NVIDIA

From openSUSE

Contents 1 The easy way 1.1 openSUSE 11.0 1.2 openSUSE 10.3 1.2.1 Installation 1.2.2 Compositing (3D-effects) with NVIDIA 1.3 openSUSE 11.0 (Development) 1.4 openSUSE 10.2 1.5 SUSE Linux 10.1 and SLED 10 2 The hard way 2.1 Prerequisites 2.2 Download NVIDIA Drivers 2.3 Install the drivers 2.4 Configure X.org 2.5 Legacy chipset support 3 Troubleshooting 3.1 X-server won't start after installing NVIDIA driver on openSUSE 10.2 3.2 Problem with some AGP graphics boards 3.3 Compilation on FACTORY 3.4 Application freeze or crash when compositing/3D effects enabled 4 Problems with 1-Click install 5 See also 6 External links

It is very easy, most of the time.

openSUSE 11.0

There are currently no NVIDIA packages available for openSUSE 11.0, but you can manually compile the NVIDIA driver. Note that the latest stable driver doesn't work here: you have to download the most recent Beta driver (173.08 or higher). Links for betadrivers x86 & x86_64

openSUSE 10.3

Installation

You can use 1-Click-Install in openSUSE 10.3.

• For all new NVIDIA cards, click here:

NOTE: It's absolutely critical that you have access to the online YAST software repositories. You must add these manually (or select them during your SUSE installation). Failure to have access to the online repositories (both SUSE OSS and SUSE Update) will cause dependency issues when attempting to install NVIDIA driver via the 1-click install. [1]

• For all NVIDIA Legacy cards, click here:

There is still a chance that SaX2 will not detect the newly installed X-server. To rectify this, as root, type sax2 -r into a terminal window, and SaX will redetect the NVIDIA chipset and allow you to set up your desired resolution. To do this go to: Computer > More Applications > System > X Term program. Then type sudo -i at the prompt, type in your root password, and then type sax2 -r. This should automatically run the SAX2 program and detect the NVIDIA card.

If you have problems with 1-Click install please see Troubleshooting section of this article.

Compositing (3D-effects) with NVIDIA

NOTE: For openSUSE 11.0 please skip the following, just install the drivers and enable effects from simple-ccsm.

To use NVIDIA's driver directly to run Compiz, Compiz Fusion or KDE4's compositing effects, run the following commands and restart X (Logout and press <ctrl>-<alt>-<Backspace>). For KDE4, there exists a second HOWTO.

su -
nvidia-xconfig --composite
nvidia-xconfig --render-accel
nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals -d 24

openSUSE 11.0 (Development)

Currently there are no NVIDIA RPMs for openSUSE 11.0, but you can manually compile the NVIDIA driver. Note that the latest stable driver doesn't work on x86_64: you have to download the most recent Beta driver (173.08 or higher).

openSUSE 10.2

1. Import the NVIDIA GnuPG key. Login in console as root user and type, or simply copy and paste using mouse:

rpm --import ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.2/repodata/repomd.xml.key

2. Add the NVIDIA rpm-md repository: ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.2/ to the package manager.

• To do this in YaST, go to Software -> Installation Source. Now hit Add and then select Specify URL. In there, enter the above URL and then hit Next, and then Finish.
• Or, to do this in Zypper execute:

zypper sa ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.2/ nvidia

3. Identify which 'nvidia' driver packages you need. This depends on the exact model of your card. For a newer card you'll probably need x11-video-nvidiaG01 and nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-default packages. If your card is part of the NVIDIA Legacy then you'll need x11-video-nvidia and nvidia-gfx-kmp-default. (The list is taken from http://www.suse.de/~sndirsch/nvidia-installer-HOWTO.html)

If you are running on a non-default kernel flavour, you may need nvidia-gfxG0-kmp-bigsmp instead of nvidia-gfxG0-kmp-default (or nvidia-gfx-kmp-bigsmp instead of nvidia-gfx-kmp-default). "bigsmp" here is a your kernel flavor. You can find out your kernel flavor by running uname -r.

4. Install the identified packages, e.g. x11-video-nvidiaG0 and nvidia-gfxG0-kmp-default.

• To do this with Zypper. for example, execute:

zypper install x11-video-nvidiaG0 nvidia-gfxG0-kmp-default

5. Restart X (Logout and press <ctrl>-<alt>-<Backspace>).

6. Enjoy!

6. The kernel update will trigger installation of new NVIDIA kernel drivers. This addition will leave the old versions present, they need to be removed manually. Run:

rpm -qa '*nvidia-gfx*'

If you have a new "nvidia-gfxG01-..." package in this list, you can remove the left over nvidia-gfx-... package(s).

SUSE Linux 10.1 and SLED 10

• • Add the YUM repository ftp://download.nvidia.com/novell/sle10sp1 to the package manager (YAST or ZEN).
  • Install the packages x11-video-nvidia and nvidia-gfx-kmp-default
  • Restart X (Logout and press CTRL-ALT-Backspace).
  • Done.

You will also get updated packages when NVIDIA publishes them on this site.

This is for those that want to have the latest NVIDIA drivers, and are not afraid to recompile driver after each kernel update. Or have updated your kernel from the DVD default version.

Prerequisites

• compiler gcc,
• program make and
• package kernel-source

If you don't have them installed you can do it using YaST.

--Specific instructions for installing kernel-source-- Login to Console and type: "su", enter your root password, then, "yast". Under software, go into Software Management, and Press F2 (Search). Search "kernel-source". Select the module and press enter. There will now be a "+" in front of it. Press F10. It'll install. Press F9 a few times to exit Yast.

Download NVIDIA Drivers

First of all, if you tried using the script then you can find the NVIDIA installer package in /usr/share/doc/nvidia If the installer package is not there go to NVIDIA Download Page, and get the latest drivers for your computer.

Install the drivers

If you are in runlevel 5, go to runlevel 3 by typing the following comand as root in one of the consoles (which you can access by pressing ctrl-alt-f1 [f1 up to f6])

init 3

Now go to the directory containing the drivers.

cd /usr/share/doc/nvidia

or

cd /the/path/where/you/saved/the/drivers/from/nvidia/website

Now simply type the following and follow instructions

sh NVIDIA-Linux-<arch>-<version>-<build>-<pkg#>.run -q

Configure X.org

The next step is to configure the X.org to use the new nvidia drivers. To do this, type the following

sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia

Sax2 will start it's configuration program in X. You can do more tweaking here, but this is your option. With 10.0 you won't need to specify -m 0=nvidia any more, sax automatically detects and uses it if you activate 3D acceleration.

Legacy chipset support

SUSE 10.0, 10.1 and openSUSE 10.2 support all NVIDIA chipsets, including the legacy via the open source "nv" driver, which unfortunately means degraded performance because it has no 3D acceleration. In order to enable accelerated 3D support on these cards via the closed source driver from NVIDIA.

For you convenience here is a complete list for all 3 branches (new unified, legacy 1.0-96xx and old legacy 1.0-71xx):

• List of supported chips by driver

It can be used for orientation in which category is your chipset or graphic card.

NOTE: Nvidia is still maintaining drivers and releasing newer versions with bug fixes. It is impossible to put one link here that will be accurate for a long. To download latest drivers visit:

• http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html

and using knowledge from list of supported chipsets select driver that is appropriate for you chipset.

Prior to installing the NVIDIA driver you have to shut down the X server. The easiest way to do this is to switch to the Linux console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 and logging in as root. Then type

init 3

To install the driver run downloaded file, for instance:

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7185-pkg0.run

Once the driver has been successfully installed, take a look at /etc/X11/xorg.conf to make sure that the "nvidia" driver is being used instead of the opensource "nv" driver. To see whether the X server is able to start up, type X on the console and press Enter. You should see the NVIDIA logo on a white screen. To quit the X server hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace. If you've gotten this far successfully, you can safely switch to runlevel 5. Type in the following on the command line

init 5; exit

X-server won't start after installing NVIDIA driver on openSUSE 10.2

Check out the Cool Solutions article on this.

The problem is that the nvidia modules are installed in the wrong directory, /usr/X11R6/modules when it should be /usr/lib/xorg/modules or /usr/lib64/xorg/modules when using xorg 7.2.

Problem with some AGP graphics boards

Using AGP graphics boards with some motherboards you may need to manually add [Option "NvAGP" "2"] as shown below. This was the case with a Gigabyte GA-K8NS AMD64 motherboard and AGP Nvidia FX5200 graphics board. Without this command X failed to start.

Section "Device"

 BoardName    "GeForce FX 5200 (0x0322)"
 BusID        "1:0:0"
 Driver       "nvidia"
 Identifier   "Device[0]"
 VendorName   "NVidia"
 Option       "NvAGP" "2"

EndSection

Compilation on FACTORY

Running the NVIDIA installer on FACTORY fails with undefined symbols problems, so you might need to follow the instructions this page to patch the driver sources.

Application freeze or crash when compositing/3D effects enabled

You have set Option "Composite" "Enable" in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to enjoy your eye candy or 3D desktop, but you see some applications crash or freeze?

Try to temporarily disable compositing with Option "Composite" "Disable" and restart your X server.

Do these applications now not crash or freeze any longer? If the answer is yes, your compositing is unstable.

There is a solution. nVidia drivers after 169.xx introduced a new option named UseCompositeWrapper. Put it in the device section of your xorg.conf: Option "UseCompositeWrapper" "true" and enable compositing again. Restart your X server. Your applications should now not freeze or crash any longer.

Problems with 1-Click install

If you have problems with 1-Click install please consult people on opensuse@opensuse.org mail list, that will help you in troubleshooting. For details how to subscribe please see Communicate page.

"Corrections" like this:

These 1-Click-Installs still somehow point to the old NVIDIA drivers compile against kernel-source-2.6.22.13-0.3
To get the latest NVIDIA drivers compiled agains kernel-source-2.6.22.17-0.1, manually download the appropriate files from ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.3/

doesn't help much to resolve problems. It can be given with good intentions, but it doesn't give a hint how error happened and there is no way to correct it. Workarounds like this defeat the purpose of 1-Click install, ie. simple installation.

Quick check of 1-Click files showed that they point to the proper repository http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.3/ which is the same that correction notice points to, and there is no pointer to specific files, so error is not in the link, but elsewhere.

• Laptops and external VGA
• NVidia Suspend HOWTO
• NVidia framebuffer console HOWTO
• Use Nvidia driver with Xen
• Beryl with nVidia drivers

• Nvidia Installer HOWTO