Setting up NVIDIA Graphics Drivers
From SUSE Wiki
Type: Howto
Tested Versions: 10.0, 10.1. Should also work on 9.x, 10.2
Written By: Kamatsu
Further Modifications By: No One
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Contents |
Installing from RPMs (SLED 10 and SUSE 10.2 Only)
Go to YaST, Installation Sources, and click Add. Choose "Specify URL" and type:
For SUSE 10.2:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.2
For SLED 10:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/novell/
Then, save and quit that YaST applet, and open up the "Software Management" applet. Search for "nvidia", and install the drivers appropriate for your kernel, and the x11 package. Close YaST and reboot, and the drivers will be installed and active.
Compiling from NVIDIA sources
To compile the NVIDIA drivers from source, you need to install the following packages:
- gcc
- kernel-sources for your kernel
- make
tiny-nvidia-installer method (10.1, 10.2 only)
In newer SuSE distributions there is an utility that will do all this automatically, Run:
$ init 3 $ tiny-nvidia-installer
and follow the instructions.
Manual Method (all SUSE versions)
We need to go get the NVidia drivers from the NVidia website. Head on over to the NVIDIA website and download the Linux IA32 or IA64 drivers, depending on your system. I downloaded it to my home directory for convenience.
Now, switch to runlevel 3 (console mode) by typing this into your favorite X Console app (e.g Konsole or rxvt):
$ init 3
Note: This will shut down GNOME or KDE or whatever Desktop Environment you are using! If you are referring to this page as you do this, this will close, so make sure you write the following steps down!
Then, you will be given a login prompt. Type "root" and provide your root password.
Then, navigate to your home directory:
# cd /home/<your_user_name>
And run the NVIDIA INSTALLER, like so:
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8756-pkg1.run -q
Note: Your version or architecture may differ, the best bet is to simply type:
sh NVIDIA-Linux-<tab> -q
And your console program shall complete the line for you.
You will be presented with the NVIDIA License agreement, as shown:
Agree to this and NVIDIA (probably) will say they can't find any precompiled interface for your kernel:
Now press OK and sit back while the installer compiles the module using your kernel-sources :D
Press OK to the completion dialog and you'll be returned to a root prompt.
Configuration
Now we need to instruct SuSE to configure X to use your new funky 3d drivers, so type:
# sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia
Note that's a ZERO not the letter O.
SaX will then show you a little test screen to make sure everything's working. You can fine tune stuff if you want, but otherwise just press OK and get rid of it.
Then, we can return to X triumphantly having installed your new video drivers:
# init 5
Testing
Just to make sure everything is working flawlessly, open up xterm or rxvt and type
$ glxinfo
A whole pile of stuff will come up, but see if you can find something along the lines of this in there:
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 6200 TurboCache(TM)/PCI/SSE2 OpenGL version string: 1.2 (2.0.2 NVIDIA 87.62) OpenGL extensions:
If the vendor string reads "NVIDIA Corporation", and the renderer string is the make of your card, then everything is working correctly.
Troubleshooting
I compiled the module okay, but no 3d stuff works!
Unless there was an error in your compilation, this is probably due to a lack of proper configuration, make sure you configured SaX correctly as shown (with a ZERO not the letter O) and try again. It is also possible that your card is not supported by the NVIDIA driver for 3d Accelleration, consult NVIDIA for more information.
