I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing the
screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
The symptoms are as follows.
I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
I run startx and x-windows opens showing the desk top with a steady
background.
I move the mouse and click in the bottom left-hand corner and get a short
menu.
I choose an item, say file manager, from the menu whereupon the chosen
items appears to be displayed momentarily only to be almost immediately
overwritten by the desktop background. This behaviour, i.e. the
momentary showing of the item chosen following by its being overwritten
by the background, for a while continues, and then, sometimes the item
chosen is displayed steadily. However, clicking on any entry within the
item chosen causes a further sequence of momentary displays and
overwritings.
My theory is that the NVIDIA GeForce drivers which I believe are included
for the first time in Slackware, cannot handle my graphics card which,
although being an NVIDIA GeForce card, is very old. To be precise it is
a GeForce MX 4000 card, which the NVIDIA web-site classifies as "legacy".
I therefore have three questions, and I would be very grateful for any
help or suggestions.
(1) Is it likely that my theory above is correct?
(2) Is it possible to stop the NVIDIA drivers being loaded?
(3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, it is
called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics card?
Kind regards
Brian
PS Possibly I should say that x windows runs perfectly on my equipment
under Slackware 12.2 except that I am limited to a screen resolution
having a 4x3 ratio, whereas my vdu is 5x4.
doricn...@btinternet.com (Brian) writes:
> I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing the
> screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
> The symptoms are as follows.
> I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
> I run startx and x-windows opens showing the desk top with a steady
> background.
> I move the mouse and click in the bottom left-hand corner and get a
> short menu.
> I choose an item, say file manager, from the menu whereupon the chosen
> items appears to be displayed momentarily only to be almost
> immediately overwritten by the desktop background. This behaviour,
> i.e. the momentary showing of the item chosen following by its being
> overwritten by the background, for a while continues, and then,
> sometimes the item chosen is displayed steadily. However, clicking on
> any entry within the item chosen causes a further sequence of
> momentary displays and overwritings.
> My theory is that the NVIDIA GeForce drivers which I believe are
> included for the first time in Slackware, cannot handle my graphics
> card which, although being an NVIDIA GeForce card, is very old. To be
> precise it is a GeForce MX 4000 card, which the NVIDIA web-site
> classifies as "legacy".
> I therefore have three questions, and I would be very grateful for any
> help or suggestions.
> (1) Is it likely that my theory above is correct?
> (2) Is it possible to stop the NVIDIA drivers being loaded?
> (3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, it is
> called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics card?
Hi Brian,
Over at www.slackbuilds.org they have slackbuilds for a suitable legacy
driver and kernel modules for your card, along with instructions.
To stop wrong driver being loaded the xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist
package in /extra might do the trick! Or you can do it manually, by addng
a file
BLACKLIST-nouveau.conf to the /etc/modprobe.d which contains the single
line
blacklist nouveau
assuming your system IS loading the nouveau module at the moment of course!
Brian wrote:
> I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing the
> screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
> The symptoms are as follows.
> I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
It's called a prompt. Never say dos prompt again unless you're working
on a dos/win system. ;-)
[ ... snip ... ]
> (3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, it is
> called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics card?
The latest version is currently NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.20-pkg1.run
I installed that version a few weeks ago when I ungraded my system
from slackware 13.1 to 13.37.
I don't know about NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run but the latest
version will disable the currently used video kernel module.
Don't start X. Just run NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.20-pkg1.run as root from the prompt to install the driver.
> Brian wrote:
> > I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing > > the
> > screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
> > The symptoms are as follows.
> > I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
> It's called a prompt. Never say dos prompt again unless you're > working
> on a dos/win system. ;-)
> [ ... snip ... ]
> > (3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, > > it is
> > called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics card?
> The latest version is currently NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.20-pkg1.run
> I installed that version a few weeks ago when I ungraded my system
> from slackware 13.1 to 13.37.
> I don't know about NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run but the latest
> version will disable the currently used video kernel module.
> Don't start X. Just run NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.20-pkg1.run as root > from the prompt to install the driver.
> Regards,
> Kees
> -- > Kees Theunissen.
Thank you Kees for correcting my terminology. Although I spent many
years, before I retired many years ago, writing code for dos, and then
for windows, as you have probably realised I am a complete novice with
linux.
Thank you also for your advice. My problem is that I do not know how to
install the driver you refer to. I do not know what the command line
should be, and, possibly more important, I do not know - given that
x-windows is effectively not working - how to introduce a new driver to
the system.
Any further guidance would be greatly appreciated.
> > I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing > > the
> > screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
> > The symptoms are as follows.
> > I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
> > I run startx and x-windows opens showing the desk top with a > > steady
> > background.
> > I move the mouse and click in the bottom left-hand corner and get > > a
> > short menu.
> > I choose an item, say file manager, from the menu whereupon the > > chosen
> > items appears to be displayed momentarily only to be almost
> > immediately overwritten by the desktop background. This > > behaviour,
> > i.e. the momentary showing of the item chosen following by its > > being
> > overwritten by the background, for a while continues, and then,
> > sometimes the item chosen is displayed steadily. However, > > clicking on
> > any entry within the item chosen causes a further sequence of
> > momentary displays and overwritings.
> > My theory is that the NVIDIA GeForce drivers which I believe are
> > included for the first time in Slackware, cannot handle my > > graphics
> > card which, although being an NVIDIA GeForce card, is very old.
> > To be
> > precise it is a GeForce MX 4000 card, which the NVIDIA web-site
> > classifies as "legacy".
> > I therefore have three questions, and I would be very grateful > > for any
> > help or suggestions.
> > (1) Is it likely that my theory above is correct?
> > (2) Is it possible to stop the NVIDIA drivers being loaded?
> > (3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, it > > is
> > called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics card?
> Hi Brian,
> Over at www.slackbuilds.org they have slackbuilds for a suitable > legacy
> driver and kernel modules for your card, along with instructions.
> To stop wrong driver being loaded the xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist
> package in /extra might do the trick! Or you can do it manually, by > addng
> a file
> BLACKLIST-nouveau.conf to the /etc/modprobe.d which contains the > single
> line
> blacklist nouveau
> assuming your system IS loading the nouveau module at the moment of > course!
Firstly, I could not find the "xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist" package.
Indeed, I could not find a directory entitled, or ending with, "/extra"
anywhere.
Secondly, I added an additional file, as you said, to the
"/etc/modprobe.d" directory, the file be entitled "Blacklist-nouveau.conf"
and containing the single line "blacklist nouveau", but it had no effect.
After rebooting the x windows screen flickered as before. I note,
though, that you added "assuming [that my system] is loading the nouveau
module", but I was unable to check this.
I also checked with www.slackbuilds.org but I was unable to find any
driver for my NVIDIA graphics card. However, the site did contain a
package for installing a program called "inkscape" which I had been
looking for. I think this would be called an unintended bonus!
Any further guidance would be appreciated, but please note Kees's post.
Brian wrote:
> I do not know what the command line
> should be
Log in as root and type "sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run". Once X is up and running, search the web for the Slack book and a bash tutorial. You probably have some reading to do because we are talking basics here. ;)
>> > I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing
>> > the screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
>> > The symptoms are as follows.
>> > I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
>> > I run startx and x-windows opens showing the desk top with a
>> > steady background.
>> > I move the mouse and click in the bottom left-hand corner and get
>> > a short menu.
>> > I choose an item, say file manager, from the menu whereupon the
>> > chosen items appears to be displayed momentarily only to be almost
>> > immediately overwritten by the desktop background. This
>> > behaviour, i.e. the momentary showing of the item chosen following
>> > by its being overwritten by the background, for a while continues,
>> > and then, sometimes the item chosen is displayed steadily.
>> > However, clicking on any entry within the item chosen causes a
>> > further sequence of momentary displays and overwritings.
>> > My theory is that the NVIDIA GeForce drivers which I believe are
>> > included for the first time in Slackware, cannot handle my
>> > graphics card which, although being an NVIDIA GeForce card, is
>> > very old. To be precise it is a GeForce MX 4000 card, which the
>> > NVIDIA web-site classifies as "legacy".
>> > I therefore have three questions, and I would be very grateful for
>> > any help or suggestions.
>> > (1) Is it likely that my theory above is correct?
>> > (2) Is it possible to stop the NVIDIA drivers being loaded?
>> > (3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, it
>> > is called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics
>> > card?
>> Hi Brian,
>> Over at www.slackbuilds.org they have slackbuilds for a suitable
>> legacy driver and kernel modules for your card, along with
>> instructions.
>> To stop wrong driver being loaded the xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist
>> package in /extra might do the trick! Or you can do it manually, by
>> addng a file
>> BLACKLIST-nouveau.conf to the /etc/modprobe.d which contains the
>> single line
>> blacklist nouveau
>> assuming your system IS loading the nouveau module at the moment of
>> course!
> Thanks Glyn.
> Two points.
> Firstly, I could not find the "xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist" package.
> Indeed, I could not find a directory entitled, or ending with,
> "/extra" anywhere.
Well, if you follow Kees route you don't need it, but just for reference
if you are running 32 bit then it is here:-
> Secondly, I added an additional file, as you said, to the
> "/etc/modprobe.d" directory, the file be entitled
> "Blacklist-nouveau.conf" and containing the single line "blacklist
> nouveau", but it had no effect. After rebooting the x windows screen
> flickered as before. I note, though, that you added "assuming [that
> my system] is loading the nouveau module", but I was unable to check
> this.
Well that won't help unless you have installed the right nvidia driver!
And did you call the file BLACKLIST-nouveau.conf or
Blacklist-nouveau.conf? I don't know if case matters on this one but it
probably does!
To check which kernel modules are currently loaded, run the command
lsmod as root.
> I also checked with www.slackbuilds.org but I was unable to find any
> driver for my NVIDIA graphics card.
I believe that the nvidia-legacy96 driver and kernel module packages will
do the business for you if you care to use them, but see below.
> However, the site did contain a package for installing a program called
> "inkscape" which I had been looking for. I think this would be called
> an unintended bonus!
Result!
> Any further guidance would be appreciated, but please note Kees's
> post.
The approach suggested by Kees (and explained further by Martyn) should
work. I suggest you try that and let us know how you get on.
doricn...@btinternet.com (Brian) wrote:
> *From:* doricn...@btinternet.com (Brian)
> *Date:* Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:20 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
> I have just installed Slackware 13.37 but with x-window showing the
> screen flickers so much that the system is unusable.
> The symptoms are as follows.
> I boot into Slackware and get the dos prompt.
> I run startx and x-windows opens showing the desk top with a steady
> background.
> I move the mouse and click in the bottom left-hand corner and get a > short
> menu.
> I choose an item, say file manager, from the menu whereupon the > chosen
> items appears to be displayed momentarily only to be almost > immediately
> overwritten by the desktop background. This behaviour, i.e. the
> momentary showing of the item chosen following by its being > overwritten
> by the background, for a while continues, and then, sometimes the > item
> chosen is displayed steadily. However, clicking on any entry > within the
> item chosen causes a further sequence of momentary displays and
> overwritings.
> My theory is that the NVIDIA GeForce drivers which I believe are > included
> for the first time in Slackware, cannot handle my graphics card > which,
> although being an NVIDIA GeForce card, is very old. To be precise > it is
> a GeForce MX 4000 card, which the NVIDIA web-site classifies as > "legacy".
> I therefore have three questions, and I would be very grateful for > any
> help or suggestions.
> (1) Is it likely that my theory above is correct?
> (2) Is it possible to stop the NVIDIA drivers being loaded?
> (3) How do I install the correct driver (which I already have, it > is
> called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run) for my graphics card?
> Kind regards
> Brian
> PS Possibly I should say that x windows runs perfectly on my > equipment
> under Slackware 12.2 except that I am limited to a screen resolution
> having a 4x3 ratio, whereas my vdu is 5x4.
Thanks everyone for your advice and patience.
I ran "sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run" as Martin suggested.
(This actually took longer than I thought it would, because, being a
novice, I took Martin's instruction literally, whereas I had to locate,
and to log into, the directory of NVIDIA..... I should add that this is
not a criticism of Martin, rather it is a consequence of my ignorance.)
However, eventually I installed the driver, and during the installation
process it loaded a file -
"/etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf"
to disable an existing driver, and it also correctly identified my
graphics card.
At this point everything looked fine.
I then rebooted and ran "startx", but unfortunately this concluded with
the messages "Failed to allocate/map the primary surface", and "Fatal
server error".
As recommended by the system, I then looked in the log file. This file
was several screen-full's of data, including near the end the correct
identification of the native resolution of my monitor, and ending with
the entry "Add Screen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0".
I tried re-installing the driver, and rebooting, but nothing changed.
Thus, although I have learnt quite a bit about some of the basic
command-line processes of linux, I am still unable to run slackware
13.37.
Incidentally, since I do have a dvd of slackware 12.2, I installed that
version and installed into it the graphics card driver. The driver
appeared to load correctly, but when I ran X-windows its resolution was
1024x768 and could not be changed, whereas my monitor is 1280x1024. In
other words the driver appeared to have no effect at all.
Obviously, any further suggestions would be very welcome.
>> Obviously, any further suggestions would be very welcome.
> can you post the /var/log/Xorg.0.log after a failed startx? That should
> give us some idea.
> Martin
Thanks Martin
I re-installed slackware doing everything as last time, but this time x-windows opened properly. In other words the error that I reported in a previous post did not occur, and all is not working.
I now have to work on the network, but at the very least Samba is well documented.
