Why is loading drivers for video so hard?!

C

CrashGawker

Gawd
Joined
May 30, 2002
Messages
630
God I hate Linux...ok so I'm trying to load the Nvidia drivers that I downloaded from Nvidia's website which came in the form of a .run file, which like everything ELSE in Linux, does diddly when you double click or otherwise execute it. (I'm running my TV on s-video because no other option functions and currently it only works in black and white) And of course progress is exceedingly slow because for whatever reason my mouse is invisible so I have to move it really slowly and wait for things I want to use to highlight. MAJOR pain in the ass. Anyhow I tried running it under KDE and it just opens in a text editor...useless.

So 20 minutes later I've figured out how to run it under Terminal only to discover you have to run it as ROOT...ok so I log in as root and run it again and it says I can't run it with my X Server running. Well an hour later I finally figure out how to get out of X Server only to be unable to access my DVD with the file on it! So I reboot into KDE and spend 15 minutes trying to copy the file to the hard drive (why does Linux not use drives like normal storage devices where you can see them and go IN them and put stuff where you want it?!) only to have it stall out in the copying process several times and when it finally DOES copy I go back to command line.

Tried to run it and now it says some kind of checksum doesn't check out and it won't run. Is there ANY way to install this shit without having to program it in one bit at a time?!?!
 
The .run file is just a shell script.

I'm just going to be a smartass and ask you if you have read the Nvidia README, Installation chapter: http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8774/README/chapter-02.html

Basically, the major gist of it is:

1.) Acquire .run file
2.) Switch to virtual console (ctrl+alt+F1 or F2 or something)
3.) log in as root
4.) init 3 (kills x server, puts you in run level 3)
5.) chmod +x the .run file
6.) sh the .run file

Also, drives must be mounted in Linux. Some distros will automatically mount drives for you if you pop media in, or they can be configured.

edit: depending on distro, you may not even have to follow these instructions.
 
Things are just done differently in linux, don't get mad at it because you're used to another way of doing things.
 
After you have downloaded the file NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8774-pkg#.run, change to the directory containing the downloaded file, and as the root user run the executable:
Click to expand...
That's on the very next page and since nothing on the computer WORKS correctly I had to download the file here on my XP system. I then burned it to a DVD-RW and walked it into the other room where it won't copy to the hard drive correctly meaning I can't run it in any manner on the Linux machine.

Except for the CHMOD thing I did exactly as you suggested, but since I can't even find my optical drive to ATTEMPT to mount it and since the computer refuses to copy the .run to the hard drive in a manner where I can run it I'm still unable to achieve anything useful.

I guess I'm just too used to Windows, I know it inside and out, and Linux just feels like the ultimate in counter-intuitive software to me. Nothing "just works" and nothing is ever where it seems it ought to be. I was actually hoping this would be relatively painless so that I could start dabbling a little with Linux on a regular basis but it's not looking too promising.
 
I'm not so much mad that it's different...I'm mad that I'm doing just what I'm supposed to and it STILL doesn't work :(
 
What distro are you using?

Also, what does your fstab look like?

Code: 
cat /etc/fstab

Linux treats drives/partitions a little differently than you would be used to on windows.

For example, the master drive on IDE channel 1 is called /dev/hda, its slave is /dev/hdb. SATA drives are /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. (with my defaults).
 
I did forget to mention my distro...I'm running Fedoracore5 on an MSI K8NGM2-FID motherboard using the onboard NVIDIA 6150 graphics engine. I really wish I knew what a fstab was so I could answer your question but I'm going to have to admit my ignorance.I'm going ahead and reinstalling from scratch because I decided to move operations from the TV to my desk and get it hooked up via onboard eth0 to the net and see if I can't get things running a little easier using yum.
 
fstab is a file that contains information about the file systems on a system - basically a list of things your system can mount.

The command I gave you,

Code: 
cat /etc/fstab

Will print the file to standard output. Basically it would help us know which drive would be your dvd drive.

And on FC5, I think you'll have to install the manual way. I've done it a few times in SuSE and on Red Hat Enterprise 4, which is what this machine (nvidia quaddro) runs.
 
Well I reinstalled everything from scratch and once it went to KDE my monitor turned off as always saying Unknown mode going to sleep...I hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 to go to command line which popped up fine so I typed yum -y upgrade and it's been sitting here scrolling through a billion "Downloading header for" messages without actually seeming to do anything over the last hour. I was hoping that yum would fix the graphics problems as well as update my kernal and other stuff since I went ahead and hooked it up to the network over hard wire (to be redone later with wireless) but now I have to go to work and just HOPE it's actually doing something useful and will be ready to run when I get home tonight.
 
if you want everything to be like windows, then use window. Maybe some day you'll realize how much nicer things are in the unix world but until then with your current attitude I am not going to help.
 
For those with NVIDIA cards, anyway.

cd /usr/ports/x11/nvidia-driver && make install clean :D

You'll need to edit your xorg.conf or xfree86.conf to taste, but beyond that it's idiot-simple.
 
I'm not necessarily saying I want everything to be like windows I'm just saying I understand it. I'm also not so stupid as not to see the benefits of the *nix architectures but I AM familiar and ingrained with Windows enough that it makes it very VERY difficult for me to make the switch. Yes I complain about how it's not like windows because it makes it much harder for me to work with let alone understand...but I would think you would expect that from a Windows user trying to convert and instead of getting insulted I would think you'd want to help smooth things out to increase your number. Windows users are whooping your ass in sheer numbers only BECAUSE windows is easy. Linux and Unix softwares are making great strides but the kind of love it or lump it attitude many *nix gurus exhibit towards new people is enough to repeatedly turn off potential converts. Try helping instead of being as ass...[/rant]

Ok back to the topic at hand...I'm learning and progressing albeit slowly and thank you to those of you who have been trying to help. I used the yum guide over at fedorafaq.org to configure my yum and my repositories this afternoon before I went to work and because I ran out of time before I left I called my wife and had her start the "yum -y upgrade" about 2 hours ago. I'm home now and it appears to be chugging right along updating things like python, nautilus, cairo, gnome, atk, etc with an occasional Errno Socket 4 Timeout and "Trying other mirror." It's on around 144 out of 300 of whatever it's doing and I kinda doubt it'll get finished before I go to bed tonight but it is OBVIOUSLY doing something useful and although it may not fix my graphics issue I'm confident that I'm getting somewhere and I'll probably be able to start seeing some real headway in the next few days.

Anyone know if I should expect the yum upgrade to pull in the drivers for the NVIDIA 6150 onboard video on my motherboard? Is there an RPM for them someplace I can snag if it doesn't?
 
You assume that we actually care if more people use linux. We just try to help people that want to try it. We don't actually care if you or anyone else decides to use it. Help is one thing, but listening to someone complain and rant about it is another. Linux users aren't stuck up, they just really don't care what you use. Complaining about it isn't going to help you get help.

Now, back on topic. Here is a link for your nvidia drivers on FC:
http://rpm.livna.org/livna-switcher.html

Past that, I don't know how to install them on FC, because I use Gentoo. I know that you can enable the livna repository and use yum though. That would be the easy way. You can also use the official nvidia installer. It is really up to you.
 
My mistake, I'll try to keep my questions dry and empty from here on out. Thanks for the linkage though I'm trying that as I type this and I'm hoping that it will work no hassles.
 
disturbed said:
You assume that we actually care if more people use linux. We just try to help people that want to try it. We don't actually care if you or anyone else decides to use it. Help is one thing, but listening to someone complain and rant about it is another. Linux users aren't stuck up, they just really don't care what you use. Complaining about it isn't going to help you get help.

Now, back on topic. Here is a link for your nvidia drivers on FC:
http://rpm.livna.org/livna-switcher.html

Past that, I don't know how to install them on FC, because I use Gentoo. I know that you can enable the livna repository and use yum though. That would be the easy way. You can also use the official nvidia installer. It is really up to you.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100% The fact is if everyone used Linux, then we would have the same problems with malware and everything else that goes with it. I hope to god Linux stays a tight group....

Also agree about Gentoo :D

emerge -va nvidia-drivers
eselect opengl set nvidia
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf


Simple really.
 
duby229 said:
I agree with you 100% The fact is if everyone used Linux, then we would have the same problems with malware and everything else that goes with it. I hope to god Linux stays a tight group....
Click to expand...
Compared to how it used to be in the early '90s, some of the "group" associated with Linux is part of the reason why I found a different OS.
 
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