Graphics driver 180.22 does not install on Ubuntu 8.04.2

[CudaPadavan]

I have a problem installing the nVidia 180.22 Driver under Ubuntu 8.04.2 32-bit with a Point of View 9800 GTX+ graphics card.

I run the install file I have downloaded from the Nvidia Cuda download page as described “Getting Started” document. The installer compiles the kernel and asks afterwards if he should chage the X-Server configuration file. I answered with “Yes”. When I restart the X-Server a dialog with the title “Ubuntu is running in a low-graphics mode” occurs. In this dialog I can choose the graphic driver and monitor. But even when I choose the “nvidia” driver the Nvidia X-Server does not work.

In the Xorg.0.log I can see the error message:
“(EE) Failed to initialize GLX extension (Compatible NVIDIA X driver not found)”

I have checked the xorg.conf settings as described in the “Editing the configuration file by hand” section of the Linux installation readme but everything seems to be OK.

Can anyone help me with this problem.

Thanks
CudaPadava
xorg.conf.zip (749 Bytes)

[avidday]

I run the install file I have downloaded from the Nvidia Cuda download page as described “Getting Started” document. The installer compiles the kernel and asks afterwards if he should chage the X-Server configuration file. I answered with “Yes”. When I restart the X-Server a dialog with the title “Ubuntu is running in a low-graphics mode” occurs. In this dialog I can choose the graphic driver and monitor. But even when I choose the “nvidia” driver the Nvidia X-Server does not work.

In the Xorg.0.log I can see the error message:

“(EE) Failed to initialize GLX extension (Compatible NVIDIA X driver not found)”

I just had the identical problem installing the same driver on 8.04 x86_64 with the current 2.6.24-23-generic kernel. As best I can tell, the problem is that the nvidia kernel driver isn’t getting loaded prior to the X server trying to start. After this happens, Ubuntu cleverly (or not) drops into X11 failsafe mode, where the xorg.conf gets overwritten with failsafe VESA framebuffer settings, and any hope of getting the NVIDIA drivers working from the state the installer left everything is lost (even the Xorg.log gets hosed after that so there are no diagnostic messages from the attempted boot).

Right now I my NVIDIA card out of the machine (the fan noise was driving me insane) and am running on built-in while I try and look at the state the installer leaves things in after it ran. I will post again when I find the problem.

[avidday]

Right now I my NVIDIA card out of the machine (the fan noise was driving me insane) and am running on built-in while I try and look at the state the installer leaves things in after it ran. I will post again when I find the problem.

It seems it is necessary to uninstall xserver-xorg-video-nv (the open source driver) before running the NVIDIA bundle installer. After that I was able to get everything working – and most importantly there is now fan speed control so it is possible to sit in the same room as the machine!.

I hope this helps.

[CudaPadavan]

It seems it is necessary to uninstall xserver-xorg-video-nv (the open source driver) before running the NVIDIA bundle installer. After that I was able to get everything working – and most importantly there is now fan speed control so it is possible to sit in the same room as the machine!.

Thank you very much for this hint.

I just managed to get the cuda stuff running by switching to Ubuntu 8.10 and using the 2.2 beta version. With this stuff the V185 driver installs without any problems and the examples are running.

Ciao

CudaPadavan