MSI K7N2G, SuSE 8.1, and nforce2

[E079561]

Just following up to document that I have, after a month's worth of research and lots of trial and error, discovered how to get the NVIDIA 3123 and 4191 video drivers working on the MSI K7N2G motherboard under SuSE 8.1, kernel version 2.4.19-167.

I had to add the following boot parameters at boot (I'm using grub so I added the entries to /boot/grub/menu.lst)(I presume this will work using lilo also though I didn't test it):

"apm=off acpi=off disableapic"

I had tried all of them individually with no luck; adding all 3 at the same time seemed to do the trick.

I also added the following line to /etc/X11/XF86Config:

Options "NvAGP" "0"

This supposedly turns off using the NVIDIA AGP module although I still see references to loading NVIDIA AGP in /var/log/XFree86.0.log. Using the other parameters of 1, 2, 3 (see the Nvidia documentation for explanation) with this option did not allow X to start for me.

I strongly suggest that you compile the drivers from the tarball or source rpm rather than use the precompiled SuSE 8.1 binaries. The binary rpms did not work on my system ever.

Hopefully this will keep you from having to dig through the hundreds of postings here and on the SuSE newsgroup like I did to put this workaround together. If it doesn't work for you, my condolences. I saw lot's of things that worked for others that didn't work for me; this is what got it working for me. Now I get almost 1000 fps from glxgears rather than 85 fps using the XFree86 and Mesa GLX drivers.

It still has the bug of not returning to a working console after quitting X, requiring a reboot. I see this as a nuisance issue that I can live with for the time being; hopefully Nvidia will work that bug out in the next driver release.

Cheers. Thanks to all who tried to help.

[juliusp]

Hi, I have MSI mobo and suse 8.1, but a Geforce 4 Ti 4200, and i cant get it to run. I will try your method, but only two question:

1) I have grub in a floppy disk, do you know how can I add those parameters to the boot in the disk?. I have never config the grub, so i dont know if i will see where I must write the parameters, is it in somewhere or in a specific place?, (sorry but i dont have too much time in linux );)

2) I have read that with Options "NvAGP" "0" is like not to have 3D, isnt it?

Thanks for your help, I will try your method and comment here if it works for me.

[bonni]

Hi juliusp

I have the same problem using the TI 4200 and will try this solution. It sounds good and logically even I don't understand the boot options.

To your problem

I assume that your main problem is how to get access to the floppy.
2 Possible ways
Frist under KDE insrt the floppy and klick on the floppy icon (or on the floppy icon right mouse button and select "mount")
Second login as root and type mount /media/floppy. You will than find the floppyfiles under /media/floppy.

To edit the file:
Under X just use one of the installed editor (nEdit, Kate ...)
No X (no graphic environment) I recommend vi even if this clasic editor is first a bit cryptic to use (make sure you make a bakupcopy of your file before you first use vi). For the vi there exists a lot of documentation.

For the NvAGP "0": this dosen't switch of the 3D. According to the NVidia documentation (page 51 using acrobat) it turns off the internal NVidia AGP support

[E079561]

I want to clarify one point. I am using the GF4 MX intgrated GPU that is part of the moboard. That was a key point in getting this solution put together.

A lot of others have documented getting the GF4 Ti AGP cards running under Linux with the Nvidia drivers with a lot less work required. Their solutions didn't work for me; mine may not work for you if you are using an add-on AGP card.

The issues that my workaround address are specific to the way the integrated GPU video chip interacts with the nforce2 chip set. These issues don't necessarily impact the use of an add-on AGP card on a non-nforce2 chipset motherboard.

[feeyo]

Hi,
I didnt have any problems with installing my IGP (Geforce4MX 64MB Internal Graphics Processor)
i did a clean install of SuSE 8.1 then when done i booted in runlevel3 and with yast i first removed the dummy drivers. and then did manual install of the nvidia drivers. this went without any problems.

The only thing is if i want to reboot i cant see the konsole screen anymore the screen stays black. (like you mentioned).
Anyway i dot think this is really a problem, but lets hope nvidia works on this little isue.

Now another thing i want to have some info on is:
under windows i can see the IGP working in 4x AGP. isnt this a 8x AGP Internal Graphics Processor?? on the BIOS i have everything on 8x AGP Support. Does anybody know how i can put it in 8x AGP mode?

And how hot can a processor get because my processor is getting pretty hot on this motherboard. from 60.C to 80.C
I dont know if its because its a 900mhz processor with a standard ventilation.

And the last thing, Linux is saying some things about AGP ART not found, AGP ART doesnt exists.... ?

Wow i already wrote a whole book here i am sorry guys :)
Thanks for your time.
peace.