nVidia with stock kernel crashes when leaving X

[John W Redelfs]

On 11/23/05, Anders Karlsson <trudheim at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 11/23/05, 'Forum Post <ulist at gs1.ubuntuforums.org> wrote:
> >
> > I'm having the same problem, and it seems that many people are based on
> > the number of posts about it.  However, no one seems to have come up
> > with a solution.  This is one of the many posts:
> > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=512237#post512237
>
> Interesting. I have not tried what is described in the post, and how
> he does it is cumbersome. Better way is to add the hoary deb line to
> your sources.list and then set a line in apt.conf (iirc) to pin the
> nvidia packages to hoary release. Then you are all set.
>
> > Really need to fix this.
>
> I agree, but if the problem is with nVidia, not much Ubuntu can do I am
> afraid.
>
> > I tried "Option one", moving the .so file (renaming it) but still
> > having same problem.  So annoying having to turn off the computer
> > manually everytime I just want to ctrl+alt+backspace!
>
> Ok, I don't quite see the same problem. For me the whole system will
> just lock solid, at random times. It is related to the 5950U I have
> though, as without the card, the system is stable. (However, the
> Radeon 9200SE can not be used for NeverWinter Nights.)
>
> > Anymore ideas?
>
> I uninstalled the ubuntu nvidia packages ang grabbed the latest from
> nvidia. I also run 2.6.14.2 home-cooked kernel where I made sure the
> stack is 8K, no preempt and some other settings that may or may not
> affect it.
>
> There is one thing that has been hinted at in the nvidia forums, and
> that is that the newer agpgart drivers in >=2.6.8 (somewhen around
> that kernel it changed) is causing a problem and there is a patch for
> nvidia-6629 to allow it to compile on later kernels and you have to
> set NvAGP=1 (i.e., use nvidia internal AGP routines, not the kernels).
> Perhaps if a custom kernel did not have agpgart compiled in, or it was
> prevented from loading, the newer nvidia drivers would behave better?
>
> YMMV and #include "disclaimer.h" and so on...
>

I'm new to Ubuntu, but I'm not new to Linux.  And while I may not be a Linux
wizard, I was installing Red Hat successfully back when I had to use Linux
fdisk to set up my partitions, and manually configure my dot matrix Epson
printer.  But installing nVidia drivers has been one of the most difficult
things I've ever done in Linux, and I still haven't done it successfully.
I've gotten reams of conflicting advice from all over the map.  And so far,
every time I've tried to go through the complete install procedure, I've
ruined my X-windows.  And since I don't know how to straighten it out after
I ruin it, I've had to repeatedly reinstall my Breezy Badger setup.  I've
tried installing with Synaptic.  I've tried doing everything from the
command line with sudo and apt-get.  And so far I keep screwing up.  I've
tried following the procedure outlined on the Ubuntu wiki.  I've tried the
different procedure outlined in the Ubuntu 5.10 Starter Guide.   I've tried
following advice I've received on this list.  I've tried following different
advice I got on the Ubuntu web forums.  I've tried following procedures
outlined in an nVidia Mini-HOWTO I located using a Google Firefox plugin for
Ubuntu.  And nothing works.  This is the most stumped I've ever been with
Linux.  And all I want to do is see my Gnome desktop at 1024x768 instead of
the 800x600 which is the highest resolution that is available to me until I
install the drivers correctly.

Aaaaaargh!

Tomorrow I'm going to carefully go through the lengthy README at the nVidia
website and start participating on their Linux forum.  I'm sure that if I'm
persistent I'll eventually learn enough about it to get it to work.  But how
anyone can talk about Linux being ready for the desktop when it takes this
kind of rigmarole to install a graphics card driver is beyond me.  Thank
heaven I still have a good, solid Windows XP running on the other half of my
40GB hard drive.  I never thought I would hear myself saying something even
mildly positive about MS Windows.  I've been a MS hating Slashdotter for
years.  But this driver problem is really giving me fits.

I'm not a developer, but if anyone wants to help what looks like a really
great distribution, they ought to work on smoothing out the graphics card
install problems.  It's not like nVidia is an unusual video card.  And my
128MB Geforce FX 5200 card has been out for a couple of years.  And nVidia
lists it as compatible with the latest IA32 driver.  I don't know whether
I'm using the wrong gcc library.  Someone told me I need to use an older one
than the one that came with Breezy Badger.  Or perhaps I need to edit my
xorg.conf file.  Or maybe I need to download and install binutils.  Or maybe
I need to install access to different repositories.  Or maybe I need all of
the above, or some of the above, or none of the above.  What a can of worms!

I used to be better at this when I was on lithium.  Nothing could rattle me
then.  Sometimes it helps to have the personality of a potato or a stump.
Maybe an earlier version of Ubuntu would work better, do you think?  How
about an older version of the nVidia driver?  What a circus.

--
Your friend and brother,
John W. Redelfs, jredelfs at gmail.com
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