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Re: occult nvidia kernel version skew



On Thu, Jun 15, 2006 at 10:35:57AM -0400, hendrik@topoi.pooq.com wrote:
> I'm having trouble getting my nvidia card working on kernel
> vmlinuz-2.6.15-1-amd64-generic.  It works fine with vmlinuz-2.6.12-1-amd64-generic.
> 
> Both kernels are stock Debian kernels, installed from Debian etch 
> mirrors, or from Len Sorenson's installation CD.  2.6.15-1 was 
> definitely from the Debian mirrors.
> 
> The problem I am having appears to be version skew.  When booting 
> 2.6.15, X fails to start, leavain the following in /var/log/messages
> 
> Jun 14 08:33:38 april kernel: NVRM: API mismatch: the client has the version 1.0-8762, but
> Jun 14 08:33:38 april kernel: NVRM: this kernel module has the version 1.0-8756.  Please
> Jun 14 08:33:38 april kernel: NVRM: make sure that this kernel module and all NVIDIA driver
> Jun 14 08:33:38 april kernel: NVRM: components have the same version.

Theory:

The file dates on the source files of 1.0-8762 (which would be part of the packaged source code) 
may have been earlier than the creation dates of the object files of the 1.0.8756 that I compiled 
myself.

Could it be that when I unpacked and compiled 1.0.8762 using the debian/rules command there was 
some internal invocation of make, which might have been led astray by an old object file, 
yielding an apparent 1.0.8762 kernel modula that actually contained code from 1.0.8756?

That might have happened on kernel 2.6.15.  With kernel 2.6.12 I compiled 1.0.8756 much earlier, 
thereby avoiding the skew?

If this theory pans out, perhaps the compilation instructions that newbies get in 
/usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-source/README.Debian should warn them about cleaning out the old 
code before compiling the new.  And they should be told just how to do this -- which files to 
delete and which, if any, to keep.  Or else making sure that they do it all in a new, fresh 
directory instead of within /usr/src.

In fact, I'd appreciate knowing just what things in /usr/src are dispensible, and which are 
essential.

-- hendrik



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