does debian hate nvidia?

[gnuoob]

hi all, it would seem that once again ive started to fiddle with linux only to run into a problem. i downloaded the net disk of 3.1(sarge?) and did the install with no X at the selection menu or anything else. when i tried it the previous time it would give me a messed up login screen for X. I was unaware of how to login without going through the X login screen. now after reading i see a alt-cont-backspace?? will take me out of the X login screen. i wish i saw that before but thats now history ;). So this time i did a basic system with nothing in figuring that i would "learn" with apt-get install and do it myself. well ive been able to setup apache(www.GNUoob.com) and lynx via the command line and have a website running now, but i still cant get X running to save mylife here. ive done more reading and (cant remember exactly) apt-GOT a bunch of files with the xserver/kde. i also read that the 'nv' driver is kinda wacky and to try the vesa one. so i VI'd in and switched it. now when i get home tonight im gonna see if this fixes anything. so here is my question(*****)?

does debian hate nvidia(gef2 cards)?

through googling ive found a bunch of people having issues with the geforce 2 cards which is what i have inside of it.

my specs are...
athlon 2200xp
768r
40g 33ide
dvd
nic on mb ECS cheap-o 10/100
geforce 2(mx?) 32m
havent even tried the sound yet/part of mb


so my vent/question is does anybody know for certain if i should just go get a different video card or has my luck just continued with linux hateing me?

i try, then get stuck on stuff and quit.
give it a year and i try it again forgetting how much linux hates me.

also... i downloaded the nvidia drivers via lynx, that was fun and frightening, but have yet to do anything with them. i also read that those drivers can cause nightmares...so im kinda leary right now


sorry if i sound like an ***...just frustrated to high hell :)

[Hayl]

no, the nvidia drivers can be installed on any distribution of linux. they all use the linux kernel which is why they are called Linux distributions. any reason for it not working it USER error.

[paj12]

You need, at minimum, two packages. If you apt-get "x-window-system", "xserver-xfree86", and your favorite WM, apt-get will usually take care of the rest. Also, make sure your "/etc/apt/sources.list" is not pointed at unstable or sid. The version of the drivers in sid does not support GeForce2 and older cards. If you need 3D accelleration, you'll need to get "nvidia-glx" and run the command "nvidia-glx-config enable". Hope this is enough to get you going.

BTW, to answer your question: No, Debian does not hate nVIDIA. :D

[Parcival]

I successfully installed nvidia 3D drivers on my Sarge desktop just a week ago:

http://tinyplanet.ca/~lsorense/debian/debian-nvidia-dri-howto.txt

Please note that once installed, you need to point X to the nvidia driver and not nv.

[mrBen]

I'm a happy Debian/nVidia user. I normally use this (http://home.comcast.net/~andrex/Debian-nVidia/installation.html) guide.

The big problem is that the nVidia drivers are proprietary, and thus are not allowed to be included within the main Debian install.

[gnuoob]

I'm a happy Debian/nVidia user. I normally use this (http://home.comcast.net/~andrex/Debian-nVidia/installation.html) guide.

The big problem is that the nVidia drivers are proprietary, and thus are not allowed to be included within the main Debian install.

thank you all

i do have "x-window-system", "xserver-xfree86" and kde installed but havent gotten much further diagnosing it.

i will try the walk throughs above though first :)

[gnuoob]

hi, well as most people have busy lives i do as well

im still not able to get the gui working and i have uploaded my xfree file to my apache server. does anybody know what it says that im doing wrong?

http://24.23.12.86/apache2-default/xfree.html

thanks for any input/ideas you might have :)

[dkeav]

says your mouse isnt there, you should use cat > /dev/XX to figure out which device your mouse is, could be /dev/psaux /dev/mouse /dev/input/mice (most likely being that one)

when you use cat (example cat > /dev/input/mice) and move your mouse around you will get garbage on the screen, that is your device, edit your /etc/X11/XF86config to reflect

[gnuoob]

so if i put a different mouse in then it should work?

since when will a gui not load without a mouse?

even M$ loads with out a mouse. you would think that a nix operating system that predates a mouse by 20 years would not do that.

thank you for that but
[sarcam at nix] common people, what a lame os
you would think that alt tabbing and shortcut keys were invented last week
[/sarcasm]

i will try it at home when i get home :)


edit* mouse is a M$ default scroller 2 button ps2
you would think that would be detected properly :confused:

[dkeav]

should be, im wondering if you ran xf86config

also if you are using unstable you can use xorg now instead of xfree

apt-get install x-window-system xserver-xorg

[gnuoob]

yes i ran that several times trying differrent choices each time

no im running standard stable

[dkeav]

how about you post your /etc/X11/XF86config then, so we can track down the problem, right now it still looks like a mouse issue though

[gnuoob]

xfree on same site

24.23.12.86

thanks




right now its all greek to me and i dont even know where to look

same with vi and putty trying to paste it in apache but at least i can google commands with that ;) :)

as i said i dont even know where to start diagnosing it :(

[blackbelt_jones]

I also had a problem installing non-generic nvidia drivers with Sarge. The installer kept telling me I didn't have the kernel source, or the kernel tree, or the kernel something. ( I really think I did) I solved the problem (and a couple others) by switching to Simply Mepis 3.3. Mepis comes with a nVidia driver that you can install with a single click along with the distro. There's a price to be paid; Mepis uses the unstable Debian repositories, which occasioanlly makes upgrading problematic. It comes with KDE, and if you want to apt-get Gnome, it's only available about half the time.

If you're interested, this thread (http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142719) goes into a lot of detail with the problems I had with mepis, and how I solved them.

[dkeav]

while blackbelt jones fixed his problem by distro jumping he still didn't learn anything about how to install nvidia drivers, defeating the whole purpose of using linux (cept for those who are just looking for a free windows(tm) handout)

[dkeav]

can you post your config file in raw format please its impossible to read after you converted it to html

[gnuoob]

can you post your config file in raw format please its impossible to read after you converted it to html


uh..sure.....

whats raw format?

[dkeav]

just put copy the config directly

[gnuoob]

just put copy the config directly


http://24.23.12.86/apache2-default/raw

[Headfuzz]

I also had a problem installing non-generic nvidia drivers with Sarge. The installer kept telling me I didn't have the kernel source, or the kernel tree, or the kernel something.

I'm not a Debian user, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but afaik apt-get install kernel-source while looged on as root should've sorted you there.

Using Mandriva I installed my kernel source from the cli with urpmi --clean kernel-source so I imagine that apt-get string should work.

After this you just run the Nvidia installer as root and Bob's your uncle. :)

[dkeav]

i need to brush up on my cockney rhyming ;)

most likely it was a gcc version mismatch that could have been fixed by recompiling the kernel or a newer kernel, or installing the older gcc (ie gcc 3.3) and exporting CC before running the nvidia installer

the problems people have vary from person to person, but they are always fixable, reinstalling or jumping ship to a new distrobution just prolongs the problem and understanding of how to fix it

[blackbelt_jones]

Wish you had quoted me a little more thoroughly.

I also had a problem installing non-generic nvidia drivers with Sarge. The installer kept telling me I didn't have the kernel source, or the kernel tree, or the kernel something. ( I really think I did).

I used apt-get to pretty much install everything to do with the kernel, but the install program told me that I still didn't have it.

I had several reasons for moving from Sarge to mepis. Until I manage to get World of Warcraft working with WINE, the generic driver was actually pretty sufficient for me. I was pretty happy with the decision, but that was before I realized that I had let dkeav down. :(

[gnuoob]

http://24.23.12.86/apache2-default/xfreelogdave

more information?


i attached a usb mouse just a few mins ago and reran xfreeconfig
it should show it in the above since it was attached just prior to it.
still not loading the gui though

i have both mice plugged in at this time

[gnuoob]

unplugged ps2 mouse and reran xf86config and same error

[dkeav]

(EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/input/mice
No such device.

then you need to cat your devices to find out which device it is, btw did you recompile your kernel lately? you might have left out input devices

[gnuoob]

i orginally installed the system in aug so i havent done/needed to do any kernel upgrades

i did find a howto on how to do this but now that has got me lost as to what i need to do

http://www.falkotimme.com/howtos/debian_kernel2.6_compile/index.php

im stuck on the 2nd picture part. it wont allow me to do anything :(

[gnuoob]

i orginally installed the system in aug so i havent done/needed to do any kernel upgrades

i did find a howto on how to do this but now that has got me lost as to what i need to do

http://www.falkotimme.com/howtos/debian_kernel2.6_compile/index.php

im stuck on the 2nd picture part. it wont allow me to do anything :(


ive tried using /usr/src/config-2.6.13.2
(what i downloaded)
and other combinations but no such luck

???

[je_fro]

I doubt the mouse is missing...it's probably /dev/psaux or somesuch...
try
cat /dev/psaux
cat /dev/mouse
cat /dev/input/mice
etc...then move your mouse around and if it leaves garbage on the screen, you found your mouse. edit your xf86config file to point to the mouse.
"The second screen part" is to load an alternate config file...I doubt you want to do that...I never have.
blackbelt: NEVER let dkeav down...it's bad for your health :D

[blackbelt_jones]

Wow... even more disturbing avatar, je_fro. :eek: I am impressed! Congratulations!

[Headfuzz]

Wow... even more disturbing avatar, je_fro. :eek: I am impressed! Congratulations!

Exactly what I was thinking! :cool:

[dkeav]

heh never think you have seen the best of je_fro's avatars, cause your always in for a suprise

[Sepero]

I'm on Debian and /dev/psaux works on my system. On the other hand, I'm still using Xfree86, and I think I heard Xorg uses /dev/mice. Anyway, I suggest you take blackbelt's advice. See my signature.

-sep

[dkeav]

je_fro's advice about using cat to identify the proper device, then edit XF86Config to match, would make more sense, but if jumping ship is your choice then go for it

[gnuoob]

thats it, i quit(the battle)

it was installed last month and still didnt have a gui up

i now realize my mistake when i installed it

it was hooked up to a kvm and i was out of the setup(otherputer) when it was installing, hence no mouse detected. i blew it out and reformated it again and installed yet again(#7?) and this time its working. only after it was up and running did it dawn on me as to why it wasnt loading. so i quit that problem(battle) but havent given up the fight(war).

i appreachiate everyones help but this was way too much for a newb to do especially when i get stuck at not knowing what "raw" was and how to get past the second picture(no answers given) when i tried to figure out the second picture i had trouble with. not even knowledge of how to get out of it. i was stuck in that screen not sure if it was safe to back out or would it corrupt anyting. so i just blew it out.

so now its got a gui and i plan to still tinker with it via the command line via putty. i just wanted the gui to help me when i messed up with the command line ;)

well that means the score is now 7 installs just to get a gui going.
i get my one point by realizing how i screwed it up.

game is not over yet ;)

[mrrangerman43]

gnuoob

Good to hear your going to stick with it, it took 5 installs to get my GUI working. I didnt know you use the space bar to pick a field on a menu, took me half one night to figure that one out. Now I am trying to update my nivdia drivers and am having the same message that Headfuzz was having. So I'm going to try the "apt-get install kernel-source" and see what happens.

[blackbelt_jones]

while blackbelt jones fixed his problem by distro jumping he still didn't learn anything about how to install nvidia drivers, defeating the whole purpose of using linux (cept for those who are just looking for a free windows(tm) handout)

Speaking of distro jumping... :o

...couldn't take the little glitches and idiosyncracies of Mepis, and I'm back to running Sarge... along with Centos. The more I look around the more I come back to good old stable Debian.

So I'm still runnin on the generic Nv driver, which is fine for now, cause I only play one game on Windows (WoW)... But I do want to get that working with Wine or Cedega or whatever it takes so I can free up that hard drive for something DECENT-- so I guess I'd better go back and read this whole thread over CAREFULLY.

[dkeav]

luck to ya!!

[XiaoKJ]

actually, nvidia and debian works together (its with me right now), and there are debian packages to install nvidia. There is absolutely no need for you to pull your hair out. Follow some instructions will help a lot.

Finding out your mouse is no.1 thing to do, before installing nvidia and all.

install kernel sources with apt-get. best install only stock kernels with image and source at the same time. apt-cache can search and show those kernels available.

then install nvidia from the debian repositories --- use module-assistant to aid you in all modules you need to explicitly build. don't trouble yourself cos you will forget.

then for copying raw, we mean that you should copy the entire file. no need to convert or post in your server. you can just use JL's post attachment to attach the file. its because the config file is actually a regular text file and its easy to use. maybe add .txt to the file and attach as you like it!

Sometimes, its fustrating to see that your efforts come to naught. but please keep that patience going cos its only going to benefit you in the long run. not us. and its really difficult to talk sense to one who is in fumes of anger.