[mythtv-users] nvidia driver woes

[HP-mini]

On Fri, 2013-09-20 at 11:17 -0700, John Finlay wrote:
> On 9/20/2013 10:51 AM, Patrick Ouellette wrote:
> > On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 10:43:53AM -0700, John Finlay wrote:
> >>> On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:31 PM, John Finlay <finlay at moeraki.com> wrote:
> >>>> I used to have an old analog tv on one of my myth frontends which drove it
> >>>> via the nvidia driver tv out (svideo). I upgraded to a new flat panel but I
> >>>> can't get x to start on the system. I finally gave up and did a new install
> >>>> of mythbuntu but as soon as I did the updates the nvidia 304 driver was
> >>>> installed and now X won't start again. It almost seems as if the nvidia card
> >>>> is stuck on tv out as it's primary connection. The xorg log errors are:
> >>>>
> >>>> [    10.004] (II) NVIDIA(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen
> >>>> section
> >>>>          "Default Screen" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
> >>>> [    10.004] (**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
> >>>> [    10.004] (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
> >>>> [    10.004] (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
> >>>> [    10.004] (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
> >>>> [    10.004] (**) NVIDIA(0): Option "NoLogo" "True"
> >>>> [    10.004] (**) NVIDIA(0): Option "DPI" "100x100"
> >>>> [    10.004] (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration
> >>>> [    10.213] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA kernel module!
> >>>> Please ensure
> >>>> [    10.213] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     that there is a supported NVIDIA GPU in
> >>>> this system, and
> >>>> [    10.213] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     that the NVIDIA device files have been
> >>>> created properly.
> >>>> [    10.213] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     Please consult the NVIDIA README for
> >>>> details.
> >>>> [    10.213] (EE) NVIDIA(0):  *** Aborting ***
> >>>> [    10.213] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
> >>>> [    10.213] (II) Unloading nvidia
> >>>> [    10.213] (II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
> >>>> [    10.213] (II) Unloading wfb
> >>>> [    10.213] (II) UnloadModule: "fb"
> >>>> [    10.213] (II) Unloading fb
> >>>> [    10.213] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
> >>>> [    10.213]
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> If I switch to an alternate tty and manually startx all seems to go
> >>>> correctly. Before using this same system with the analog tv I used it with
> >>>> the same flat panel without a problem. I speculate that when I started to
> >>>> use tv out something was changed that now prevents proper use with tv out
> >>>> disabled. Is that possible?
> >>> You did disconnect the sVideo cable right?  IIRC, the cards will
> >>> default to sVideo if it senses the cable connected.
> >>>
> >> Yes and I also disabled TV out in the BIOS. I'm giving up on this
> >> and buying an add in card in the hope that that will be properly
> >> handled by mythbuntu.
> >>
> > Check to be sure you don't have multiple versions of the NVIDIA kernel module
> > hanging around.  If there is a version mismatch between what the module is and
> > the X drivers expect you can see strange things like this.
> >
> > Pat
> >
> I did see this during one of my iterations of changing drivers but in 
> the latest version I installed with the nouveau driver and then 
> installed nvidia-304 using mythbuntu-control-center to avoid any 
> intermediate nvidia drivers but to no avail.
> 
> John
Can you post the whole /var/log/Xorg.0.log ?

Is the nVidia driver version (you're using) still support your h/w ?
Is the driver compiled/installed against your kernel version?

At times in the recent past, the nVidia driver required the nouveau & fb
& vgafb to be blacklisted.

You have to reboot after nVidia driver install for the kernel module to
be loaded.
But I believe the latest versions use dkms & may only require
logout/login.