Ubuntu Dapper Kernel Update - Nvidia drivers 9746 Issue

[Amr]

A few days ago there was a new kernel update. After updating and rebooting my laptop X server crashed. I figured I just needed to reinstall the Nvidia drivers I had gotten from the Nvidia site (v. 9746). However even after reinstalling the drivers X server continued to crash, the error messages mentioned API mismatch and missing modules.

I am using Dapper, I have an nvidia GeForce Go 6200 card in my laptop. Initially I was using the nvidia-glx drivers from the ubuntu repos. I then used this method to update the drivers to the latest version (9746):

http://albertomilone.com/instructions.html

I added tseliots repo and did a:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

This updated my graphics card drivers to v.9746.

Then came the kernel update, after rebooting X server could not load. So I did:

wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-9746/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9746-pkg1.run 
sudo chmod 777 NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9746-pkg1.run
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9746-pkg1.run

The installer checked the for newer drivers, didn't find any and then proceded to compile the drivers. during the installation it mentioned having had to guess the location of certain modules and advised, that should X server still crash, i should install pkg-config and X.Org SDK/development packages.

Finally the installer was done and X server again could not load and gave an API mismatch error as well as not being to find certain modules.

(I tried the envy script (also from the above mentioned site) with the same outcome, X server crashed).

I just cant seem to get the 9746 drivers to work the with latest kernel update in dapper and i am not experienced enough to know where to look for the problem.

I thought this might have to do with the pkg-config and X.Org SDK/development packages that were mentioned in the error. I checked the repos, pkg-config is installed. The other package is not installed and I cant install it because some dependencies wont be installed (i dont know why).

I even re-tried the method I had used back then to update the nvidia drivers through tseliots site but since the kernel update it wont work.

Since the kernel update I have had to go back to the slightly older nvidia drivers from the repo, these are v.8776. Now usually I would not mind, but using these drivers I have two issues:

1. A rendering error in Google Earth
2. Laptop screen turns off completely when I shut down X server so I can't do any maintenance (for example editing xorg.conf to use 'nv' drivers so i can get back into gnome).

So if there is anyone out there who is experienced I would really appreciate some help. What could be the reasons that I X server keeps crashing with the latest nvidia drivers after this latest kernel update?

Thanks.

[GameManK]

Does or did it work if you just boot with the previous .27 kernel?

[Amr]

Yes it did, but then because I was trying out all these methods to get the latest drivers to work with the latest kernel it stopped working in the older kernel as well, I am not sure what I did.

[garlaxel]

This fixed it for me, found it elsewhere on the board.


Since i upgraded my Ubuntu Dapper to Edgy i had this common error with the new drivers for amd64 systems "NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-1.0-9629-pkg2.run".
I had to install the driver every time i booted my pc.
Thanks to this forum i found the solution:
1. #sudo dpkg --purge linux-restricted-modules-//old kernel//
where //old-kernel// i mean the old kernel version.
2. sudo gedit /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common
modify the last line --> DISABLED_MODULES="nv"
3. Reboot, Installation of the nVidia driver

That solved my problem. I hope someone will find this post useful.

Thanx

[HK-HoeKicker]

The problem with disabling modules is if you are using a wireless card, it renders it unusable. Just note that.

[Amr]

I upgraded to Edgy and the first thing I did was to run the Envy script to install the nvidia drivers. Then, when the kernel was updated, all I had to do was to run Envy again and it recompiled the drivers for me and all was well again.