9.04 Installing restricted nVidia drivers, dual graphics cards

[TheGolfball]

OK. I downloaded, installed, and updated the Ubuntu 9.04 RC desktop to see if it was easier to configure than 8.10. I think that 9.04 has definite improvements but I am still stumped on the graphics cards. It ran under the default configuration but didn't make full use of the dual graphics cards.

I have two XFX cards (slots 1 and 3) using nVidia GeForce 7600 GT chips. I used the "Restricted Drivers download" for the nVidia 180 (recommended) drivers and pressed the activate. Everything seemed to proceed OK and it told me that I needed to reboot. After I reboot then the system appears to hang on bootup and it never boots into the graphical interface. Seems to hang after a bootup battery check. Cntl-Alt-Del shuts Gnome and reboots with the same problem. I can boot into recovery mode command line but I don't know what or how to fix.

I would like Ubuntu to recognize and utilize my two graphics cards, each with one monitor attached, and to use the restricted drivers. Any thougts on how to do this?

Everything else on 9.04 seems to work great on my system. If I can get the graphics tuned in then Windows can be a thng of the past. Thanks.

[jamesrfla]

Do you mean running SLI?

[TheGolfball]

The two cards are SLI capable but I'm not using the SLI feature. They run fine under Windows XP but I really want to go to 100% Ubuntu.

[jamesrfla]

Make sure you have the cable running between the two cards. Then I think there is a nvidia control panel somewhere in Ubutnu when you installed the drivers. Look in there for a SLI option and enable it.

[mosibfu]

4 modus for SLI in linux:

AFR (alternate frame render)
SFR (split frame render)
AA (anti aliasing)
AFRofAA(combinatie van AA en AFR),

afr / sfr are the best, imho sfr


manual labour in the configs


step 1:
type this in console: “lspci” and you get something like this

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8500 GT (rev a1)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8500 GT (rev a1)

then “gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf” and save it as “etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup” (create a backup)

duplicate your nvidia device section (example from my xorg.conf:)
Section “Device”
Identifier “nVidia Corporation G80 [GeForce 8500 GT]”
Boardname “nv”
Busid “PCI:1:0:0″
Driver “nvidia”
Screen 0
EndSection

paste that underneath your current device section
Section “Device”
Identifier “nVidia Corporation G80 2 [GeForce 8500 GT]” // change the name and add a 2 or something..
Boardname “nv”
Busid “PCI:2:0:0″ // adapt the busID to something that matches your lspci (do thesame with the first device if you dont have one there)
Driver “nvidia”
Screen 0
EndSection

stap 3:
adapt your screen section

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Device “nVidia Corporation G80 [GeForce 8500 GT]”
Monitor “Generic Monitor”
Defaultdepth 24
Option “SLI” “SFR” // Add this line, or AFR
SubSection “Display”

save xorg.conf

reboot, and it shuld work, if it doesnt work open a console (ctrl+alt+f1), login, and type: “sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf” this wil restore the backup we made

remembered that allright, then you can reboot and see if it works (or ctrl+alt+backspace)

now check it by running nvidia settings, click on screen0 and it shuld state something like

GPU’s:

GeForce 8500 GT (GPU 0),
GeForce 8500 GT (GPU 1)

if something like this is stated you did everything allright

[TheGolfball]

Thanks everyone. It's running OK now.

[wanderingshaodw]

Ok similar problem I install all is well then put drivers in for 9500 gt's with sli bridge, soon as this is done boot up and blammo I can only get to command line, also not sure if this matters but at startup I get a message stating. Acpi Expecting package type 0 found but it does boot fine until I use jockey and install the drivers 180 what gives. this problem happens on both 8.10 as well as 9.04. I have tried using envyng also and same problem, I have used synaptic package manger and still same. My biggest problem is that once this is done I have to reinstall because I am not sure how to put it back to the way it was from the command line.

[jamesrfla]

Can you start X server? Run this command after you login into the command line.
startx If that doesn't work there is something wrong with your Xserver config.

[wanderingshaodw]

yes there is, it says that there are no graphics cards installed is there something that should be done to a file before I reboot like a possible line to tell it that cards are in sys or what I am lost here.

[wanderingshaodw]

Ok, did this again this time downloaded the drivers from nvidia themselves. stopped the gdm and ran the installer let it compile the kernel once done reboot and now I get

(EE) Failed to load Module "type1" (module does not exist, 0)
(EE) Failed to load module "freetype" (module does not exist, 0)
(EE) No devices found

Then I am told that gdm has stopped and to restart once it is fixed. Ok so how do I fix this.

Thanks

[wanderingshaodw]

ok another question does all this happen to me because I have a dual boot just wondering when i did an install awhile back with server 2003 as dual boot no problems but vista ulti wont work right with video cards. Just a thought maybe I will scrap vista try new see if issue persists

[socceroos]

ok another question does all this happen to me because I have a dual boot just wondering when i did an install awhile back with server 2003 as dual boot no problems but vista ulti wont work right with video cards. Just a thought maybe I will scrap vista try new see if issue persists

Did you try mosibfu's tutorial on page 1 of this thread?

[wanderingshaodw]

This is what I get when I do that gksu command it is all generic due to clean install

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

[wanderingshaodw]

Man you guys kick **** thank you so much went to xconfig file and copied from tut on other page and just changed my lines after installing driver to this and now blammo it works. Man you guys dont know how happy I am cant thank you all enough. All I can say Is Hell Yeah! thank you thank you.

[siriusfox]

I'm having a little bit of trouble. My problem comes from the "Screen" section you have indicated. At first I thought you had accidentally omitted the final EndSection line after the screen, but when I put it in Xorg gave me an error about it in the log.

So I have the following sections in my Xorg config.

Monitor
Screen
Module
Device
Device

Is there any proper order for these given that we don't actually close off the screen section in this configuration?

[allensaucier]

Hi guys. I'm a newbie too w/ ubuntu. would you mind helping me w/ my 9.0.4 install & nvidia 9600 card?

Well, I didn't check to see if this card was compatible w/ ubuntu b4 buying it and wouldn't you know, I install ubuntu (it works), then install the restricted drivers (173, 177, 180, 185b) only to have ubuntu hang just before it would normally display the login screen.

Has anyone gotten the nvidia 9600 GT to work w/ ubuntu 9.0.4?:confused:

Does anyone has a suggestion as to which nvidia card works w/ ubuntu 9.0.4 & nvidia's native driver? I'm willing to drop back a card version if I have to but I need to know 100% that it will work w/ ubuntu.:confused:

Thx everyone. I really appreciate your help.:)

--Allen

[inobe]

Does anyone has a suggestion as to which nvidia card works w/ ubuntu 9.0.4 & nvidia's native driver? I'm willing to drop back a card version if I have to but I need to know 100% that it will work w/ ubuntu.:confused:

Thx everyone. I really appreciate your help.:)

--Allen

welcome to the ubuntu forums

i can confirm 180.51 works.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7148958&postcount=2

i have a 9400gt, i helped someone earlier that had a 9500gt, there wouldn't be much difference since they are 9xxx series cards....

[allensaucier]

THANKS!!! I didn't know where to start. I'll check your post & if I've got probs, I'll buzz you. thanks again.


welcome to the ubuntu forums

i can confirm 180.51 works.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7148958&postcount=2

i have a 9400gt, i helped someone earlier that had a 9500gt, there wouldn't be much difference since they are 9xxx series cards....

[inobe]

the repo offers the latest nvidia driver which always includes new fixes.

"depending on the changes you made" there may be a few more things to do if you added the source and updated but the driver ends up not working, don't fear' simply said your probably missing some components in synaptic, these components can be installed easily.

otherwise it should just work.

[allensaucier]

well, i've followed your post and am wondering:
1. do i now install the nvidia accelerated graphics driver, 180?
2. do i now install other nvidia files found in synaptic?

or neither? I can't tell if my card is "working" but I can tell you, after running the program to "Hardware Drivers" under system/admin, the program "recommends that I install a proprietary driver.

[allensaucier]

Plus, I just installed the nvidia-settings app & it told me I'm not running an nvidia driver. So, not sure what to do next.

[inobe]

if you restarted and the driver is not enabled, enable it then you will be prompted to restart once more.

[allensaucier]

No success; not with 9.0.4 or 8.10 so far. Still trying ubuntu 8.10. All nvidia drivers do not work for me. I'm using a asus p5q-vm motherboard and I'm beginning to believe this combo is the problem.

[allensaucier]

interim solution: nvidia geForce 8400 gs card replaces nvidia geforce 9600GT

[inobe]

i think you should start your own topic here http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=334 in the proper forum.

i can help you there, at least this way we can keep this thread clean !

[allensaucier]

sounds good inobe. I actually found - I think - the right forum discussion to be under. And i believe others will find your help invaluable. It's: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7162268&posted=1#post7162268

thx all for your help here!

[IBamBam]

OMG After 5 days I finally got sli working. I tried EVERYTHING that i could find on every form and board. This is what i did. GoodLUCK!

1) First step: you must reset the Xorg to its default conf. Before, you should backup it, to avoid any mistakes.

In the Terminal:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.original
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

2) Installing packages and dependencies:

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`

3) Remove old version drivers:

sudo apt-get --purge remove $(dpkg -l | grep nvidia | awk '{print $2}')

Download the driver from nvidia website. You must repect your system architecture (x86, 64...)

4) In my case: Ubuntu 32:
wget http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/185.18.36/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.18.36-pkg1.run -O NVIDIA-Linux-185.pkg.run

5) Now, move the installer to /usr/src and link it. Follows:

sudo install NVIDIA-Linux-185.pkg.run /usr/src/
sudo ln -s /usr/src/NVIDIA-Linux-185.pkg.run /usr/src/nvidia-driver

Kill X:
6) Time to stop X GDM. So, press "Ctrl+Alt+F1", login and stop gdm:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

7) Installing:

sudo sh /usr/src/nvidia-driver

(press yes to all questions)

8) When it is done, restart your computer:

sudo reboot

After boot up,

9) press "Ctrl+Alt+F1", login and stop gdm:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

10) Change Flag

sudo nvidia-xconfig (you might not HAVE to do this one but I did)

sudo nvidia-xconfig -a (this one you have to do)



11) enable SLI

sudo nvidia-xconfig --sli=AFR

NOTE* I had to change my Bus ID BEFORE I could enable SLI (#11) also. It was swaped (5 was where 4 was supposed to be and 4 was where 5 was to be) Go Figure!!

open a terminal to see your settings

lspci (shows your Bus Info)

gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf (is where you would change it. "be

careful if you mess the config file up you have wipe it "sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg" and start at #9 again)

12) Reboot

sudo reboot

I hope I got all this right. Each system may be a little different. But this worked for me! WAAHOO I got my SLI, Time for bed :)

[IBamBam]

my Nvidia config file

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder63) Fri Aug 14 17:54:58 PDT 2009


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 28.0 - 33.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 72.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 28.0 - 33.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 72.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7600 GT"
BusID "PCI:5:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7600 GT"
BusID "PCI:4:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "SLI" "AFR"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "SLI" "AFR"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection