[mythtv-users] [ATrpms-users] Updated from fedora 10 to 12 and have issues with nvidia driver loading

Jarod Wilson jarod at wilsonet.com
Fri Nov 27 03:17:12 UTC 2009


On 11/26/2009 10:08 PM, Michelle Dupuis wrote:
> Same here..I had to recompile the kernel (initrd) without rivafb/nvidiafb
> and then the Nvidia driver started to work

Um. Just for the record, building a new initrd is nothing even *close* 
to "recompile the kernel". A new initrd is just a compressed image of 
stuff that is either scripts or already compiled. Recompiling the kernel 
involves building a new kernel from source code. Very very different things.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
> [mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Jarod Wilson
> Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 9:02 PM
> To: Myth TV Users List
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] [ATrpms-users] Updated from fedora 10 to 12 and
> have issues with nvidia driver loading
>
> On 11/26/2009 01:06 PM, Gabe Rubin wrote:
>> On Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 9:46 AM, Jarod Wilson<jarod at wilsonet.com>   wrote:
>>> On 11/26/2009 12:08 PM, Gabe Rubin wrote:
>>>>
>>>> As many pointed out, adding  "nouveau.modeset=0" at the end of the
>>>> kernel line in grub.conf is the solution.  I also specified a VGA
>>>> mode, but that caused more problems so I changed that to "vga=normal".
>>>>    Not sure if a vga argument is needed.
>>>
>>> Its not. And nouveau.modeset=0 isn't strictly required. If you have
>>> the nouveau module blacklisted, a newly built initrd won't include
>>> the nouveau module, and you can boot w/o any extra params.
>>
>> I have this stanza in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:
>> blacklist nouveau
>>
>>
>> That did not help me until I actually added the kernel parameter in
>> grub.conf.  I did reboot.
>
> You're missing a step. The nouveau module is already in your existing
> initrd, where it will be loaded *before* your root filesystem is mounted,
> *before* the blacklist file can be read. You have to rebuild your initrd
> after adding the blacklist entry. I've done this. I know it works. Later
> kernels will get installed and have their initrd generated with the
> blacklisting already in place, and their initrd won't have nouveau.
>
>>>> I guess I will need to add this to the kernel line each time I
>>>> upgrade the kernel.
>>>
>>> No. The kernel update mechanism is bright enough to carry args from
>>> your existing grub stanza to the new one.
>>>
>>> However, as I said above, if nouveau is blacklisted, a newly created
>>> initrd (including the one that'll be created when you install a new
>>> kernel) won't have have the nouveau module in it, and thus won't need the
> param anyway.
>>
>> That is good to know (although, as I said, blacklisting did not seem to
> help).
>
> See above.
>
>>>> Also strange, it appears that atrpms script write to
>>>> /etc/modprobe.conf to specify the driver version when that has been
>>>> depreciated and it should go into /etc/modprobe.d/local.conf.
>>>
>>> Or better yet, /etc/modprobe.d/<somethingunique>.conf.
>>>
>>
>> Any way to make this automatic or is that just the choice of the
>> package distributor (i.e., should I let Axel know about this situation
>> or can I fix it myself)?
>
> Package distributor. I believe RPM Fusion's nvidia drivers include either an
> /etc/modprobe.d/nouveau.conf or nvidia.conf for this purpose.
>
> ...
>>>> I personally don't think that fedora should make it this difficult
>>>> to run the nvidia drive and attempt to impose the nouveau driver
>>>> upon users.
>>>
>>> Um. I'm not even sure where to begin with a reply to this. Fedora
>>> ships a functional driver that Just Works, complete with kernel mode
>>> setting, dual-head support, etc, and that shouldn't be "imposed" on
>>> people? And the Fedora project is supposed to do what exactly to make
>>> it as easy as possible for you to install a 3rd-party binary-only driver?
>>>
>>
>> Re-reading what I wrote, I see why offense could be taken to what I
>> said.  I respect that fedora comes shipping with a free (in all senses
>> of the word) and functional driver for nvidia cards.  I said "impose"
>> because my thinking was if you have to much with grub.conf and add
>> kernel parameters, that is very tricky for most users to figure out
>> how to get the binary drivers going.  Of course, the reality is
>> probably is that fedora wants to ship a highly functional system that
>> works out of the box without resorting to the binary non-free stuff
>> and if someone wants to use the nvidia binary, they should figure out
>> how to do it.  My frustration was that it took a lot of time for me to
>> figure out how to do that, which was the result of the choice to put
>> in nouveau.  But upon reflection, that was not a bad thing that the
>> fedora team did, and I should not have implied or directly stated that
>> it was.
>
>
> Wasn't offended, just saddened that all the hard work being done to create a
> free and open driver that Just Works gets stomped on because it made it
> harder to install a 3rd-party binary blob. :)


-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com


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