Black Screen when using NVIDIA Module 1.0-9631 on GeForce4 420

[Sabah]

Hello All,

The default nv driver works fine , but cannot use it for Beryl!
So, I was told to install the nvidia driver instead.
But the 9631, which I think is the latest, is causing the dreaded Black screen syndrome!

I tried searching the threads, but the suggestions do not seem to fix my problem.

Attached are some log files for your reference. Please let me know if you need any more more info.

Please help.

Thanks

[redptam]

I have tried the 9631 drivers for my laptop which has the GeForce 420 Go and I am having the same problems mentioned by Sabah. Black screen where the brightness (gamma?) fluctuates. Sometimes, the screen may be half black, half white, or a quarter may be white and the rest black. Regular nv driver works fine. FC 5

[Sabah]

Try 7184 it worked for me , until I messed up my xorg.conf file and now I am struggeling to fix it!
I am not sure though which is more recent the 9631 or the 7184, both are for legacy Nvidia cards (In this case GeForce 420 Go)!

[Nuke-Refugee]

If you're using a laptop, the driver probably uses the external screen (even if there's no screen attached) which would explain your problem.
I solved this problem on my laptop by forcing the driver to ignore all display devices except the internal screen. In the "device" section of your xorg.conf add this:

Option "IgnoreDisplayDevices" "CRT, TV"

If your system is already on you can switch to a virtual console with Ctrl-Alt-F1 (or F2, F3, ...) and if you still don't have any control then you can start directly in text mode by passing the option "runlevel 3" at boot time, then edit your xorg.conf file with vi for example.


Seb.

[netllama]

Or you could just set UseDisplayDevice to DFP.

[Sabah]

Is the 9631 better than 7184?

[netllama]

1.0-7184 is only meant for legacy GPUs which are listed in its README. 1.0-9631 is meant for all GPUs older than NV3x which aren't already supported in 1.0-7184.

Thanks,
Lonni

[Sabah]

My GeForce4 420 Go is included in both README file !
Again, which driver should I use? the 9631 or the 7184?
Logic say, I should use the 9631, but mu Ubuntu repos. offer me only the 7184!

[Sabah]

Thanks Guys,

It is working now
Let me just summeries what happened here for those who have similar setup:

I have a OEM Laptop called Spectec ACL-10 , P4 with GeForce4 420 GO and 32MB of video RAM.
I installed Ubunto Edgy Eft on it and wanted to enjoy Beryl (Eye Candy)
I tried several drivers, but 9631 Nvidia driver worked after I added the DFP option mentioned above.
following the instruction here http://wiki.beryl-project.org/wiki/I...tu/Edgy/nVIDIA did the job.

Thanks again for all who helped.
Sabah

[netllama]

You should always use the latest driver version which supports your GPU. In this case its 1.0-9631.

Thanks,
Lonni

[gr83]

I have the same issue but the below options did not help

IgnoreDisplayDevices
ConnectedMonitor
UseDisplayDevice
UseEDID

and messing around with TwinView didnt help. I have to use an external LCD (direct rendering wokring) to get some video in either X or terminal. It works fine with the nv driver at 1920x1200 but nothing with the 8776 drivers from livna or latest 9746 manually installed. This is an FC5 x86 install btw

edit: it's not the resolution being the problem either (at least I dont think it is) as 640x480 doesnt work either.