new video card problems

[Basil Chupin]

On 08/09/12 00:32, Bill Stanley wrote:
> On 09/06/2012 10:56 PM, Basil Chupin wrote:
>> On 07/09/12 11:38, Ric Moore wrote:
>
> [ snip ]
>
>> On some systems, mine included, the gui won't work - even if you have
>> the default nouveau driver installed - unless you have the correct
>> nVidia driver for that card AND (especially) the version of the kernel
>> installed. Without the right driver you will get dumped into command
>> line mode. (In my case, I also always compile my own nVidia driver
>> downloaded from nVidia site - the latest driver being 304.37.)
>>
>> When this happens, one way out is to boot into safe mode then go to your
>> settings and install/compile the nVidia driver. Or do what you suggested
>> above.
>>
>>> but this is a quick fix from the command line for anyone who needs it,
>>> when a GUI is completely unavailable.
>>> -----------------------------
>>> You'll want the highest number -l reports, I think... Ric
>>> Your old /etc/X11/xorg.conf should work. Make sure it hasn't been
>>> overwritten, as it should show within it: driver: nvidia. If not then
>>> you should have an xorg.conf.orig or xorg.conf~ file. Check them for
>>> having the driver correctly set and then copy the file that does to
>>> xorg.conf. Reboot. You should be good to go. Ric
>>
>> BC
>
> Thanks for reminding me about recovery mode.  I now have the GUI up 
> but running in low resolution failsafe mode.  I tried to update the 
> drivers the "additional drivers" could not find the needed drivers 
> from Nvidia.  How do I contact Nvidia, find and install the needed 
> video card drivers?
>
> Bill Stanley

You'll find the driver(s) here:

http://www.geforce.com/drivers

but with Ubuntu you need to go thru hoops in order to get a driver from 
nVidia to work.

Why? Because to compile it yourself you need to have a few files 
installed which are not easy to do in Ubuntu because Ubuntu doesn't like 
you messing around and doing things for yourself. So, stick with the 
driver you find in the Additional Drivers menu you see in Ubuntu. It is 
the one shown there as 'recommended, or some such, and you are asked if 
you want to Activate it. Activate it and the default nouveau driver will 
be replaced.

However, if you really and truly want to compile your own and be 
up-to-date then look here:

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=004599128559784038176%3Avj_p0xo-nng&ie=UTF-8&q=compiling+nvidia+driver&sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=compiling%20nvidia%20driver&gsc.page=1

BC

-- 
Using openSUSE 12.2 x86_64 KDE 4.9.1 & kernel 3.5.3-1 on a system with-
AMD FX 8-core 3.6/4.2GHz processor
16GB PC14900/1866MHz Quad Channel Corsair "Vengeance" RAM
Gigabyte AMD3+ m/board; Gigabyte nVidia GTX550Ti 1GB DDR5 GPU