SuSE Linux 8.0 & GeForce MX 400

[VampyreUK]

Hi,

I'm new (real new) to the Linux scene and I have just bought a GeForce2 card and found that SuSE Linux 8.0 (as per the SuSE SDB or Support Database) does not support it. It does tell me, however, where to get the drivers and I have downloaded them. I do not know what to do next though!

If I put the new card in will Linux drop down to a low res to allow me to handle it graphically or is this a command line job?

Any advice is appreciated :-)

Sorry for being a bit dumb but Linux is SOOOO different from what I'm used to :-(

I will continue researching the SuSE SDB.

VampyreUK

[airhead]

Welcome to LJR!

You will still be able to use your computer fine without the drivers but to take advantage of OpenGL, download the latest drivers from here http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=linux

I would recommend using the source files but to make it easy, download the SuSE rpm's. Just follow the instructions on the page.

I don't use SuSE myself but you will be able to install them through a GUI. Does anyone know if YaST installs rpm's?

[Schotty]

I do believe that SuSE can thru YAST2.


Yup it works.

[Black666]

I would go with the rpm's.
I tried the sources too on my Suse 8.0 install but somehow it didn't work out.
Plus rpm's are easier to install. I think for a newbie it's best to install the drivers with rpm and then, if you are familiar with rpm, try source compiling.

Btw: I would configure Linux to boot to the command line, install the drivers there (this way is also recommended by NVidia) and if everything works fine boot back to X.

[Tyr_7BE]

I would go with the rpm's.
I tried the sources too on my Suse 8.0 install but somehow it didn't work out.
Plus rpm's are easier to install. I think for a newbie it's best to install the drivers with rpm and then, if you are familiar with rpm, try source compiling.

Btw: I would configure Linux to boot to the command line, install the drivers there (this way is also recommended by NVidia) and if everything works fine boot back to X.

This is the way I do it too, and it works like a dream for me. Good luck

[VampyreUK]

Hi,

I'd just like to say thanks as it appears that I have resolved the problem ... of course 'I' is a bit of misnomer as I couldn't have done it without help!

The problem was the installation of SuSE Linux 8.0 on a system with a GeForce 2 MX 400 (specifically a 64Mb ABIT Siluro) video card in it.

The spec of my system is:

* ASUSTek P4 motherboard with Promise Raid Lite
* P4 1.7GHz CPU
* 512Mb memory
* 60Gb drive (Promise Raid Lite array on 2 x 30Gb drives ... documented in SuSES SDB)
* ABIT Siluro GeForce 2 MX 400 64Mb Video

However I had a TNT Ultra card in it when I purchased S8 a couple of weeks back ... incidentally I chose S8 on the strength that it supported (natively) the onboard Promise Raid Controller. In the event it turned out to be more complex but, hey, that's life :-)

Back to the problem ... I configured it on the raid drive selecting the default with Office install but adding Gnome and the installation proceeded well until the system restarts when, during the graphics detection phase, the system locks (black screen, hard reset required.

I got a lot of advice, where to get the drivers & various other solutions none of which, individually, seemed to work too well but yesterday I decided to approach it rationally and apply all the solutions:

1. I replaced my original video card and rebuilt the machine.
2. I edited /etc/inittab to force a max run level of 3 and restarted.
3. I applied the SMP P4 patch (http://sdb.suse.de/en/sdb/html/fhassel_p4.html)
4. I applied the SAX2 detection patches (http://sdb.suse.de/en/sdb/html/wessels_sax2-80.html)
5. I upgraded the nVidia GeForce drivers (http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=linux)
6. Powered down the unit and switched video cards
7. Powered up and ran the command "switch2nvidia_glx"
8. Ran Sax2 as per SuSE SDB (http://sdb.suse.de/en/sdb/html/wessels_sax2.html)
9. Ran X and it worked!
10. Re-edited /etc/inittab to put the run level back to 3 and restarted.

That's it. Of course it does beg the question that there may be a simpler method and that not all of those actions may have been necessary but I think the majority probably were. It was also beneficial (in the above) that I actually had a spare AGP card and I am not sure how others in my position would have handled the same problem.

Being new to Linux a lot of it is a mystery to me but I'm learning ... one of the positive aspects of getting these kind of problems is that I do learn about how to handle an OS at a level I haven't experienced with Windows since way back in the Windows 3.xx days.

Anyway I'd like to thank some people (not just here) for their help ... specifically I'd like to thank:

Andrei (my personal Linux mentor <G&gt for his invaluable help and encouragement.
Black666, Schotty, Segfault & Tyr_7BE of the LinuxJunior forum.
Peter Taylor, Jonas Helgi Palsson, Dale Kosan & Matthew Johnson of the Suse Linux 'E' maillist
CarlyWarly & Thor4Linux of the LinuxNewbie forum
and Dagda of the LinuxBeginner forum

Thanks :-)

VampyreUK

[coltrane]

sounds like a PET to me :P

[thor4linux]

The thing i don't understand is that the TNT and GF 2 cards should both be suported under SuSE w/o any fancy confiuration proceedures. Nvidia uses a Unified driver system, so the same driver works for all their cards. I had to install SuSE 7.1 with my old TNT2 because X 4.0.2 didn't recognize my GF 3 on install. And i'm to new to set up X by myself. but once the X was configured i swaped out my Cards and the GF 3 worked under X 4.0.2. then i installed the invidia drivers and all was good. With SuSE 8, X recognised my GF3 and then i used Yast online update to update the Nvidia Drivers, because there was a bug in the drivers that came with 8, and everything runs super smooth.

Oh well.....

As long as you got your system up Vampyre and learned a littel in the process. that's all that counts.

[Black666]

Wow, nice procedure.
At least it works