X Problem

[rockybalboa]

Okay first, I'm a Linux newbie.

And I have scoured these forums.

I learned very simple use of VI(M) last night but now I feel OK with that.

I'm a novice Win32 programmer so I know some about generic command line function and syntax importance. However I don't know many Linux commands.

 

I installed MDK9.2, all went well but Desktop started locking up every 3 mins (prior to NVidia update) (This was a hard lockup, tried Alt-SysRq etc. and Ctrl-F1 etc). It was locked hard numerous times. Booting to BASH went fine and I was able to do a little editing.

So I did the NVidia (driver) update for my Geforce3-200ti, again install seemed to go well. I also did the edit directed in XF86Config-4. (I followed all instructions to the letter)

Now X tries to start (flashes 3-4 times) and then crashes.

Mistakes I have already made:

1) Ran urpmi that NVidia says NOT to do unless needed, don't believe I needed it.

2) Edited XF86Config (no -4 on the end) when I was not told to.

 

My idea is to reinstall X86 (this the Windows cure to every thing including OS problems) back to original configuration.

Or reconfigure X

 

Problem is I don't know how to do either one. And don't know how to find them in the directory structure.

I'm at work or I would try to find the log files and send them. However, they wouldn't reflect the original problem now that I've bungled things by messing with things I know nothing about.

 

Guess I need to reinstall X but I've read that there is a version that is particularly crappy with NVidias.

I'm open to any suggestion and thanks to all who care to advise me.

Thanks Dan

Edited April 23, 2004 by rockybalboa

[liquidzoo]

To re-configure X, that's easy.

 

You said you can boot to a command prompt, right? Once you get there, either login as or su to root and type XFdrake (note the spelling, it's important). This will re-configure your X server. Then you can reinstall the nvidia drivers. I recommend downloading these first (you can do it in Windows, as long as you have read access to at least one of your windows partitions from Linux). After you reconfigure X, simply reinstall the nvidia drivers (sh NVIDIA...pkg0.run or whatever the filename is) and you should be all set after that.

[bvc]

also, starting X with the;

startx

command will tell you what is wrong, or should. There's also a X error log in /var/log called XFree86.?.log (replace ? with what's usually either 0 or 9). You can use vi to read it.

[aRTee]

If there is a driver problem, usually the xserver will lock but you can get to the console with ctrl-alt-f1 or kill it with ctrl-alt-backspace.

 

If you have an Nforce2 motherboard, you may try to boot like this:

hit escape when presented with the boot choices, then type:

linux noapic nolapic

 

and see if that helps.

 

To be honest, if you have problems with the nvidia proprietary driver, you're not the only one. The open source nv driver however, should not crash. Really, it shouldn't.

 

In addition to what bvc just said, there is always also the old log file /var/log/XFree.0.log.old next to the current XFree86.0.log, if you started your system the normal way ( the 9.log file results when testing the settings in drakX or whatever the tool is called).

You can also read the file with

less XFree86.0.log

hit q to exit the read mode and return to the cli...

 

Lastly, welcome to this board, and welcome to the world of Linux.

[rockybalboa]

Thanks for the quick response guys,

I will go home and try all of the above and post my results.

This is why I wanted to go to *nix, like my experience in programming areas, the communal attitude beats the "hidden code" attitude every time.

Thanks again,

Dan

[rockybalboa]

Hey guys,

I feel like a kid at Xmas. I'm accessing this from the Linux side of my box instead of the winblows side. And the desktop is still up.

 

Here's what I found:

In the XFree86.0.log

-EE Failed to initialize NVIDIA kernel module

-EE Screens found but none have a useable configuration

 

Ran XFdrake and used driver for my card

-Crash

Ran again and used "nv" driver and all is well.

Haven't run any tests yet, but this is the longest I've ever gone without desktop crash.

I doubt the nv driver is giving me the best out of my card. I'm going to try again to update, but one fail and I'll leave it alone.

Any other suggestions to improve my video performance?

Thanks again, this is great.

Dan

[bvc]

Here's what I found:

In the XFree86.0.log

-EE Failed to initialize NVIDIA kernel module

-EE Screens found but none have a useable configuration

that means the nvidia module (driver) wasn't loaded. Edit XF86Config-4 again for nvidia instead of nv and then as root do

modprobe nvidia

then

startx

and see if it works.

Edited April 24, 2004 by bvc