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6 Nvidia driver guide

PostPosted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:49 am
by LeadFingers
This guide was written for 1.7 and previous, the Harty section has not yet been added

Covered here are 3 different methods of installing your Nvidia drivers.
1) Envy
2) Restricted drivers Manager
3) Compiling them yourself (for geeks only)

________________________To_install_your_drivers_with_Envy______________________________
make sure your hooked up to the net
open Envy (Applications/System tools/Envy)
Select "Install Nvidia drivers"
Envy should detect your card, install the correct driver & reboot.
if this brings you to your desktop, you're done

If this doesn't bring you back to your desktop
from a terminal type
Code: Select all
sudo envy-t

This will start the envy GUI
this time select "install the Driver Manually"
To select correct version read Which nvidia driver do I use
Envy should install the correct driver & reboot.
if this brings you to your desktop, you're done

If this doesn't bring you back to your desktop
from a terminal type
Code: Select all
sudo envy --uninstall-all

Reboot & post in the Help & support section

______________________To_install_your_drivers_with_Restricted_driver_manager_____________

Make sure your hooked up to the net
Open Restricted driver manager (System/Administration/Restricted driver manager)
Enter your password
Check the box in the "enable" column
select "Enable Driver"
After it downloads & installs your driver, you need to restart your computer.
If this brings you to your desktop, you're done

If this doesn't bring you back to your desktop,
Code: Select all
sudo cp /var/cache/restricted-manager/nvidia.oldconfig /etc/X11/xorg.conf

make sure X11 uses capitol "X"
this will roll-back your xorg.conf to the configuration before you used Restricted Manager.
Or...
you need to reconfigure xorg,
so you can get back to your desktop and try a different method.
Hopefully you've read the Dreaded Black Screen guide, which tells you how to do this.

_________________________________**Note**___________________________________________
It's generally best to install your drivers with Envy.
You get newer drivers, which can solve possible issues,
you can start the Envy GUI from the command line,
and it's easier to uninstall a problem driver.

________________________To_compile_your-drivers_yourself_______________________________
Copied from TheeMahn's how to

__________**Note**__________
At the time of posting Nvidia has 3 driver classes. to see which driver you use see which nvidia driver do I use
In the below example you will need to substitute your driver # in the place of the XXX.XX.XX
Pay close attention to the order in which video drivers go in

1. Install Ultimate Edition DVD
2. initial bootscript I install adobe and flash no video drivers yet.
3. Run upgrade script, let it complete this upgrades the kernel - still no video drivers installed.
4. reboot
5. Install Video drivers

Note: There are 3 methods (I can think of currently) of installing video drivers, I suggest the envy method (Applications>>System Tools>>Envy) for those running 1.4+, if it fails run envy -t in the terminal and remove them, you can also try the restricted manager (System>Administration>Restricted Drivers Manager), if all else has failed and irregardless even if it was successful be sure to review the xorg section of this mini-howto:

Video Drivers: Nvidia

Note: Some may find it easier to download the driver in the GUI then to have to type wget blah blah you can obtain the newest nvidia driver here.
After you download it set execution rights on it.
set_permissions_Screenshot-1.png

Right click properties execution rights checked.
Those that use the GUI method will not have to enter 2 of the following commands as seen below:
Code: Select all
wget -c http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/XXX>XX>XX/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XXX>XX>XX-pkg1.run

Code: Select all
sudo chmod 777 NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XXX>XX>XX-pkg1.run

Getting started

1. Press ctrl-alt-F2 & login
2. terminal:
Code: Select all
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

Code: Select all
wget -c http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/XXX.XX.XX/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XXX.XX.XX-pkg1.run

Code: Select all
sudo chmod 777 NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XXX.XX.XX-pkg1.run

Code: Select all
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XXX.XX.XX-pkg1.run

3. accept the license agreement, yes you wish to compile, no you do not wish to download your kernel, yes update your xorg, in my case I copy an xorg overtop /etc/X11/xorg.conf from another hard disk, this keeps all my tweaks intact.
4. Bring up the GUI
Code: Select all
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

XORG
Edit your xorg to allow for Compiz fusion
Code: Select all
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Go down to the screen section and paste the following:
Code: Select all
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"

Should look similar to:
Code: Select all
Section "Screen"
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Videocard0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24


Save and exit, press ctrl-alt-backspace to restart x-server with changes.
Enjoy your cutting edge video driver & Compiz fusion