Problem installing NVIDIA driver on Debian

[ivasic]

Thank you for answering.

I get stuck with step 7 !!!
I tried with my old kernel and with my new kernel (the one I compiled) and either way I get
UNABLE TO DETERMINE NVIDIA KERNEL MODULE FILENAME

I looked in /var/log/nvidia-installer.log but I saw this same message as ERROR no detailed info....


If I didn't compile kernel well, maybe that's what's wrong ?
But why do I get the exact same ERROR with both kernels ?

[forestial]

Originally posted by ivasic
I get stuck with step 7 !!!
I tried with my old kernel and with my new kernel (the one I compiled) and either way I get
UNABLE TO DETERMINE NVIDIA KERNEL MODULE FILENAME

Hmm. I had this error message also at one point. I think the problem was
that I did not have the /usr/src/linux symlink set up.

You can also try it by NOT having the symlink and pass the modifier
--kernel-source-path=/usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.18
at the end of the command line to the nvidia installer.

[kommisar]

This error is probably called because the newly compiled kernel is not running. You need to install the kernel and then run bootloader (LILO or GRUB) to make sure the volume boot record is pointing to the new kernel. A reboot then gets the new kernel running.

[delaun01]

Hello,

My config :
Debian woody 3.0r1 with a 2.4.18-bf2.4 kernel.
KT4V mother board with GEforce4 video card and MX4408X chip set.

Here is my "receipe" :

Warning : you must be root to do this !

1) Download (or debian CD 6) and install debian package kernel-headers-2.4.18-bf2.4.deb
2) Extract kernel headers tar file in /usr/src/
3) Execute :
ln -s /usr/src/kernel-headers-2.4.18-bf2.4 /usr/src/linux
4) Download NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1.run from Nvidia
5) Go to your home directory and execute :
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1.run from Nvidia --extract-only
6) Edit with vi this file :
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1/usr/src/nv/conftest.sh
7) Locate and comment the following lines :
echo "Unable to determine kernel version"
exit 1
8) Add after the comments :
rm -f Makefile
ln -s Makefile.nvidia Makefile
rm -f conftest conftest.c
9) Save and quit vi
10) Go to the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5336-pkg1 directory and execute :
./nvidia-installer
The installation process should end without any errors.
11) Execute :
dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

and :
- Select Nvidia driver (not nv driver !!!)
- Deselect GLcore
- Deselect dri
- Select glx
12) Reboot and you will see the Nvidia logo at the end if the boot

Hope this helps.

Delaunoy P.

[pansteth]

Delaunoy P. (delaun01)

Thanks for your recipe. If you're ever in Tulsa, Ok., look me up
and I'll buy you a beer. It worked like a charm on my system.
(Debian Woody r0, 2.4.18-bf2.4, GeForce4 mx440)

I don't understand, however, the last part,

- Deselect GLcore
- Deselect dri
- Select glx

But it worked.

P. Ansteth

[gurublabla]

Originally Posted by forestial

I have a freshly installed version of Debian 3.0r2 (woody).
Graphics card is a TNT2 RIVA (Diamond Viper V770).

When I run

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0.5336-pkg1.run

I go through a few menu choices and it attempts to build
a kernel interface module for me. But this always fails
with the error

ERROR: Unable to determine the NVIDIA kernel module filename.

I have the kernel source in usr/src and I have the /usr/src/linux
symlink pointif to it.

The complete log file from the installer is below.



nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Sat Feb 21 22:16:42 2004

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
OpenGL header files : false
no questions : false
silent : false
XFree86 install prefix : /usr/X11R6
OpenGL install prefix : /usr
Installer install prefix: /usr
kernel source path : /usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.18
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.
-> No precompiled kernel interface was found to match your kernel; would you li
ke the installer to attempt to download a kernel interface for your kernel f
rom the NVIDIA ftp site (ftp://download.nvidia.com)? (Answer: Yes)
-> No matching precompiled kernel interface was found on the NVIDIA ftp site;
this means that the installer will need to compile a kernel interface for
your kernel.
-> Using the kernel source path '/usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.18' as specified by
the '--kernel-source-path' commandline option.
-> Kernel source path: '/usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.18'
-> Performing cc_version_check with CC="cc".
ERROR: Unable to determine the NVIDIA kernel module filename.
ERROR: Installation has failed. Please see the file
'/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find suggestions
on fixing installation problems in the README available on the Linux
driver download page at www.nvidia.com.

ERROR: Unable to determine the NVIDIA kernel module filename.

I had the same error message. The problem was that i did a make O=/home/name/build/kernel like it is described in the Kernel Readme. Then i omitted the O Option that means i just did a make. After that everything went fine.

good luck

[Lord Zoltar]

I'm trying this on a slackware 9.1 distro, without as much luck. First, I have isntalled the kernel source, and as far as I can tell, the source is for kernel 2.4.26 and I'm running 2.4.26. Do I really need to build the kernel anyway?

I tried delaun01's trick, but it seems that the lines in the file he mentioned have changed.
I have:
if [ "$VERBOSE" = "full_output" ]; then
echo "*** Unable to determine the target kernel version. ***";
echo "";
fi
exit 1
Should I comment out the whole thing?

has anyone even tried these tricks for isntaller 6111 on any system other than deb?

When I run the installer (v6111), It always dies at the point where it's supposed to load nvidia.o

[Pinky's brain]

Im running debian unstable and there the nvidia drivers are simply available as packages (binaries for stock debian kernels, as well as source). No need to use the nvidia installer.

Personally I just get the kernel source and nvidia module source from debian, unpack them both in /usr/src, config the kernel and do the following from the kernel source dir :

make-kpkg --append-to-version blah kernel_image modules_image

And then install the resulting packages in /usr/src. Works like a charm, cleaner than using the nvidia installer.

[Klebel]

try this it worked for me......

type the command "uname -r" it should output to like "2.x.x"

then run the nvidia installer "sh NV* -k 2.x.x"

hope it works...