite extension        : failed

No composite extension
4241091 screens detected.
Currently we cannot guarantee that Beryl will work correctly with multiple X screens.
Using the --no-context-share command line option can help.
Please report any success to the beryl developer mailing list. The list can be found at lists.beryl-project.org[/flash]

How did i get 4241K screens, and how do I reduce that number to a manageable 1?

lewis

[SheeEttin]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

Are you using the nvidia driver?

[ljt04]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

Yeah I'm pretty sure I am, it's the 9755 Driver (nvidia-glx-new).

[dibl]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

If the -9755 driver is installed correctly, you can run

sudo nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals --composite

and that will add compositing to your xorg.conf file. Restart the xserver with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, and try beryl-manager again. It should pass the test this time.

I don't know what the 400+K screens are all about -- that's a little worrisome. Let's see what happens after you let the Nvidia driver reconfigure xorg.conf.

[ljt04]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf

Alright, that got it to work. Thanks a bunch for the info, I feel kinda silly spending time on Beryl, but it is pretty sweet eye-candy.
lewis

[dibl]

Re: nVidia and Xorg.conf



Now, QUICK, back up xorg.conf!