Re: Nvidia graphics that don't work with nouveau - Was: Re: Nvidia driver fails to compile on kernel 3.X

[Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf@alice-dsl.net>]

On Fri, 2011-11-25 at 17:15 -0800, Go Linux wrote:
> --- On Fri, 11/25/11, Hugo Vanwoerkom <hvw59601@care2.com> wrote:
> > 
> > Model: "nVidia GeForce 8400 GS"
> > I use 'nouveau.modeset=0' on the kernel cmdline and also
> > blacklist nouveau.
> > But note that the latest udev (175-2) removes
> > blacklist.conf, I put it back again.
> > What I find if I don't blacklist nouveau is that the nvidia
> > driver gives an error when starting X.
> > 
> > Hugo
> > 
> 
> When I first installed Squeeze, my nVidia GeForce 8400 GS worked
> perfectly with nouveau.  I later switched to nVidia drivers to get the
> cube going and no problem there either.  What am I missing?  Maybe the
> problems are in testing?

At least real-time audio users of different distros experienced the
nouveau driver as unusable.
FWIW xserver-xorg-video-nouveau on my testing is installed and it isn't
blacklisted. It simply isn't used.

        # grep Driver /etc/X11/xorg.conf
                ### Available Driver options are:-
                Driver	    "nvidia"
        	#Driver	    "nv"
        	#Driver     "nouveau"
                #Driver     "vesa"
        
        # cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
        # This file lists modules which will not be loaded as the result
        of
        # alias expansion, with the purpose of preventing the hotplug
        subsystem
        # to load them. It does not affect autoloading of modules by the
        kernel.
        # This file is provided by the udev package.
        
        # evbug is a debug tool and should be loaded explicitly
        blacklist evbug
        
        # these drivers are very simple, the HID drivers are usually
        preferred
        blacklist usbmouse
        blacklist usbkbd
        
        # replaced by e100
        blacklist eepro100
        
        # replaced by tulip
        blacklist de4x5
        
        # replaced by tmscsim
        blacklist am53c974
        
        # these watchdog drivers break some systems
        blacklist iTCO_wdt
        
        # lsmod|grep nouveau
        # lsmod|grep nvidia
        nvidia               8017019  24 
        i2c_core               16789  2 nvidia,i2c_piix4

"If you're using "nouveau", check "nomodeset" was not passed to the
kernel (edit /etc/default/grub, and if you changed anything run
update-grub)." - http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

Too funny, randomly I replied to an outdated thread earlier this
morning. I edit grub.cfg manually.

# cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
[snip]
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.39.1 Rt emu' --class debian
--class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd1,msdos9)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root
950126ee-6ae7-41a8-b5ca-09838549c9c1
	echo	'Loading Linux 2.6.39.1 ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.39.1
root=UUID=950126ee-6ae7-41a8-b5ca-09838549c9c1 ro  quiet threadirqs
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.39.1
}
[snip]
}
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.39-2-amd64' --class debian
--class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	insmod gzio
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd1,msdos9)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root
950126ee-6ae7-41a8-b5ca-09838549c9c1
	echo	'Loading Linux 2.6.39-2-amd64 ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.39-2-amd64
root=UUID=950126ee-6ae7-41a8-b5ca-09838549c9c1 ro  quiet
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.39-2-amd64
}
[snip]