Trouble with Redhat 8

[cousinscuzzy]

I'm running Redhat 8 with kernel 2.4.18-14 on an AMD Duron 1.2GHz, and I can't get my GeForce 3 Ti 200 to work with the 4349 driver. The card works fine with the "nv" driver that Redhad set up during the OS install. But Quake 3 would crash my system when starting up, so I figured I'd try the latest nvidia driver.

The driver installation appears to be okay, from what I can tell. And I believe I made the necessary changes to XF86Config. But when I try to start the X server the system just goes to a black screen and I have to reboot.

I can't figure out how to make this BB attach more than one file, so here is the XF86Config file. The verbose X log is attached.

=========================
XF86Config:
=========================

# File generated by anaconda.

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Anaconda Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
# The location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# Option "AutoRepeat" "500 5"
# when using XQUEUE, comment out the above line, and uncomment the
# following line
# Option "Protocol" "Xqueue"
# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
# Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
# Option "XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
# Option "XkbModel" "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
# Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# or:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"
#Option "XkbOptions" ""
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us" #Option "XkbVariant" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Sony CPD-200ES"
HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 120.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
# no known options
#BusID
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 3 (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA GeForce 3 (generic)"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce 3 (generic)"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce 3 (generic)"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

[bwkaz]

The log file that you've posted doesn't match that config file. The log file is using the "nv" driver, while the config file is using "nvidia".

Your log file is also reporting that the "dri" module is loading -- it should not be.

[cousinscuzzy]

It seems that 'startx' isn't generating any log file at all when I try to use the nvidia driver instead of nv, despite using the '-- -logverbose 5' option as suggested in the readme. The log file I posted was the preexisting one that I incorrectly thought had been overwritten. Any idea why startx would crash the system without generating a log file? It works fine when I use the nv driver and the original XF86Config file.

[bwkaz]

Try something like startx -- -logverbose 5 >xlog.txt 2>&1, and post the xlog.txt file. This will be the output of the X server. However, an actual log would be better, if it's in any way possible to get one...

You are starting as display 0, right? It's not writing to (for example) /var/log/XFree86.1.log, as it would do for display 1?

[cousinscuzzy]

Actually, it seems I can start X windows, there's just a very long (several minutes) delay when starting up. When it does start, Quake 3 runs like a champ! Now I just have to figure out what the delay is about...

The correct log file is now attached, if it helps. Sorry about the confusion.

[Andy Mecham]

That sounds like you're running into this:

From the README:

Option "IgnoreDisplayDevices" "string"
This option tells the NVIDIA kernel module to completely
ignore the indicated classes of display devices when
checking what display devices are connected. You may
specify a comma-separated list containing any of "CRT",
"DFP", and "TV".

For example:

Option "IgnoreDisplayDevices" "DFP, TV"

will cause the NVIDIA driver to not attempt to detect
if any flatpanels or TVs are connected.

This option is not normally necessary; however, some video
BIOSes contain incorrect information about what display
devices may be connected, or what i2c port should be
used for detection. These errors can cause long delays
in starting X. If you are experiencing such delays, you
may be able to avoid this by telling the NVIDIA driver to
ignore display devices which you know are not connected.

NOTE: anything attached to a 15 pin VGA connector is
regarded by the driver as a CRT. "DFP" should only be
used to refer to flatpanels connected via a DVI port.

--andy

[cousinscuzzy]

Thanks, that did the trick!