On Tue, 12 Nov 2002, Nick Wilson wrote: > > * and then Nick Wilson declared.... > > It's telling me that the nvidia kernel was made with gcc2 compiler but > > the kernel I'm running was made with version 3. > > Update: Not sure if it's the same thing but I get flickering unuseable > screen in basic console mode untill a msg comes up saying "INIT: "x" > respawning to fast: disabling for five minutes" > > Damn! -- Any thoughts (he says hopefully..)
(i have *got* to put this on a web page somewhere ...) * Overview -- Configuring NVIDIA cards for Dell Inspirons under Red Hat Based on my experience configuring two Dell Inspirons (7500, with 1400x1050 display, and 8100, with 1600x1200 display), I figured I'd document the process to save everyone else the grief of having to figure it out themselves. These instructions should work for any recent release of Red Hat Linux, as well as the recent "limbo" and "null" beta releases, but there are extra steps you should watch for if you're running one of the betas, so read these instructions carefully. Everything you need -- drivers and docs -- can be found at www.nvidia.com; I just thought I'd write the abridged version. If these instructions don't work, you should go straight to the source. Send comments, feedback, criticism, large sums of money to Rob Day [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Step 1 -- Getting the RPMs From www.nvidia.com, download the two appropriate (and most recent) RPMs for your Linux box. Since I'm running Red Hat, these would be: NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.i386.rpm # the binary GLX driver file NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-3123.src.rpm # the source kernel driver file First, make sure that these RPMs have matching version numbers; bad things will likely happen if they don't. And second, while you can grab the prebuilt binary of the GLX package, you're *strongly* encouraged to download (and compile) the source version of the kernel package. As I read it, you should try to use the prebuilt binary kernel RPM only if you're running the stock, standard, as-it-was-shipped-from-Red Hat kernel. So play it safe -- get the source RPM for the kernel package and build it yourself. If you do this, you can't go wrong. * Step 2 -- Building and installing the RPMs Assuming that you have no earlier versions of NVIDIA RPMs cluttering up your machine, first, compile the kernel source RPM with something resembling: # rpmbuild --rebuild NVIDIA_kernel-<whatever>.src.rpm If it builds successfully, install it from /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386. Note that, if you're running the recent "null" beta, you'll get some installation warnings about a mismatched compiler version. Ignore them, and keep going. Then install the binary GLX RPM. Once again, you'll get some installation warnings, this time regarding conflicting MESA RPMs. As before, ignore them. On to the XF86Config file. * Step 3 -- Setting up the /etc/X11/XF86Config file Until recently, for backward compatibility, Red Hat Linux supported two versions of the XF86Config file: XF86Config-4 for XFree86 4.x support XF86Config for XFree86 3.x support If you were running XFree86 4.x, X would first search for XF86Config-4, then XF86Config as a second choice. The latest Red Hat beta(s), however, have dropped support for XFree86 3.x, so you can have simply a file of the name XF86Config. And what do you put in that file? For detailed instructions, you should read the online doc file http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-2960/README.txt. In short, what should and shouldn't be there: Section "Module" # Load "dri" # remove if there # Load "GLcore" # remove if there Load "glx" # add ... Section "Device" Identifier "NVIDIA Geforce 2 (generic)" (in my case) # Driver "nv" # remove if there # Driver "vesa" # remove if there Driver "nvidia" # add ... If you're too lazy to do all that, you can use the XF86Config file I've attached to the end of this writeup, which works for my 1600x1200 Inspiron 8100. (NOTE: The search algorithm for the appropriate XF86Config file is actually more complicated than I described here. See the man page for XF86Config for the details, although what I've written here should be enough to get you going.) * Step 4 -- Starting X If you're using any version of Red Hat up to 7.3 (and possibly either of the limbo betas, if memory serves), at this point, you should just have to type "startx &" to get an X session. If, however, you're using the latest "null" beta, there is a mismatch related to the gcc compilers that were used to compile the NVIDIA drivers and what Red Hat shipped with "null". No problem -- just force loading of the driver first with: # insmod -f NVdriver (ignore any warnings) then try "startx &" again. You can either force loading of the driver each time you bring up your machine this way, or I found adding the line install NVdriver insmod -f NVdriver to the file /etc/modules.conf will take care of this for you. * Step 5 -- Getting fancy If you're bored, you might want to experiment with a few more XF86Config settings that are documented in the aforementioned README.txt file at www.nvidia.com. A couple of examples (that would be added under the "Device" section for the NVIDIA card: Option "NoLogo" "1" # don't display logo Option "CursorShadow" "1" # have shadowed cursor * Appendix A -- my /etc/X11/XF86Config file # XFree86 4.0 configuration generated by Xconfigurator Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "XFree86 Configured" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" EndSection # By default, Red Hat Linux 6.0 and later use xfs Section "Files" FontPath "unix/:7100" EndSection # Module loading section Section "Module" Load "dbe" # Double-buffering #Load "GLcore" # OpenGL support #Load "dri" # Direct rendering infrastructure Load "glx" # OpenGL X protocol interface Load "extmod" # Misc. required extensions Load "v4l" # Video4Linux # Load "pex5" # PHIGS for X 3D environment (obsolete) # Load "record" # X event recorder # Load "xie" # X Image Extension (obsolete) # You only need the following two modules if you do not use xfs. # Load "freetype" # TrueType font handler # Load "type1" # Adobe Type 1 font handler EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "keyboard" Option "XkbLayout" "us" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Device" "/dev/mouse" Option "Protocol" "PS/2" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Dell 1600X Laptop Display Panel" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Unknown" HorizSync 59.0-85.0 VertRefresh 60 Option "dpms" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 2 (generic)" Driver "nvidia" BoardName "Unknown" Option "NoLogo" "1" Option "CursorShadow" "1" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Linux Frame Buffer" Driver "fbdev" BoardName "Unknown" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "NVIDIA GeForce 2 (generic)" Monitor "Dell 1600X Laptop Display Panel" DefaultDepth 24 Subsection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1600x1200" EndSubSection EndSection Section "DRI" Mode 0666 EndSection -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@;redhat.com?subject=unsubscribe https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
