Announcement

**Bongo5HH** · Oct 29, 2007, 05:38 AM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Originally posted by gs3user007

First off: I'm new to linux, this is my first real go at making it work, so please be patient with my lack of experience.

Hey nice to have you!!

I have two suggestions, first one might seem VERY silly.

I had nearly the same thing happen with my laptop (which uses an intel chipset).

The solution someone gave me was to burn the live cd at 4x (or the slowest your burner will go)..... I thought it was silly too, but I did end up trying it and it worked for me. It doesn't take long to burn a cd so give it a try and then boot into it as a live cd and see if it boots your system.

OK second idea, have you turned the onboard video off in your system BIOS? I don't know how Windows reacts in that situation but maybe Kubuntu gets confused.

Hope this helps, if nothing else it gives you something to try before one of the smart people reply.

Again, nice to have you here and it's cool to see you're not afraid to "get into it".

Kev

**gs3user007** · Oct 29, 2007, 12:09 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

I don't know if I made this clear... I did actually install the OS. I used the alternate cd though.

I poked around in the bios, and I don't see any way to turn off the onboard video. It's an older computer, and I was never too impressed with it. The bios is lacking many of the features that other computers have (as far as the bios goes).

If it helps, when I plug the monitor cable into the onboard instead of the video card, the monitor doesn't get any input. It would seem kubuntu is attempting to make the card work...

**integr8e** · Oct 29, 2007, 03:18 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Try this, boot to recovery mode, and run the command

Code:

 wget [url]http://albertomilone.com/ubuntu/nvidia/scripts/ubuntu/envy_0.9.8-0ubuntu10_all.deb[/url]

to download Envy. Then, run this command:

Code:

dpkg -i envy_0.9.8-0ubuntu8_all.deb

You will probably get some errors at first, that's OK; to fix them, type

Code:

apt-get install -f

This command should install everything needed by Envy, as well as Envy itself. Then, type

Code:

envy -t

Choose option 1 to uninstall your old Nvidia driver (don't restart your computer yet), and then option 2 to install the proper Nvidia driver (Envy will detect which driver you need, and download and install it for you).

When it finishes, you'll be prompted about if you want Envy to configure xorg.conf for you, choose "yes", but choose "no" when asked whether you want to restart your computer.

Exit Envy and type the command

Code:

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

Then, type X (capitalized) and see if you get a GUI; if you do, your configuration was successful. Press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to exit the screen, and run the command

Code:

/etc/init.d/kdm start

to start KDM and take you to Kubuntu's log-in screen. If you're successful, once you've logged in, press Alt+F2 and run the command

Code:

kdesudo nvidia-settings

Type your password when prompted. Choose the X Server Display Configuration tab, select the resolution you want, and click the Save to X Configuration File; tell it to Merge with existing file and click the Save button.

Then, restart your computer and you should be good to go

**gs3user007** · Oct 29, 2007, 03:30 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

The instructions look thought out and everything... but I booted into recovery mode, and after putting in the first line (wget http...etc), it returns a timestamp followed by the address I typed in, then:

=> 'envy_0.9.8-0ubuntu10_all.deb'
Resolving albertomilone.com... failed: Name or service not known.

Then I'm back at the command prompt. I've check for typos several times, pretty sure I typed it in exactly as you did. Does the recovery console even have access to the internet?

**integr8e** · Oct 29, 2007, 03:38 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

It should (make sure you typed the command correctly; the only space should be immediately following "wget"). Type

Code:

sudo apt-get update

If you receive a long list of "hits", your connected to the internet. If not, type the following commands and paste the output here:

Code:

sudo ifconfig

&

Code:

sudo iwconfig

**gs3user007** · Oct 29, 2007, 03:45 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

sudo apt-get update:
yields a truckload of lines starting with 'Failed to fetch..."

sudo ifconfig:
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

sudo iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

The network card is on-board, if that helps.

Would it be possible for me to the download/install from the gui (as the internet works there), then do the configurations steps from the command line?

**integr8e** · Oct 29, 2007, 03:51 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Try pinging www.google.com with the following command:

Code:

ping -c 1 [url]www.google.com[/url]

If you have a connection, the output should look something like this:

PING www.l.google.com (209.85.165.147) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from eo-in-f147.google.com (209.85.165.147): icmp_seq=1 ttl=237 time=52.1 ms

--- www.l.google.com ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 52.167/52.167/52.167/0.000 ms

Also, paste the output of the command

Code:

ip route

**gs3user007** · Oct 29, 2007, 03:58 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

ping -c 1 www.google.com:
ping: bad number of packets to transmit

So I substituted a 4 for the 1:
ping: unknown host www.google.com

ip route:
(doesn't return anything, just puts me back at the prompt)

**integr8e** · Oct 29, 2007, 04:40 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Would it be possible for me to the download/install from the gui (as the internet works there), then do the configurations steps from the command line?

Sorry, I missed your comment there :P Run the command

Code:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Select "nv" (not "nvidia") as your video driver, and answer the rest of the questions as best you can (choose the default answers for anything you're unsure of). Then, run the command

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/kdm start

and you should have a GUI back up and running. We'll work from there.

**gs3user007** · Oct 29, 2007, 06:16 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Okay, we sort of did a lot of things here... I got envy to download and install. Uninstalled the nvidia drivers via the program, installed the new ones via the program. All was well.

Ran the nvidia-xconfig line. Had to answer a ton of questions. Did so to the best of my ability.

Typed a capital 'X':
X Window System Version 1.3.0
blah
blah
blah
(WW) NV: No matching Device section for intance (BusID PCI:1:9:0) found
(EE) No devices detected.

Fatal server error:
no screens found

then I'm back at the command line.

I really do appreciate your patience in helping me, I get the feeling we've made some real progress so far...

**dibl** · Oct 29, 2007, 06:35 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Originally posted by gs3user007

Uninstalled the nvidia drivers via the program, installed the new ones via the program. All was well.

Apparently not .... :P

Try this (no guarantees):

1. Use Envy and uninstall the nvidia driver.

2. At the command line,

Code:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

and choose "NO" to autodetect, and choose "VESA" as the display type, accept defaults until you get to the monitor, choose one resolution that you can live with for a little while, like 1280 x 1024, and choose refresh rates appropriate for your LCD or CRT. When you get dumped back to the CLI, do

Code:

startx

and you'll have a GUI.

3. Now run Envy, and choose #1 "Install Nvidia driver". When it is finished and restarts the Xserver for you, then do

Code:

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

and let it overwrite the xorg file, and then it will restart the xserver for you.

If it works (and my fingers are crossed), then after you are logged in, you can open a console and

Code:

sudo nvidia-settings

to set your resolution and refresh for default configuration. Don't forget to "save to X configuration file" (button in lower right of the panel).

**integr8e** · Oct 29, 2007, 07:05 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Definitely try what @dibl suggested, and if it still doesn't work, use Envy to uninstall and reinstall the Nvidia driver, again; I've found sometimes the driver becomes corrupted or broken during the download/installation process (personal experience).

**dibl** · Oct 29, 2007, 07:16 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

I'm having trouble getting a straight answer out of the Nvidia web site for a GeForce4 MMX 440 card. When I choose "legacy" product type and GeForce4 MX series, it takes me to driver version 96.43.01, but then I don't find the MMX 440 on the product list for that driver, and when I go "back" the product series has changed to the Geforce4 Ti series!

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d..._96.43.01.html

Weird! :P

**gs3user007** · Oct 29, 2007, 07:25 PM

Re: nvidia drivers not working

Okay, I uninstalled the driver using envy, then ran the dpkg-reconfigure bit.

After 'startx', I get a bunch of text, but the important bit seems to be:
(WW) VESA: No mathcing Device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:9:0) found
(EE) VESA(0): Cannot read V_BIOS (3)
(EE) Screens(s) found, but non have a usable configuration.

Fatal server error:
no screens found
XI0: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

Then it's back to the CLI.

Thoughts? Should I tinker with the reconfigure bit some more?

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