GeForce2 with nVidia drivers crash my Mandrake 9.1

[gquintana]

Hello everybody,

When I start XFree (startx as root in console mode), X starts to load, but then it always crashes: Ctrl+Alt+F3, Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't work. All I can do is hard reboot. Sometimes I get the nVidia splash screen.

Here is my configuration:
- Graphics: GeForce2 MX200 64Mb (Abit Siluro T200)
- Motherboard: AMD761 chipset (EpoX 8K7A+) + Athlon XP 1700+
- Linux: Mandrake 9.1 (Kernel 2.4.21 + XFree 4.3.0). The default XFree "nv" driver works well in 2D.

I have tried
- Most of nVidia drivers from 4349 down to 3123.
- To use the complete GLX lib path (I have seen this trick in a magazine).
- To flash by Motherboard BIOS with the latest version.
But I didn't succeeded in making the nVidia driver to work.

Couldn't someone help me or advise me please?
Thanks for your help,
Gerald.



PS: Here starts my XF86Config, the XFree86 log file is attached.

# File generated by XFdrake.

# ************************************************** ********************
# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# ************************************************** ********************

Section "Files"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
FontPath "unix/:-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
#DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so" # 3D layer
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "Keyboard"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "fr"
# Option "XkbCompat" ""
# Option "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Sampo"
ModelName "Sampo AlphaScan 511"
HorizSync 30.0-54.0
VertRefresh 50.0-120.0

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce2 DDR (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout1"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
Screen "screen1"
EndSection

[LordMorgul]

When rebooting after a crash, check the log file for XFree86 to determine if any clues were dumped there...

/var/log/XFree86.0.log

is usually the default location.

Section "Monitor"

missing EndSection for Monitor, add at the end of the section.

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce2 DDR (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

The Option "DPMS" is not identified as a valid option by the nvidia readme that I can tell, did you intend to place this option here or in your monitor section?

If these fixes do not help, try disabling AGP on the mobo using:

Option "NvAGP" "0"

[gquintana]

Thanks for your help Lord Morgul!

I have corrected my XF86Config-4
- EndSection for Monitor
- Option "DPMS" removed

Without the Option "NvAGP" "0" XFree continues to crash on start up. With this option set, I can get to my KDE desktop but then the computer freezes 1 or 2 minutes after having started: this solution is not very stable.

I looked at my BIOS settings related to AGP:
- AGP aperture size: 128Mb
- AGP ISA Aliasing: Enabled
- AGP Secondary Lat timer: 20h
- AGP Fast white: Enabled
- AGP Data transfert mode: 4x
- AGP Always compensate: Enabled
Is there something to change here?

Again, thanks for your help.
Gerald.

PS: My XFree86.0.log should be attached

[gquintana]

I have just tested NvAGP Option:
- NvAGP=0 works but not stable
- NvAGP=1 doesn't work: white screen (no nVidia logo) + computer freeze
- NvAGP=2 doesn't work: white screen (no nVidia logo) + computer freeze
- Without NvAGP doesn't work: nVidia logo + computer freeze