NVidia Geforce 4 MX 420 Problem

[ThePsychologist]

I've tried just about every installer for nvidia and i always get the same error no matter what i do. It says it can't find a device for the section specified in XF86Config file. When i try insmod nvidia or modprobe nvidia it says it can't find the module. I've tried everything and I've taken up Linux after mastering windows for something new. If anyone can help me with a step by step installation of this i'd appreciate it. Also i've used the often spegetti code like installation instructions that come with installer to no avail.

[Andy Mecham]

Please post a copy of /var/log/nvidia-installer.log and your XF86Config file.

Thanks!

--andy

[ThePsychologist]

really i just need a step by step installation so i know i'm not doing anything wrong. i get no errors installing, but i know the problem lies in me not putting some sort of command somewhere that the installation file does not put in. if anyone has a suggestion on how i can send over a file from linux to windows i'd appreciate it. otherwise i have no way of posting the logs on here. I'd really appreciate some help here for i cannot use linux until this problem is fixed and i don't care to be using windows xp much longer.

[ThePsychologist]

If anything i'd appreciate if someone could put up a sample config file they use so i know i'm setting everything right that would be much appreciated.

[ThePsychologist]

ok had to change the driver to nv to get linux to work again here is what i had for my XFCOnfig file.
# File generated by anaconda.
#

Section "ServerLayout"
#
Identifier "Anaconda Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen PCI" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
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" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
HorizSync 28.0 - 57.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 100.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
VendorName "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
Driver "nv"
# update this with the PCI id of your card. Consult the output
# of the 'lspci' command.
#BusID "pci:01:0e.0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen PCI"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultColorDepth 16
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x400"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection

and here is what hte log file had
nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Sun Apr 13 15:46:39 2003

option status:
license pre-accepted : false
update : false
force update : false
expert : false
uninstall : false
driver info : false
no precompiled interface: false
no ncurses color : false
query latest driver ver : false
no OpenGL header files : false
no questions : false
silent : false
XFree86 install prefix : /usr/X11R6
OpenGL install prefix : /usr
Installer install prefix: /usr
kernel include path : (not specified)
kernel install path : (not specified)
proc mount point : /proc
ui : (not specified)
tmpdir : /tmp
ftp site : ftp://download.nvidia.com

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
-> License accepted.
-> There appears to already be a driver installed on your system (version: 1.0-
4349). As part of installing this driver (version: 1.0-4349), the existing
driver will be uninstalled. Are you sure you want to continue? ('no' will
abort installation) (Answer: Yes)
-> A precompiled kernel interface for kernel 'RedHat Linux 8.0 UP Single
Processor i686 Architecture' has been found.
executing: 'cd ./usr/src/nv; /usr/bin/ld -r -o nvidia.o precompiled-nv-linux
.o nv-kernel.o'...
-> Kernel module linked successfully.
-> Installing classic TLS OpenGL libraries.
-> Parsing log file:
-> done.
-> Validating previous installation:
-> done.
-> Uninstalling NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86 (1.0-4349):
-> done.
-> Uninstallation of existing driver: NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for
Linux-x86 (1.0-4349) is complete.
-> Installing 'NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86' (1.0-4349):
executing: './usr/src/nv/makedevices.sh'...
executing: '/sbin/ldconfig'...
executing: '/sbin/depmod -aq'...
-> done.
-> Driver file installation is complete.
-> Running post-install sanity check:
-> done.
-> Sanity check passed.
-> Installation of the NVIDIA Accelerated Graphics Driver for Linux-x86
(version: 1.0-4349) is now complete. Please update your XF86Config file as
appropriate; see the file /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/README for details.

[bwkaz]

Looks like you aren't having problems with the installer. At least, not from what the log file has in it...

Try changing the driver back to nvidia, then doing a startx, then copying /var/log/XFree86.0.log to your home directory (~ is a shortcut for "my home directory", so cp /var/log/XFree86.0.log ~ would work for this), then changing the driver back to "nv", and attaching the logfile here.

There are two or three different actual errors that might be reported by people as "can't find a device for the section specified in XF86Config file", as you've said. The log file should contain details that'll narrow down which problem you're running into.

Hang on, modprobe nvidia said can't find the module? Are you sure it didn't just say "modprobe: command not found"? -- because that one's easy to fix.

[ThePsychologist]

well i'll get that log file for you, also yes it said it couldnt' find the nvidia module.

[ThePsychologist]

Ok here is the log file, but the oddest thing is the error has changed. i'm so confused someone help me out.

[bwkaz]

If the nvidia modules is loaded (check with /sbin/lsmod, and look for nvidia in the output), then it might be something having to do with your BIOS settings. Make sure PnP OS is set to no or off, and make sure Assign IRQ to VGA is set to yes or on.

If those are already set that way, then take a look at the kernel logs -- after you get that error, do a dmesg | grep NVRM -- and see if the kernel module is logging a reason it won't initialize itself.

If the nvidia module isn't loaded, then load it and try again. If you see the same problem in the X log, then look into the PnP OS / Assign IRQ settings, or into dmesg. If you get a different error, attach the new log file.

[ThePsychologist]

I tried all that, nothing works. when i try to load the module it says that it can't find the nvidia module, no matter how many times i've tried to reinstall the drivers. Any other suggestions?

[ThePsychologist]

Ok problem solved thanks for all the help guys. I exited the x server and reinstalled the driver 4 times checking each time if the mod had loaded and on the 4th time for some magical reason it loaded and now it works like a charm! gotta love linux.