Newbie Question MX440, Athlon, RedHat8

placebojunkie · 03-13-03, 09:53 PM

Hello, I just installed RedHat 8 for the first time so I am not too sure what I am doing.

I have an iWill XP333 Mobo
GeForce4 MX440
AthlonXP 1800+
256Mb pc2700

I am trying to update the GPU with the latest drivers. I use NVchooser to get the proper Linux A32 GLX and Kernel driver files - install them and edit the XF86Config file as instructed.

However, when I try and restart X, I get a bunch of bogus errors and it says it cannot find a suitable configuration to restart X.

Can anybody tell me what I am doing wrong. I understand there are some issues with my particular chipset (ALi1647) but these drivers are supposed to be able to work around them.

Any help would be appreciated.

LordMorgul · 03-14-03, 05:03 PM

Go to the log file for XFree86 and copy paste, or attach, the log into the forum so that the exact errors can be displayed.

The log file will be in here:
/var/log/XFree86.0.log

A common error is editing the config file is inappropriate monitor configuration or improper display depths. It would help to attach your config file as well.

placebojunkie · 03-14-03, 10:55 PM

Thanx for the reply LordMorgul.

Okay heres what happened:

when I installed the kernel driver, I got the error:

ModProbe: Can't locate module Nvidia
Failed to install Nvidia.0
Error: %post(NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-4191.rh80up_2.4.18-18.8.0.athlon.rpm) scriptlet failed. exit status 1

Now when I try to start X, I get the errors

(EE)NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the Nvidia module
(EE)NVIDIA(0): ***ABORTING***
(EE)NVIDIA(0): Screen(s) found but none have a usable configuration
Fatal server error
No screens found
X10:Fatal IO error 104 (connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0" after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

Does any of this make sense to you?
Please help!

bwkaz · 03-15-03, 07:28 AM

What does find /lib/modules -name nvidia.o tell you?

What does uname -r tell you?

My guess at the moment is that you may have gotten the wrong .rpm -- if uname -r says anything other than 2.4.18-18.8.0, then this is the problem. You may (depending on which kernel version you actually have) have to compile from source.

placebojunkie · 03-15-03, 09:41 AM

Awe geeez - me so stupid!

I recently did an update and it updated the kernel to
2.4.18-26.80. So much for using NVchooser to tell you which rpm's you need. "find /lib/modules-name nvidia.o" tells me there is "no such file or directory."

When I boot to linux it actually gives me a choice to boot with the version before updating - but its not the right one either.

So it looks like I need to compile the kernel myself, the problem is I have no idea how to do that. Maybe I should have just left things the way they were. But it sucks not getting the full use of your hardware.

The other problem I have is that my monitor is not in the hardware list supported by linux and the company (Acana) is out of business so I can't get any documentation on its specs, I've searched everywhere.

Anybody know where I can get an Idiots guide to compiling kernels?

LordMorgul · 03-16-03, 05:05 PM

You missed a space in bwkaz's command line, the "-name" is a separate word in the line.

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html

TLDP is a great source of all linux information.

This should get you going with installation of a shiny new custom kernel. The process is really pretty straight forward.. but here's the caution. Make sure when you configure your boot loader you keep your old kernel ready to go! The new one just might not boot the first time, and the old one will make life much easier.

Get the kernel source from http://www.kernel.org and get going!

Good luck

Assuming your monitor is fairly old now (for all spec info to vanish, tho this happens too easily it seems) you can probably find a suitable config using generic size and scan ranges. I would suggest trying to let XFree86 pick the scan range by probing (leave monitor option lines out of the config) and if that doesn't work just go with something like: monitor that can handle 1024x768 @ 75hz

placebojunkie · 03-17-03, 08:52 AM

Hey thanx for all the help people. I finally got the drivers going!

Turns out NVchooser was telling me to download the wrong rpm's. When I finally figured out the ones I needed, I followed the Nvidia instructions to the letter and it still wouldn't work.

I finally realized that when I installed the GLX file using the method prescribed by Nvidia, it said everything was istalled o.k when really it wasn't installed at all. So I installed it another way and everything runs great.

The 3D acceleration check box is greyed out but Quake III Arena runs great so I guess everything must be in order.

Thanx again people!

03-13-03, 09:53 PM	#1
placebojunkie Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7	Newbie Question MX440, Athlon, RedHat8 Hello, I just installed RedHat 8 for the first time so I am not too sure what I am doing. I have an iWill XP333 Mobo GeForce4 MX440 AthlonXP 1800+ 256Mb pc2700 I am trying to update the GPU with the latest drivers. I use NVchooser to get the proper Linux A32 GLX and Kernel driver files - install them and edit the XF86Config file as instructed. However, when I try and restart X, I get a bunch of bogus errors and it says it cannot find a suitable configuration to restart X. Can anybody tell me what I am doing wrong. I understand there are some issues with my particular chipset (ALi1647) but these drivers are supposed to be able to work around them. Any help would be appreciated.

03-15-03, 07:28 AM	#4
bwkaz Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 2,262	What does find /lib/modules -name nvidia.o tell you? What does uname -r tell you? My guess at the moment is that you may have gotten the wrong .rpm -- if uname -r says anything other than 2.4.18-18.8.0, then this is the problem. You may (depending on which kernel version you actually have) have to compile from source. __________________ Registered Linux User #219692

03-16-03, 05:05 PM	#6
LordMorgul Electrical Engineer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: San Luis Obispo, CA Posts: 872	You missed a space in bwkaz's command line, the "-name" is a separate word in the line. http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html TLDP is a great source of all linux information. This should get you going with installation of a shiny new custom kernel. The process is really pretty straight forward.. but here's the caution. Make sure when you configure your boot loader you keep your old kernel ready to go! The new one just might not boot the first time, and the old one will make life much easier. Get the kernel source from http://www.kernel.org and get going! Good luck Assuming your monitor is fairly old now (for all spec info to vanish, tho this happens too easily it seems) you can probably find a suitable config using generic size and scan ranges. I would suggest trying to let XFree86 pick the scan range by probing (leave monitor option lines out of the config) and if that doesn't work just go with something like: monitor that can handle 1024x768 @ 75hz Last edited by LordMorgul; 03-16-03 at 05:14 PM.

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03-14-03, 05:03 PM	#2
LordMorgul Electrical Engineer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: San Luis Obispo, CA Posts: 872	Go to the log file for XFree86 and copy paste, or attach, the log into the forum so that the exact errors can be displayed. The log file will be in here: /var/log/XFree86.0.log A common error is editing the config file is inappropriate monitor configuration or improper display depths. It would help to attach your config file as well.

03-14-03, 10:55 PM	#3
placebojunkie Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7	Thanx for the reply LordMorgul. Okay heres what happened: when I installed the kernel driver, I got the error: ModProbe: Can't locate module Nvidia Failed to install Nvidia.0 Error: %post(NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-4191.rh80up_2.4.18-18.8.0.athlon.rpm) scriptlet failed. exit status 1 Now when I try to start X, I get the errors (EE)NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the Nvidia module (EE)NVIDIA(0): *ABORTING* (EE)NVIDIA(0): Screen(s) found but none have a usable configuration Fatal server error No screens found X10:Fatal IO error 104 (connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0" after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining. Does any of this make sense to you? Please help!

03-15-03, 09:41 AM	#5
placebojunkie Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7	Awe geeez - me so stupid! I recently did an update and it updated the kernel to 2.4.18-26.80. So much for using NVchooser to tell you which rpm's you need. "find /lib/modules-name nvidia.o" tells me there is "no such file or directory." When I boot to linux it actually gives me a choice to boot with the version before updating - but its not the right one either. So it looks like I need to compile the kernel myself, the problem is I have no idea how to do that. Maybe I should have just left things the way they were. But it sucks not getting the full use of your hardware. The other problem I have is that my monitor is not in the hardware list supported by linux and the company (Acana) is out of business so I can't get any documentation on its specs, I've searched everywhere. Anybody know where I can get an Idiots guide to compiling kernels?

03-17-03, 08:52 AM	#7
placebojunkie Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7	Hey thanx for all the help people. I finally got the drivers going! Turns out NVchooser was telling me to download the wrong rpm's. When I finally figured out the ones I needed, I followed the Nvidia instructions to the letter and it still wouldn't work. I finally realized that when I installed the GLX file using the method prescribed by Nvidia, it said everything was istalled o.k when really it wasn't installed at all. So I installed it another way and everything runs great. The 3D acceleration check box is greyed out but Quake III Arena runs great so I guess everything must be in order. Thanx again people!