NVidia 3D driver installation

NOTE: Read these instructions carefully and be aware thet we offer no guarantees. This procedure works for us however and you shouldn't experience any problems.
This mod is also best carried out at the same time as a fresh installation of Mandrake. If you are installing from scratch you should select "expert installation class" when prompted at the start of the installation. At the end of the expert installation procedure you will be offered several versions of X-Windows to choose from. The correct version for this driver is X-Free-4.1.0. (no 3d) . It is important that you DO NOT select X-Free4.1.0 with 3d accelleration support as this will install a kernel that will conflict with the new drivers.

To start you need to visit the NVidia website and download the latest drivers. As of April 8th 2002 this should be driver version 1.0-2880.
You should download either NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-2880.i386.rpm or NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-2880.tar.gz depending on whether you prefer easy (RPM install) or the not much more difficult compiling from tarball.
Next, download the most appropriate version of the NVidia_kernel module rpm / tar.gz file for your distribution and kernel type. Opening a terminal and typing cat /proc/version and pressing the enter key will return the name of the running kernel version if you're not sure. The suffixes up and smp in the module lists relate to single (uni-processor) and multi processor (SMP) kernel versions respectively.

Firstly, we'll cover the rpm installation.

This procedure can be carried out via GnoRPM, Kpackage or whatever rpm you prefer but we're using command line in case you are installing to repair a broken X-Free setup.

On the command line or via a terminal type su and enter your password when prompted to log in as root. Change into the directory containing the rpm files by typing

cd /path/to/directory

check the files are in the folder by typing

ls -l

and checking that they are in the resulting list. If you are using the bash shell you should type in

rpm -i NVIDIA*

Both modules should then be installed and you should proceed to the section below called Modifying XF86config.

Installing from tarballs (tar.gz files)

Open a terminal, type su and enter your password when prompted to gain root priviligies.

cd /path/to/directory

enter the following for each file

tar xvzf NVIDIA_xxxxxxxxxx (where xxxxxxx is the exact version of the GLX and kernel files)

This will create two directories containing the relevant files.

Change into each directory in turn and type

make

When returned to the command prompt

make install

If the word error doesn't appear in the text generated during the make and make install routines it is safe to move onto the section Modifying XF86config.

Modifying XF86config

Back up the file called /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 by renaming it with a new suffix e.g. XF86Config-4.old. Using a text editor such as vi, pico, joe, gedit, kedit etc (still logged in as root) open the file /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. Scroll down through the file until you find the"module" section and locate the line that reads Load "dbe". Immeadiately below this line enter Load "glx" in the same format as the "dbe" line.
scroll down further until you find the line: Driver "nv" in the Graphics Device Section and replace this with: Driver "nvidia" .

Shutdown X-Windows and restart the X-Server. You should see a white screen with an NVidia logo on it. If this appears the new driver is initialising correctly and you should be presented with the normal login screen. If the driver fails try entering the modified XF86Config-4 file an changing the DefaultColorDepth xx line in the screens section to one of the depths listed in the lines below that entry. This should be either 8, 15,16,24 or 32 depending on the capabilities of your video card.

No responsibility is accepted by Stable Platform for any inaccuracies in this document as mistakes do happen. If you feel there is info missing please mail us at Support@stableplatform.comThanks.