Kernel 2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64 akmod-nvidia.x86_64 No graphical display

[Doug Hutcheson]

I just ran the Software Updates package, which installed the new kernel and associated akmod-nvidia packages (amongst others). On reboot, I had only a text display. The Nvidia logo did not appear, so I am guessing something has gone wrong with the install of akmod-nvidia.

But what? And what do I do now?

Following advice from this forum, I have changed from my earlier method of installing kmod-nvida, as it is not always released concurrently with the kernel and I was getting the same no-GUI problem. Using akmod-nvidia was supposed to solve this. Sigh.

I am currently working by booting back to kernel 2.6.40.6-0.fc15.x86_64.

Any ideas will be gratefully accepted "8-)

[ozjd]

I got the new kernel yesterday and akmod did its thing and I was able to boot. Saw the new akmod and kmod come through in today's update and just rebooted again. Everything is fine, running kernel 2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64 (it is really 3.1.1) and nvidia 280.13 with KDE 4.7.3.

Migh be worth checking boot.log after a failed reboot and see what actually failed.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Hmmmm ....
Thanks for the reply, ozjd. I will do as you suggest and have a look at boot.log when I try booting the new kernel.

---------- Post added at 06:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------

That didn't help. All I got was the scrolling display of boot messages one the screen and no GDM. Looked at boot.log, but nothing was amiss. Looked at Xorg.0.log and found:

[    39.797] (II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
[    39.798] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so
[    39.966] (II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[    39.970]    compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[    39.970]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    40.031] (EE) NVIDIA: Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module. Please check your
[    40.032] (EE) NVIDIA:     system's kernel log for additional error messages.
[    40.032] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
[    40.032] (II) Unloading nvidia
[    40.032] (EE) Failed to load module "nvidia" (module-specific error, 0)
[    40.032] (EE) No drivers available.
[    40.032] 
Fatal server error:
[    40.032] no screens found
[    40.032] 
Please consult the Fedora Project support 
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help.

Checked my yum.log and found, as I thought:

Nov 20 13:13:05 Installed: kernel-devel-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64
Nov 20 13:13:06 Updated: 1:akmod-nvidia-280.13-2.fc15.7.x86_64
... snip ...
Nov 20 13:13:13 Updated: kernel-headers-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64
... snip ...
Nov 20 13:13:35 Installed: kernel-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64
Nov 20 13:13:36 Erased: kmod-nvidia-2.6.40.3-0.fc15.x86_64

So, it looks as though the nvidia module is not present, even though the logs tell me it has been updated.

I should add that the last entry on the display is of the form:

[  40.787513]systemd-readahead-collect[502]: Failed to read event: Value too large for defined type.

This is the form of message I used to see when kmod-nvidia had not been installed.

Now what can I do? Is there any point in trying to roll back the kernel? I'm a bit baffled as to what can have happened.

[ozjd]

When the akmod updated you should have also received the kmod, I did. But that shouldn't have made a difference as the akmod should have created it. Maybe try reinstalling the akmod?

[Doug Hutcheson]

Thanks for your continued help. "8-)

Tried reinstalling akmod-nvidia, which went OK but made no difference to the boot.
Tried directly installing kmod-nvidia (yum showed: kmod-nvidia x86_64 1:280.13-2.fc15.7), with the same result.
Still have to boot into the previous kernel to get a GDM.

What file would I need to touch or delete, in order for akmod-nvidia to rebuild the driver?

[ozjd]

To the best of my knowledge it looks for the kmod and if it doesn't exist the akmod creates it.

This seems to say that too - http://fedorasolved.org/Members/zcat/akmods/

Just a thought but you do have the correct akmod for your card? The same one as the old kernel?

[Doug Hutcheson]

Yes, no change to the akmod. Once I got it working, it just worked every time. I don't understand why it broke. Honest, occifer, I didn't touch anyfink!

[ozjd]

I'm not sure what else to suggest.

Do you need the nvidia driver? I found nouveau works quite well in 15. The only reason I use it is because of a problem with Flash in Chrome. Some sites crash with nouveau but work with the nvidia. KDE Desktop effects work perfectly with nouveau which is something that couldn't be said for previous versions.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Followed the link you gave and tried to force a rebuild:

[doug@cardraeh ~]$ sudo akmods --kernels 2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64
[sudo] password for doug: 
Checking kmods exist for 2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64            [  OK  ]
[doug@cardraeh ~]$

I think this might be the track to follow. If you can tell me the name of the driver file which akmod-nvidia is supposed to create, then I can zap it and try the above command again. That should force the module to be rebuilt, shouldn't it? I am expecting that the driver has been created with a glitch - zero length file or something - and akmods doesn't know that it needs to be repaired.

Just guessing here ...

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 PM ----------

Sorry ozjd, our posts crossed. Not sure if I need Nvidia or not. I have been using it for so long that it is just second nature to install it.
I am betting that deleting the dud driver file will allow akmods to rebuild it correctly - whaddya think?
"8-)

[ozjd]

It is the kmod-nvidia. You can just do
yum erase kmod-nvidia

Yes we are crossing. Worth a try.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Thinking that the compiled kmod-nvidia for the current kernel might now be in rpmfusion, I tried this:

[doug@cardraeh ~]$ yum search kmod-nvidia
... snipped lots of matches ...
kmod-nvidia-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64.x86_64 : nvidia kernel module(s) for 2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64

So, let's install it:

[doug@cardraeh ~]$ sudo yum install kmod-nvidia-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64.x86_64
... snip ...
Package 1:kmod-nvidia-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64-280.13-2.fc15.7.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Nothing to do

So, let's force it to update:

[doug@cardraeh ~]$ sudo yum reinstall kmod-nvidia-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64.x86_64
Loaded plugins: langpacks, presto, refresh-packagekit
Setting up Reinstall Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package kmod-nvidia-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64.x86_64 1:280.13-2.fc15.7 will be reinstalled
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

That installed a 3.3Mb kmod-nvidia

=================================================================================================================
 Package                                 Arch        Version                Repository                      Size
=================================================================================================================
Reinstalling:
 kmod-nvidia-2.6.41.1-1.fc15.x86_64      x86_64      1:280.13-2.fc15.7      rpmfusion-nonfree-updates      3.3 M

Now to see what happens when I reboot.
Waiting ...

... and it worked! EXCEPT that I now have no Bluetooth drivers! AAAAAARGH!

Anyway, the kmod-nvidia problem must have been due to akmods compiling a dud copy of the driver, which resisted all efforts to remove until I forced the reinstall of the compiled package from rpmfusion.

Thanks very much for walking me through this. I now know more than I did.

Now, how the BH do I get Bluetooth up and running? I use a Bluetooth mouse and it is horrendous using the touchpad. Sigh.

Later:

... 's orright. I powered down, restarted and Bluetooth came back.

All working fine now. Thank you linesmen, thank you ball boys.

[NeilEBryant]

Thanks; same problem.

Updated to kernel 2.6.41.4-1.fc15, and PC wouldn't boot past the end of boot.log.

Reinstalled kmod-nvidia, and now it works.

For the record, it doesn't seem to have affected my bluetooth.