Re: NVIDIA driver (nvidia-kernel-source)
Michael Bonert <bonerti@mie.utoronto.ca> writes:
> I followed the instructions on the 'nvidia-kernel-source 1.0.4496-2' page
> (http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/nvidia-kernel-source.html).
> It suggusts working through instructions in a file called 'README.Debian'
> (full path '/usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-source/README.Debian')
>
> ====================
> PROBLEM:
>
> I don't think the installation worked.
> The video and sound is distorted -- it skips every few seconds (like an
> old LP with a long and nasty scratch).
Surely you're referring to a specific application here. I can say "it
works for me" on my desktop machine at home with an NVidia card, but
that's not terribly useful. :-) I'd also be somewhat surprised if the
NVidia kernel driver affected sound, though not entirely so. You
might try running /sbin/lsmod after X starts up to check that the
kernel module did in fact get loaded.
> I was expecting the kernel to change... but it hasn't:
No, it's just a kernel module. If you run 'dpkg -L
nvidia-kernel-2.4.18-bf24' (for the right package name), you should
see the module in /lib/modules.
> '/usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-source/README.Debian' IHMO could be
> improved.
> ---
> Proposed changes in 'README.Debian':
Please file a wishlist bug against the source package; this is
guaranteed to reach the package maintainer, who might not read
debian-user. See http://bugs.debian.org/.
> 1. Suggest compile/dpkg build directory
> # mkdir /usr/src/local
> --> do compile/dpkg build in: '/usr/src/local'
The package is almost certainly designed to be used against a
home-built kernel, using 'make-kpkg modules-image' from the top of
your kernel source tree. That canonically uses /usr/src/modules,
though it's possible to point it elsewhere (with the MODULE_LOC
environment variable). If you don't want to unpack in /usr/src
directly, I'd suggest /usr/local/src or $HOME/src over a subdirectory
of /usr/src.
> 2. Fix directory
> change "../modules/nvidia-kernel-1.0.4496" to
> "../modules/nvidia-kernel"
(I happen to agree with this; 'make-kpkg --added-modules=nvidia-kernel
modules-image' is a little easier to remember than encoding the
package version number in the directory name.)
> Are changes in XF86Config-4 required? (I can't imagine there
> wouldn't be.)
You need to change your video card driver from "nv" to "nvidia", and
not load the dri or GLcore XFree86 modules. (From
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-4496/README.txt)
> I'm still uncertain about some of the basics...
> Is the kernel supposed to change? (I think so.)
No.
> What happens with my old kernel if the process works? (Erased?)
Nothing, it's still there and you're booting from it as normal, you're
just loading an extra module.
> What happens if I grab the executable (script) from NVIDIA and run it?
> Is this going to make a mess of my system? (This is what I'd
> guess.)
"Probably." Anything that randomly writes to places outside of your
home directory, /usr/local, and /opt has the potential to confuse
dpkg; more specifically, future upgrades are liable to blindly stomp
on whatever the NVidia installer installs.
> What is the difference between 'nvidia-kernel-source' and
> 'nvidia-kernel-src'?
Probably one is older than the other, or maybe you have strange and
conflicting APT sources.
> I wish it was as simple as:
> # apt-get install non-free-nvidia-driver
In principle, it would be possible to provide kernel modules for each
kernel in Debian. As a kernel module maintainer, though, I can say
that actually maintaining this is a *huge* pain. For the NVidia
kernel modules, there's the added, uh, bonus that the NVidia license
doesn't appear to allow repackaging of their binary modules in Debian
packages, so there needs to be the indirection step of "actually
download things from NVidia's Web site" in the installer package.
--
David Maze dmaze@debian.org http://people.debian.org/~dmaze/
"Theoretical politics is interesting. Politicking should be illegal."
-- Abra Mitchell
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