Nvidia Driver Broken

[theubergeek]

I have a problem.

I installed the Nvidia drivers for my GeForce4 MX 400 as per the instructions of ubuntuguide and have the following problems:

Glxgears tells me that I can only pull 613 FPS (BS, as Xandros placed me MUCH higher with it's stock driver).

When I play GL games like Glest and Legends, my entire system freezes after 1 minute of gameplay (and ctrl, alt, backspace did nothing).


I also tried to install the Nvidia driver from Nvidia's website but it couldn't find the sources and I have no idea where they are (I installed everything possible related to my kernel in synaptic).


Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

[althepcman]

After the games crashes can you do the following
tail /var/log/messages

Then give us what the output is?

[wylfing]

@theubergeek - the first thing you should try is setting the NvAGP option in your xorg.conf file. Open a terminal and type sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.confScroll down to the Device section that contains information about your video card and add this line at the bottom of the section (i.e., before the EndSection line):Option "NvAGP" "1"
That will tell X to try to use nVidia's native GART rather than the kernel's GART. Kill X (with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace), log in again, and try running glxgears. If you're still having the same problem, post again and I'll suggest something else.

Good luck!

[theubergeek]

@theubergeek - the first thing you should try is setting the NvAGP option in your xorg.conf file. Open a terminal and type sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.confScroll down to the Device section that contains information about your video card and add this line at the bottom of the section (i.e., before the EndSection line):Option "NvAGP" "1"
That will tell X to try to use nVidia's native GART rather than the kernel's GART. Kill X (with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace), log in again, and try running glxgears. If you're still having the same problem, post again and I'll suggest something else.

Good luck!

I set the option like you said, and that boosted my speed from 613 FPS to 623 FPS.
Wouldn't that not work anyway since my card is PCI, not AGP?



After the games crashes can you do the following
Code:

tail /var/log/messages

Then give us what the output is?

That didn't give me anything either. Maybe because my system totally halts and forces me to reboot due to the crash? (I can't get to a console with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace)

[codejunkie]

if you installed the nvidia driver you also have to either comment out or remove
Load "dri"
and
Load "GLCore"
from you /etc/X11/xorg.conf file if you haven't already done so.

[theubergeek]

if you installed the nvidia driver you also have to either comment out or remove
Load "dri"
and
Load "GLCore"
from you /etc/X11/xorg.conf file if you haven't already done so.
That was one of the first things I did.
What else could I have missed?

[codejunkie]

post your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file here and i'll try and help you.

[theubergeek]

I really screwed up now.

I tried to install the Nvidia driver from Nvidia's website. That seemed to work, up untill I found out that GL rendering was totally broken.

I reinstalled the Linux-restricted-modules and nvidia driver from synaptic only to find out X won't start. I reverted the driver back to "nv" and now here I am stuck without GL.

This Sucks. ](*,)

[theubergeek]

post your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file here and i'll try and help you.
Here's my xorg.conf file (after my last screw-up).

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands:
#
# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom
# sudo sh -c 'md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf >/var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.md5sum'
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# paths to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
# #Load #"dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "record"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
Driver "nv"
BusID "PCI:0:8:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "eView 17s"
# Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
Monitor "eView 17s"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

[codejunkie]

I really screwed up now.

I tried to install the Nvidia driver from Nvidia's website. That seemed to work, up untill I found out that GL rendering was totally broken.

I reinstalled the Linux-restricted-modules and nvidia driver from synaptic only to find out X won't start. I reverted the driver back to "nv" and now here I am stuck without GL.

This Sucks. ](*,)
you need to completly remove the nvidia driver from the nvidia this command should do that open the terminal and do this sudo nvidia-installer --uninstall then try renabling the nvidia driver again with nvidia-glx-config enable having two versions of the driver are installed at the same time is the problem.

[codejunkie]

Here's my xorg.conf file (after my last screw-up).

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands:
#
# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom
# sudo sh -c 'md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf >/var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.md5sum'
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# paths to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
# #Load #"dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "record"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
Driver "nv"
BusID "PCI:0:8:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "eView 17s"
# Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
Monitor "eView 17s"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

i can't really see anything wrong with you xorg.conf file, you said you were on xandros right how much better were the frame rates and do you know what version of the nvidia driver they used i've noticed with nvidia cards sometimes the newer drivers break support for older cards. you could try finding out what version xandros uses download that from the nvidia archive and use it that might help.

[theubergeek]

i can't really see anything wrong with you xorg.conf file, you said you were on xandros right how much better were the frame rates and do you know what version of the nvidia driver they used i've noticed with nvidia cards sometimes the newer drivers break support for older cards. you could try finding out what version xandros uses download that from the nvidia archive and use it that might help.
Where would I go to find that?

[codejunkie]

Where would I go to find that?

Well i would say you might find it on there web site or forums, but i just searched through there forums and the FAQ's on there web site and it seems that xandros uses the nv driver by default the same one your using now and from what i was reading on there website/forums it seems you have to manually install the nvidia driver from www.nvidia.com on xandros to get OpenGL support. so i think my idea about installing the version you had on xandros won't work. i dont know if this will help you at all but here is a guide i wrote about how to install the official nvidia driver from scratch on ubuntu im hopeing this might help you.

the first thing you should do is completly remove all nvidia packages that are installed. Open synaptic click on search and type nvidia under Look in: choose Description and Name, right click on any installed items listed there and choose Mark for Complete Removal then click apply. this will completly remove all nvidia packages on your system incase something is conflicting, also run this command again sudo nvidia-installer --uninstall this will remove the nvidia driver from www.nvidia.com incase something got left behind, if it says command not found that's ok the nvidia driver has already been removed.
now follow the steps below to install the official driver from www.nvidia.com

find what kernel is listed when you type uname -a at the terminal for example mine displays Linux ubuntu 2.6.10-5-k7 #1 Fri Jun 24 18:51:20 UTC 2005 i686 GNU/Linux what l've listed in red is what to look at so on mine i need the kernel headers for the k7 kernel. the easiest way to install these is using synaptic click on search and type headers it will list all the header packages avaliable so i install the package linux-headers-k7 these are the ones for my kernel. if you have a different kernel for example 2.6.10-5-386 you will need the package linux-headers-386 etc. you also need the build-essential package installed this provides the basic compilers and stuff used to build the kernel modules. if you can't get X running to use synaptic you can also install the kernel headers and build essential package like this.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-386
sudo apt-get install build-essential
for this example im using the 2.6.10-5-386 kernel because it's what ubuntu installs by default and the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7667-pkg1.run nvidia driver from www.nvidia.com.

now to install the driver if your already in an x session exit it by hitting
ctrl+alt+F1
now at the terminal login and type:
sudo -s
enter you password
telinit 3
if your using ubuntu
killall gdm
if your using kubuntu
killall kdm
cd to where the nvidia package is installed in this example i've placed it in /home/username/
cd /home/username
now run the installer with
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7667-pkg1.run
after the installer has finished completely you need to edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf
file and tell it to use the nvidia driver with.
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
example: find the line that looks like this

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX 4000 AGP 8x]"
Driver "vesa"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

and replace whatever is listed under the Driver section with "nvidia" save the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and reboot.
hope this helps.

[theubergeek]

Well i would say you might find it on there web site or forums, but i just searched through there forums and the FAQ's on there web site and it seems that xandros uses the nv driver by default the same one your using now and from what i was reading on there website/forums it seems you have to manually install the nvidia driver from www.nvidia.com on xandros to get OpenGL support. so i think my idea about installing the version you had on xandros won't work. i dont know if this will help you at all but here is a guide i wrote about how to install the official nvidia driver from scratch on ubuntu im hopeing this might help you.
I followed your guide and I am now back where I started. I am getting 620 FPS and GL games still crash my system. At least I have GL support again.

I screwed this up pretty bad didn't I?
I can live with my GL rendering speed (even though it's crap) but I would really like to play a GL game for more than a few minutes without crashing my system.

Any Ideas for that?

[wylfing]

Open a terminal and type this:
sudo lsmod | grep nv
And post the results.

[theubergeek]

Open a terminal and type this:
sudo lsmod | grep nv
And post the results.
All right, here it it:

nvidia 3707780 12
agpgart 31784 2 via_agp,nvidia

[wylfing]

You probably need to get rid of the via_agp module. Open a terminal and type sudo gedit /etc/hotplug/blacklistScroll down to the bottom of the file and type via_agp on its own line, save the file, and reboot. (Normally I don't advise rebooting, but in this case we want to make sure via_agp doesn't get automatically loaded at boot time.)

Try glxgears again.

[artinla]

I know this sounds stupid, but I was having similar problems with OGL games, and my problem turned out to be that the onboard nvidia sound chip was causing ESD to go haywire. I disabled the onboard sound and plugged in a SBLive, and all the lockups went away.

It seems that creative cards in general give very little trouble in linux.

630 fps is pretty slow, but better than you would get if the NVidia driver wasn't working. I doubt the driver is causing your lockups, however the above advice about blacklisting the via agp module seems sound. If that doesn't help, try killing ESD or arts to see if the lockups go away.

Art