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Re: How to install NVIDIA Geforce 4 and SoundMAX audio on woody ?



On Fri, Aug 23, 2002 at 12:09:18AM -0500, B T wrote:
> Hi,
> I am trying to install Xfree86 v.4.1 (woody/debian v3.0) on a dell
> Dimension 4500 PC which comes with a NVIDIA GeForce 4 video card.
> However xf86 fails with "no device detected" and scanpci  reports 
> and "unkown NVIDIA" device. 

I seem to recall that the GeForce 4's are only support by XFree86 > 4.2,
so you'll probably need to upgrade to Branden's beta packages.

> How can I get my PC to recognise the card. Are there any modules that
> need to be compiled into the kernel for the detection to take place ?

Mostly[1], your kernel remains blisfully unaware of your video card.  X
is in charge of it, and all your kernel needs to know is how to access
the bus that it is on, usually PCI or AGP.

> I am trying to upgrade xfree86 to the experimental 4.2 version 
> available on branden's web page. However aptitude dose not allow
> me to remove the hold on version 4.1, and I can't seem to figure
> out why. So I tried a apt-get upgrade x-window-system (after adding
> the corret apt line for branden to source.list). However the 
> xserver is still 4.1 , though it did download and install new version
> of XFree (I forgot to pay attention to the version it was downloading).

I'm not sure why aptitude won't let you unhold X, but you can get around
it; just run 'apt-get update' to let apt know about Branden's new
packages and 'apt-get install x-window-system' to make sure that X is
installed ok.  'apt-get upgrade' doesn't take an argument (like the
'x-window-system' you passed it), it just upgrades everything it can.

I just had an idea: does anyone know whether Branden's debs work under
woody?  If aptitude can't satisfy the dependencies for X4.2 within
woody, it would probably put X4.1 on hold so that it isn't upgraded.

Another option is to switch to the closed source, proprietary NVidia
kernels.  They provide hardware 3d acceleration, which is probably what
you want if you've spent however much a GeForce4 is these days.  People
seem to either love them or hate them, but you might want to give them a
try.  I mentioned how to in another email, but you basically just want
to 'apt-get install nvidia-kernel-src nvidia-glx-src' and read the
READMEs.

> The other problem is with the integrated SoundMAX sound card. Could
> you please tell me what drivers to use for these. i810_audio does not
> work ! . 

Are you sure the i810_audio modules is the right one?  If not, google is
your friend.

> I am not using ALSA or OSS, do I need to ?

OSS is the type of sound modules currently in the Linux kernel.  ALSA is
a new set of modules that support all sorts of nifty things; it will be
the default, if not the only choice, in the 2.6 kernel series.  So, in
conclusion, you will be using OSS soon enough, even if you don't know
it;)

> If I have missed any relevant info I would greafully post. I avoided 
> posting the xfree86 log and scanpci output since large mails usuall
> don't go through this mailing list.

No, I think you posted just the right amount of detail that people will
be able to help you.  Oftentimes people post useless 'X doesn't work,
help me!' posts, with insufficient information for anyone to be able to
even begin to diagnose the problem.

-rob

[1] Neglecting framebuffers and DRI.

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