NVidia on Mandrake 8

[JayMan]

I was thinking about trying Mandrake 8, at the moment i have win98se, i have never tried any linux distro b4, so am only very new to the linux arena so go easy on me.

Can anyone pls tell me how i can go to dual boot my computer win98se and mandrake 8.

Also the nvidia instructions on installing their drivers for linux confused me when i read it.

I have a 20Gig HD, and would like to give linux about say 3 or 4gig as i am just doing this as a test to see if i can learn linus or what. If i can get comfy with it i'll probably split it 10gig each way.

So basically i wanna know what i need to do to install mandrake 8 on my current system, and how to install the nvidia drivers.

any info greatly appriciated. thanks

JayMan

[JayMan]

Also last time i looked, nvidia didn't have a driver on their site for mandrake 8, which would i use?

JayMan

[bwkaz]

I have the same setup as you want -- nVidia vid card (GF2 GTS), Mandrake 8 dual-booting with 98SE.

You may not have to split it 10 gigs each way. Linux is more than happy with 5 gigs or so of space (unlike Windows). AAs long as you don't install anything huge (i.e. office programs -- KOffice, StartOffice, etc.), you should be okay. I have mine running an a 4gig partition, with only 1 gig used by Linux (and that could be only 600mb if I didn't need the kernel source and development tools).

Before you try the nVidia drivers, just get Mandrake up and running. Once you do that, then go grab the .tar.gz driver files (kernel and glx) from nVidia's site, that way you can compile them for Mandrake 8. I believe the GLX drivers for MDK7.2 still work, but I just install them from source. Un-tar them (tar -xvzf <filename>), and they will create a directory. cd into that directory and type (logged in as root) make install. Do this for both the kernel and GLX files. You can then remove the directories if you want. Then, if XWindows isn't running (if your screen has a black background then X is most likely not running), type startx (make sure you are root again, though). Once it's up, open up the little "Home" icon (you only have to single-click), browse to "Root Directory", "etc", "X11", and on the right side, find XF86Config-4. Right-click it, open it with Text Editor, and make the changes that nVidia says to make. If you get an error trying to save it, that means you didn't open XWindows as root. You have to do that because Linux has permissions on files, and by default no one except root has permission to write to the config files or create files in certain library directories (the ones that the nVidia drivers copy to when you type make install).

As for Mandrake 8 itself, I created a partition for it from within PartitionMagic before I started. I believe it will resize FAT32 partitions, but I knew PM would for sure, so I used it. Then I put the Installation CD in my CD drive and rebooted. It booted to the CD, and I hit Enter on the first screen to get into setup. Most of it is explained in the help at the bottom of the screen, but if you have any questions at any point before you start to copy files, just take the CD out, reboot (Windows will load again), and ask away.

The biggest thing I had to get used to was the file system. There are no drives in Linux. Everything is referenced off of a single directory tree that starts at /. Your main Linux partition will be "mounted" at /, and your Windows partition wil by default be "mounted" at /mnt/windows, which is two directory levels below /. What it means for a disk to be mounted somewhere is that any file in the directory tree below the "mount point" will be stored on that disk (or partition, same thing). So any file below /mnt/windows is on your Windows partition, and any file below / (except for those under /mnt/windows) are on your Linux partition. There are also mount points for floppy disks (/mnt/floppy), CD-ROM drives (/mnt/cdrom), and any other type of disk.

The boot loader for Linux can boot a Win98 installation just fine (and it even has the entry there, all set up for you).

There is a lot more I could get into, but this is long enough already. Check out www.linuxnewbie.org (http://www.linuxnewbie.org) if you haven't already.

Bryan

[JayMan]

Kewl thanx bunches for that, i will possibly try it out tomorrow, also do i just create a 2nd partition for linux with the fat32 file system or what?

Thanks

JayMan

[JayMan]

Downloading the cd images now, will probably do the deed tomorrow or friday.....

Any last minute hints/tips???

JayMan

[bwkaz]

I created a 2nd partition, using the ext2 filesystem (Linux native, as Partition Magic says).

As for last-minute advice, don't be afraid of reinstalling. Shoot, I've done it probably 15 times in the past 3 days, because I'm trying to get a different filesystem running and Linux doesn't like it. It's really no big deal, so feel free to tweak things, and if it gets screwed up too bad, just reinstall.

Bryan

[JayMan]

Ok kewls thanks.

Sorry another question, can linux access (open, save, create etc...) stuff on the windows partition and the other wasy around, can windows access linux partition.

e.g. my mp3's can be on my windows partition, but accessed by both windows and linux.

Thanks again

JayMan

[linux_guru]

Mandrake 8 will automatically detect your windoze filesystem and create a mount-point for it, and mount it automatically at boot time ( /mnt/win_c ).

Yes, you can read/write to your windoze filesystem from Linux. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[JayMan]

Ok, just installed mandrake, couldn't just boot from the cd, not sure why cuz i can boot from my win98 cd. Anyways just created a boot floppy, also made 2 partitions for linux, 3gig for install, 320MB for swap using partition magic.

Dual boots fine, but is there a way to change which it will load by default (e.g. instead of linux if you don't press anything can ya change it to go to windows if nothing is pressed).

Also i noticed in the quick time i was just playing around on it, XMMS sound quality is fairly poor compaired to winamp, is that normal? Same with KDE media player (sound and video quality not as good a windows media player).

I noticed also on the mandrake website there was screenshots of people running windows and windows apps inside of linux, how is this done? can u tell me where to get what i need to do this.

Sorry for all the newbie questions. Thank you for your patience and help.

JayMan

[bwkaz]

As for XMMS, I don't use it (tried it once but it played all my MP3's at about 3x normal speed), same problem with KDE media player. I am currently listening to AlsaPlayer 0.99 (http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/cooker/cooker/i586/Mandrake/RPMS/alsaplayer-0.99.32-13mdk.i586.html) , and it has worked fine so far (except that MP3's ripped in AudioCatalyst have lots of static, but that's not Alsa's fault).

To install AlsaPlayer, download the RPM to somewhere, open up a terminal window, and change to that directory (if you just save it in Netscape's default location, your home directory, you won't have to change directories). Then type rpm -i alsaplayer-0.99.32-13mdk.i586.rpm, and it should install. If it complains about dependencies, go back to the page you downloaded the RPM from, and partway down they have a list of requirements. Click the one you're missing, download it, and rpm -i it. Then retry the AlsaPlayer rpm.

To change what it boots by default, you could have changed it during Linux setup (if you edit one of the entries in the boot manager setup screen and hit Default, it will become the default). But you can change it afterward, too. Make sure you are either logged in as root or have a terminal open and have su'ed to root (typesu, then it will ask for a password, so type in root's password). Then type kedit lilo.conf. Change the line that reads default=linux to read default=windows (or whatever label you used for your Windows partition -- windows is just the default). Then save, exit, and type /sbin/lilo to apply the changes. Reboot and Windows should be the default.

To run Windows stuff in Linux, they are using a program known as Wine. You should probably just install the wine RPM off the Mandrake CD. There are newer versions of Wine available, but you wil have to build them from source, and I think it would be better to build simpler things from source first (like AlsaPlayer if you wanted, download the source tarball from here (http://www.alsaplayer.org/alsaplayer-0.99.33-pre2.tar.gz) . Un-tar it, and do a ./configure && make && make install to build & install it). Just put the Mandrake Extensions CD into your drive, type cd /mnt/cdrom/Mandrake/RPMS2, and (as root) type rpm -i wine-20010305-1mdk.1586.rpm.

The tab key works wonders for long filenames like this. Type in the first few characters and hit Tab, and Linux will fill in as much as it can, and display a list of all the files that match what you've typed so far. For example, if you typed win<tab>, Linux would fill in up to wine-, then display a list of files (2 of them) whose first 5 characters match that. Then type in the next character of the file you want, hit tab again, and Linux will do the same (in this case, it will fill in the rest of the filename for you, becasue there's only one possibility). It saves a lot of typing.

I think that's it,

Bryan

[JayMan]

Thats another thing i meat to ask, i havent been able to set up my internet connection in mandrake yet. I've got cable and am not sure how to do it in there, i think my ISP actually has a little guide or something on how to do it even tho they don't officially support it. I'll keep playing around with it.

Also with the sound quality, perhaps this is because i havent installed any extra drivers for my soundcard besides the ones mandrake 8 done?

Sorry, like i said i am a newbie to linux

I'll probably be back later to let ya's know how i am going with my internet in mandrake.

JayMan

[bwkaz]

Hey, that's ok. Most people are newbies to one or another aspect of Linux (I know, a few people really do know everthing, but they are few and far between). For example, I have no experience at all with cable modems and Linux. So yeah, try that guide from your ISP.

Could very well be a driver problem, do you have Linux drivers for your sound card? If you do, by all means install them.

Good luck with it!

Bryan

[JayMan]

Still havent got linux to work with my cable, but about to boot into linux to give it another shot.

As for my sound card its a SB live value, i read on linuxnewbie.org that there are drivers from creative for linux. So once i get cable happening on it i'll try to get em and install them. Along with the nvidia drivers.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Whooooooo Hooooooooo i got the internet working with mandrake! As for which browser i am going to use i dunno. Anybody have any favourites?

JayMan

[JayMan]

Ok, well i just tried installing the nvidia drivers, downloaded alright, untarred alright, but when i went to do "make install" it kept saying "command not found". Am i doing something wrong?

JayMan

[r0l0e]

I'm not an expert either but i hope I can help. I have a geforce 2mx and was able to install the driver using the control center. Go to Hardware then Display. In my case I had a geforce and a Cirrus Logic PCI. Choose the card you want to config. the fallow the instructions. I think it"ll be better if you log in as rot.

[CMonster]

Congrats on the internet - it's actually pretty easy with Mandrake distros isn't it?

As for the Nvidia drivers - first read everything on the instalation that you can find at the Nvidia site. Then print the instructions and read them again.

You can install the GLX module extensions RPM first, without having to build it from source, simply by chosing the GLX RPM for Mandrake 7.2 and as root cd to the directory where the RPM is and do the following:

$rpm -i --force --nodeps NVIDIA_GLX-0.9-769.i386.rpm

Next, you will have to install the Nvidia kernel drivers from source. The only command necessary is "make," and you must do this as root. If the command is not recognized then you will need to see which devolopment packages you need to install, e.g. the gcc compiler, C libs, kernel headers etc.

Once the kernel driver is installed you are not yet finished: You still may need to remove any conflicting files e.g. the open GL files that come with Linux, then you will have to make sure that /etc/modules.conf has a line to load the NVdriver kernel module, and finally you need to edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 according to the install instruction on the NVidia site.

When you edit the XF86Config-4 file use "Text Editor" because it will automatically make a backup copy of your file - remember the name of this backup copy, you may need it to get back into the GUI of your system should things get totally screwed up and the X-server not want to restart.

Next, I will tell you how to use vim to get back into your GUI if things go wrong.

[jad1097]

Congrats on the internet - it's actually pretty easy with Mandrake distros isn't it?


Not for all of us!! (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum9/HTML/003788.html) http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[JayMan]

As for getting my internet to work, all i done which fixed it up was basically just put in the correct hostname. In windows goto start/run then type winipcfg. Click on more info, then up the top it says the hostname. Then i restarted xwindows, then bang it worked. yay.

Mandrake does seem pretty harmless actually, just takes alittle getting used to not having everything in GUI and having to do stuff with the konsole.

Speaking of that, what exactly do all these "tar -xvzf" etc... actually mean? is there like a reference which tells ya all the commands n stuff? could help a new user such as myself.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Ok i found the problem with "make"... i didn't have it installed...duh!....

The GLX went all good.... but the kernel...not so good.

[root@CO3017342-A NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-769]# make
rm -f nv.o os-interface.o os-registry.o Module-linux NVdriver
cc -c -Wall -Wunknown-pragmas -Wno-multichar -O -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -D_LOOSE_KERNEL_NAMES -DUNIX -DLINUX -DNV4_HW -DNTRM -DRM20 -D_X86_=1 -Di386=1 -D_GNU_SOURCE -DRM_HEAPMGR -D_LOOSE_KERNEL_NAMES -DNV_MAJOR_VERSION=1 -DNV_MINOR_VERSION=0 -DNV_PATCHLEVEL=769 -I. -I/usr/src/linux/include nv.c
make: cc: Command not found
make: *** [nv.o] Error 127

Anything else i'm doing wrong?

JayMan

[JayMan]

ok well turns out i didn't have some more stuff installed. sheesh.

but still no luck in completing it all.


[root@CO3017342-A NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-769]# make
rm -f nv.o os-interface.o os-registry.o Module-linux NVdriver
cc -c -Wall -Wunknown-pragmas -Wno-multichar -O -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -D_LOOSE_KERNEL_NAMES -DUNIX -DLINUX -DNV4_HW -DNTRM -DRM20 -D_X86_=1 -Di386=1 -D_GNU_SOURCE -DRM_HEAPMGR -D_LOOSE_KERNEL_NAMES -DNV_MAJOR_VERSION=1 -DNV_MINOR_VERSION=0 -DNV_PATCHLEVEL=769 -I. -I/usr/src/linux/include nv.c
In file included from nv.c:50:
/usr/include/linux/modversions.h:1:2: #error Modules should never use kernel-headers system headers,
/usr/include/linux/modversions.h:2:2: #error but headers from an appropriate kernel-source
make: *** [nv.o] Error 1


help!

JayMan

[bwkaz]

what exactly do all these "tar -xvzf" etc... actually mean? is there like a reference which tells ya all the commands n stuff?

Try man tar or [/b]tar --help[/b] for the shorter form.

I got that error once when I tried to compile the kernel, but I don't remember what fixed it. Can you remove the directory that everything's in and just reextract all the files? I'm thinking it might be because there are old config-type files in there that need to be deleted.

Are you sure you installed the kernel source (the 100MB package) when you installed Mandrake? If you picked the Development package you installed it, but if not, you need to.

Bryan

[JayMan]

upon re-reading the nvidia readme, it says something about the header files being moved on some versions on linux or sumfin.


Q: I can't build the NVdriver kernel module, or I can build the NVdriver
kernel module, but modprobe/insmod fails to load the module into my
kernel. What's wrong?

A: These Problems are generally caused by the build using the wrong kernel
header files (ie header files for a different kernel version than the
one you are running). The convention used to be that kernel header files
used to be stored in "/usr/include/linux/", but that is being depracated
in favor of "/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build/include". The NVIDIA_kernel
Makefile should be able to determine the location on your system; however,
if you encounter a problem you can force the build to use certain header
files by doing: 'make SYSINCLUDE=/path/to/kernel/headers'. Obviously,
for any of this to work, you need the appropriate kernel header files
installed on your system.


How do i know where my kernel headers are? then i could try the SYSINCLUDE=etc..... and it should work i think.

JayMan

[CMonster]

Unless they have been moved in Mandrake 8 you should find them at /usr/scr/linux-2.4.3

[bwkaz]

Mine are in /usr/src/linux-2.4.3/include. But I'm pretty sure you need to leave the /include off the end of it, so set SYSINCLUDE to just /usr/src/linux-2.4.3.

Bryan

[JayMan]

Ok thanx, i'm about to reboot to mandrake to test it out. Hope it works! I'll let you know.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Well.......bad news, that didn't work, i don't even have a /usr/src/linux-2.4.3 directory. Seems as tho it is /usr/include/linux/ as nvidia suggest it should be. I might shoot a email over to nvidia to see if i can get any reaction from them at all... probably not. But we shall see.

JayMan

[CMonster]

http://www.mandrakeuser.org/index.php

[wht]

make sure you have the kernel-source package installed, this will add /usr/src/linux-2.4.3 - then type "ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.3 /usr/src/linux", then try compiling the nvidia kernel driver

[JayMan]

Kewl Cmonster, that might come in handy, but i gotta get the internet working again, grrr. i thought i would clean up the mess i had begun to make while trying to get the nvidia's to work, so i formated my linux part, then re-installed making sure everything needed (that i know of) was installed. And now i can't get the net working again. Bugger!

JayMan

[JayMan]

Man this bites, i am sure i'm doing everything the same as last time. Still no internet!!!!!! arrrgggg

JayMan

[CMonster]

JayMan - try using linuxconf to setup your internet connection:

Remember:

Who am I?: IP address

Who do I belong to?: Subnet mask

How do I get out of here?: Default gateway

Who do I ask for directions?: DNS

You can also manually put your DNS IP address in the /etc/resolve.conf file:

e.g.

nameserver 206.170.104.146

[JayMan]

Ok, wells linux has kinda been put on hold now, i just got the stuff to network my computers (so my brothers can use the old computer to get on the net instead of using mine all the time. Only prob is i can't get internet connection sharing to work! Im gonna post a topic to see if someone can help me with that. But it shouldn't be too long and i'll be back to linux i am sure. Thanks all, and don't be scared to keep suggestions comming here.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Heres a link to my post about the ICS
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum6/HTML/002441.html

JayMan

[JayMan]

Ok well, my problem with the ICS is all fixed up now. So yeh, maybe i will be able to get linux to connect to my network for going on the internet, hopefully.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Alrighty, well everything is running peachy, just need to download the nvidia stuff and try again!

Got the kernel alright, but the stupid GLX isn't downloading for some reason.

Not gonna get a chance to try making them tonight, will have to wait till tomorrow night after work (or after i get back from my girlfriends place cuz i'll most likely call in there on the way home hehe)

Oh, and as for people having "ugly fonts" when using mandrake 8, i kinda fixed em here, i just changed the fixed font in Konqueror to "Helvatica" or woteva that one is called, and also changed the size of the fonts from medium to large. And all looks alright so far. Anybody else had any experience with the so called "ugly fonts"

JayMan

[JayMan]

Just done a better fix for the ugly fonts i think, change fixed font to Lucidatypewriter, font size = medium, minimum font size = 12.

Im running 1280x1024 and everything looks nice.

Hmm i seem to be the only one here lately, oh wells, life goes on.

JayMan

[Mntsnow]

Nope....just watching your progress http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[CMonster]

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif ""

[JayMan]

Has been a while, its a long story, make long story short, my car broken down and i had to stay with my sister while my car was getting fixed.

Back to the realm of nvidia on mandrake 8, just about to try installing them again. Hopefully i have everything thats needed to "make" them.

Wish me luck

JayMan

[JayMan]

Going good so far, "make install" went all good, just time to edit the stuff.

JayMan

[JayMan]

all edited, just time to reboot. Fingers crossed.....

JayMan

[JayMan]

Ok, well, i don't think it worked properly. I think my madrake is playing up at the moment, when i open the software manager it doesn't even show a single thing (on either installed or installable).

And i still can't get the openGL screensavers to run. etc.....

JayMan

[CMonster]

at a terminal:

$modprobe NVdriver (if there is no error message you can asume that the module installed)

Check /etc/modules.conf (there should be a line that reads alias char-major-195 NVdriver)

I will assume that you have installed the GLX RPM from Drake7.2, but you will have to make sure that any conflicting mesaGL files have been removed -not sure where these are in Drake8 but if same as 7.2 then RPM does this for you.

in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 under the "modules" section you should have this:

# This loads the GLX extension.

Load "glx"

under "Device" section replace "nv" with "nvidia" e.g.

Driver "nvidia"


Save and restart your X server - no need to reboot.

You may also find that the GL screen savers still will not run so test the new drivers using "gears" or Tuxracer or gltron.

This may not be the case with Mandrake 8 but I know that on SuSE 7.1 the GL screensavers will crash after installation of the Nvidia kernel drivers and glx module. My guess is that the GL screensavers are looking for the old mesaGL drivers -later I will try to create links with the old mesaGL names that point to the new GLX drivers and see if they will run... don't know why I trouble myself, I never use screensavers anyway...





[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 05-21-2001).]

[JayMan]

Ok, i'm in windows at the moment, and will be going to bed any minute, i'll probably do as suggested tomorrow after work.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Hmm i don't think linux likes me, i need to reformat and install it again, sheesh. When i check what i have installed etc... it shows nothing!.

JayMan

[CMonster]

Reformat - why? If your display has locked out of "X" or something just let me know and with a little editing you likely can be up and running again.

Hey! Guess what? The drivers for Mandrake 8 can now be downloaded as RPMs directly from Nvidia http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Though you will still have to edit the config files as necessary.



[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 05-25-2001).]

[JayMan]

Everything works fine in mandrake, but ya know software manager (the thing with the RPM logo on the desktop), when i look in there to check i have kernel source or woteva installed, absolutely nothing shows up in there, i have nothing installed (apparently), and there is nothing installable (apparently). The sources (define source) is still setup correct, but nothing. Doesnt matter, will just do it, not like i have anything i need to save on there, only takes like 10minutes or so to format and re install.

And as for the rpms being available....bout time hehe, but last time when i "make"d, it all worked fine. But i think i was missing something from editing the conf files.

Again, thanks for your help cmonster. Depending on what i do this arvo, i'll try it all then. If not then probbaly tomorrow.

JayMan