** Description changed: Binary package hint: nvidia-glx-180 This can affect almost all releases (6.10 7.04, 7.10, 8.04, 8.10, 9.04+) It usually only shows up dramatically with video cards that have large memory (e.g. 256MB) and on systems that a) have 3GB or more RAM and/or b) have 64-bit CPUs on 32-bit north-bridge chipsets (e.g. Intel 945) Typical symptom: "failed to load the nvidia kernel module" This issue could affect all versions of the Nvidia proprietary drivers and others. Recently I've seen several users in IRC #ubuntu asking for help but without solving the issue. When I saw Keith Dewitt asking the same question on 2009-03-14 I arranged with him to access his system via SSH and a multiuser screen session to diagnose the issue. Keith was very patient and supportive and his assistance led directly to this discovery. There are also threads on the nvidia forums with the same issues. The symptoms are that users report that systems with Nvidia-based graphics cards won't start the X server successfully. There are a wide range of reports that don't immediately pin-point the cause. The fact the nvidia kernel module failed to load is the biggest clue. Check dmesg and /var/log/kern.log for something along these lines: [ 20.137717] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel. [ 20.412849] ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [LNEB] enabled at IRQ 18 [ 20.412858] nvidia 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNEB] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18 [ 20.412862] NVRM: This PCI I/O region assigned to your NVIDIA device is invalid: [ 20.412862] NVRM: BAR1 is 256M @ 0x30000000 (PCI:0002:00.0) [ 20.412865] NVRM: This is a 64-bit BAR mapped above 4GB by the system BIOS or [ 20.412865] NVRM: Linux kernel. The NVIDIA Linux graphics driver and other [ 20.412866] NVRM: system software do not currently support this configuration [ 20.412867] NVRM: reliably. [ 20.412872] nvidia: probe of 0000:02:00.0 failed with error -1 [ 20.412887] NVRM: The NVIDIA probe routine failed for 1 device(s). [ 20.412889] NVRM: None of the NVIDIA graphics adapters were initialized! - Also check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for this tell-tale: + Also check /var/log/Xorg.0.log or /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old for this tell- + tale: (--) PCI:*(0...@2:0:0) nVidia Corporation GeForce 8400 GS rev 161, Mem @ 0xfd000000 /16777216, 0x130000000/268435456, 0xfa000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x0000ec00/128, BIO S @ 0x????????/131072 - Notice that the video card's IOMEM allocation is at 0x300000000 (5GB). + (**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32 + (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888 + (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor + (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0) + (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration + (II) NVIDIA(0): Support for GLX with the Damage and Composite X extensions is + (II) NVIDIA(0): enabled. + (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module! + (EE) NVIDIA(0): *** Aborting *** + (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia" + + Notice that the video card's IOMEM allocation is at 5GB + (0x130000000/268435456 = 5GB/256MB). The reason for the failure is that the video chipset's PCI IOMEM RAM (in this case 256MB) cannot be allocated in the PCI IOMEM region below $GB (from 3GB-4GB) since other devices have already been given assignments that mean there isn't a 256MB gap available on a 256MB boundary - in other words, either at 3GB or 3.25GB. The host system has 4GB of system RAM which causes the kernel to prevent the use of the 3GB-3.25GB range, and other allocations prevent the use other ranges. A temporary work-around is to alter the BIOS video IOMEM position to below 4GB (on 64-bit architectures) or reduce the system's RAM to 2GB to leave sufficient free space. For the last year I've had an ongoing project to write a completely new PCI IOMEM system for the Linux kernel. I've added the mainline bug report that triggered the development to this report. Additionally, here is a link to my Wiki describing the issue and solutions. http://tjworld.net/wiki/Linux/PCIDynamicResourceAllocationManagement
** Description changed: Binary package hint: nvidia-glx-180 This can affect almost all releases (6.10 7.04, 7.10, 8.04, 8.10, 9.04+) It usually only shows up dramatically with video cards that have large memory (e.g. 256MB) and on systems that a) have 3GB or more RAM and/or b) have 64-bit CPUs on 32-bit north-bridge chipsets (e.g. Intel 945) Typical symptom: "failed to load the nvidia kernel module" This issue could affect all versions of the Nvidia proprietary drivers and others. Recently I've seen several users in IRC #ubuntu asking for help but without solving the issue. When I saw Keith Dewitt asking the same question on 2009-03-14 I arranged with him to access his system via SSH and a multiuser screen session to diagnose the issue. Keith was very patient and supportive and his assistance led directly to this discovery. There are also threads on the nvidia forums with the same issues. The symptoms are that users report that systems with Nvidia-based graphics cards won't start the X server successfully. There are a wide range of reports that don't immediately pin-point the cause. The fact the nvidia kernel module failed to load is the biggest clue. Check dmesg and /var/log/kern.log for something along these lines: [ 20.137717] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel. [ 20.412849] ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [LNEB] enabled at IRQ 18 [ 20.412858] nvidia 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNEB] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18 [ 20.412862] NVRM: This PCI I/O region assigned to your NVIDIA device is invalid: [ 20.412862] NVRM: BAR1 is 256M @ 0x30000000 (PCI:0002:00.0) [ 20.412865] NVRM: This is a 64-bit BAR mapped above 4GB by the system BIOS or [ 20.412865] NVRM: Linux kernel. The NVIDIA Linux graphics driver and other [ 20.412866] NVRM: system software do not currently support this configuration [ 20.412867] NVRM: reliably. [ 20.412872] nvidia: probe of 0000:02:00.0 failed with error -1 [ 20.412887] NVRM: The NVIDIA probe routine failed for 1 device(s). [ 20.412889] NVRM: None of the NVIDIA graphics adapters were initialized! Also check /var/log/Xorg.0.log or /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old for this tell- tale: (--) PCI:*(0...@2:0:0) nVidia Corporation GeForce 8400 GS rev 161, Mem @ 0xfd000000 /16777216, 0x130000000/268435456, 0xfa000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x0000ec00/128, BIO S @ 0x????????/131072 (**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32 (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888 (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0) (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration (II) NVIDIA(0): Support for GLX with the Damage and Composite X extensions is (II) NVIDIA(0): enabled. (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module! (EE) NVIDIA(0): *** Aborting *** (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia" Notice that the video card's IOMEM allocation is at 5GB (0x130000000/268435456 = 5GB/256MB). + /var/log/dmesg shows: + + [ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 0000000100000000 - 0000000130000000 (usable) + The reason for the failure is that the video chipset's PCI IOMEM RAM (in this case 256MB) cannot be allocated in the PCI IOMEM region below $GB (from 3GB-4GB) since other devices have already been given assignments that mean there isn't a 256MB gap available on a 256MB boundary - in other words, either at 3GB or 3.25GB. The host system has 4GB of system RAM which causes the kernel to prevent the use of the 3GB-3.25GB range, and other allocations prevent the use other ranges. A temporary work-around is to alter the BIOS video IOMEM position to below 4GB (on 64-bit architectures) or reduce the system's RAM to 2GB to leave sufficient free space. For the last year I've had an ongoing project to write a completely new PCI IOMEM system for the Linux kernel. I've added the mainline bug report that triggered the development to this report. Additionally, here is a link to my Wiki describing the issue and solutions. http://tjworld.net/wiki/Linux/PCIDynamicResourceAllocationManagement -- No PCI IOMEM space available below 4GB https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/342926 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
