NVidia Geforce2 Go on Compaq TC1000 w/ current kernel

[JWSmythe]

Good morning all,

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on a tablet I'm trying to set up to use Linux. Don't worry, I'm very familiar with Linux, so it's not a newbie question.

I have a Compaq TC1000 with an integrated Geforce2 Go video card. I'm trying to use it with Slackware 13 (slackware-current).

It has my own 2.6.30.4 vanilla kernel (no patches, just driver selections).

I've tried everything I've found online about getting this card to work. So far, the best I've gotten is a black screen and a kernel crash from the terminal.

I've tried the following drivers.

NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7185-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7667-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7676-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.14.20-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.18.31-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.19-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-71.86.11-pkg1.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.13-pkg0.run
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.13-pkg1.run

The older ones simply don't compile with the modern kernel. Some I know are wrong, but I went straight down the legacy list on the main nvidia site just to be sure.

The best candidate is NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.13-pkg1.run. It makes it through the self-checks, and does compile. Unfortunately, it crashes with a GPF. The screen goes blank, but I get the following broadcast messages on my shells (ssh'd in from another computer) before the machine is hung. The tablet's own screen is stuck on black, no matter what I kill from the shells. I'm snipping out the middle, unless anyone can really debug them. I'll be more than happy to crash it for you.

Message from syslogd@evil at Tue Aug 4 00:28:29 2009 ...
evil kernel: [ 2170.311406] general protection fault: 0000 [#1]
evil kernel: [ 2170.311484] last sysfs file: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0c.2/resource
evil kernel: [ 2170.312247] Process X (pid: 3484, ti=e7a2a000 task=e7a744c0 task.ti=e7a2a000)
evil kernel: [ 2170.312247] Stack:
[snip]
evil kernel: [ 2170.312247] EIP: [<f080f0d3>] nv_vm_malloc_pages+0x183/0x230 [nvidia] SS:ESP 0068:e7a2ba38

There are no related errors in Xorg.0.log

I've found several people having the same problem, but haven't found the resolution. I bought this tablet from a friend, who did have Slackware 12.0 running on it, but that's seriously out of date. It does dual boot WinXP. I know as far as the hardware, it *should* work, and since there are other people encountering this, I know it's not just me. Any advice would be appreciated.

Here's the specifics for this machine.

root@evil:~# cat /etc/slackware-version
Slackware 13.0.0.0.0

root@evil:~# uname -a
Linux evil 2.6.30.4 #4 Mon Aug 3 20:19:19 EDT 2009 i586 Transmeta(tm) Crusoe(tm) Processor TM5800 GenuineTMx86 GNU/Linux

root@evil:~# lspci | grep -i vid
00:05.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 Go] (rev b2)

root@evil:~# dmidecode | grep -A7 "System Information"
System Information
Manufacturer: Compaq
Product Name: HP Tablet PC TC1000
Version: 0F13
Serial Number: 5Y33LB[snip]
UUID: 00ECA8A0-[snip]
Wake-up Type: Power Switch

root@evil:~# X -version

X.Org X Server 1.6.2
Release Date: 2009-7-7
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Slackware 13.0 Slackware Linux Project
Current Operating System: Linux evil 2.6.30.4 #4 Mon Aug 3 20:19:19 EDT 2009 i586
Build Date: 16 July 2009 04:50:27PM

[porcosuino]

Same problem with geforce2 mx 400 + linux 2.6.30.1.

ciao
Luigi

[pisajew]

Hi,

have you found any solution to this problem? I've got the same situation (TC1000, Slackware 13) and the result. I tried with NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.13-pkg1.run driver. It compiles without any problem for 2.6.31 kernel, but when I try to start Xorg the screen goes blank, the system hangs and the only thing I can do is to restart the computer.

As for now the only working solution I found is to use the 'nv' driver, but then I'm not able to switch between internal display and external monitor, so I'm not very happy with this.

[Linuxhippy]

I would recommend the free nouveau driver, if you don't need 3d acceleration.
It provides decent 2D support, and seems to support old hardware well in modern environments.

- Clemens