YUM Update breaks nvidia driver

Gaurav Prabhu · #1 11th March 2010, 04:41 PM

I updated my fedora 12 GNOME installation. Now Compiz fusion is not working. It says Accelerated 3D support not found. Though Nvidia drivers are already installed. Now I can't even ALT+TAB between open applications.

I tried "metacity -- replace" but then windows wore a weird look with only a minimize button. No sign of maximise & close buttons.

NoOneElse · #2 11th March 2010, 05:16 PM

Ok metacity's theme is on the Appearance preference under its own tab (right click on desktop -> Change desktop background ->theme tab)

Are you using kmod or the drivers from nvidia?

the drivers from nvidia will need to be reinstalled everytime you update the kernel or Xorg

The kmod sometimes lags the kernel release for a few days so revert to your old kernel until kmod is released

I hope I made sense here

amazoneveryday · #3 11th March 2010, 07:17 PM

When I regress to a previous kernel, I can verify I'm still using the proprietary nvidia driver but I don't have 3D acceleration there, either. I think while I was furiously installing and uninstalling packages (i removed the kmod package to try the akmod package with the new kernel - which didn't work) I broke support for 3D acceleration in the older kernels.

How do I install the working kmod for an older kernel? The last yum transaction I made was "install kmod-nvidia" but even on the older kernels, no go.

If you can point me in the right direction, I can probably figure it out. I just need a lead so I can start reading and experimenting.

Thanks!

***Firewing1*** · #4 11th March 2010, 07:30 PM

Try updating the kernel if possible, then uninstall the following packages if they're installed:

Code:

kmod-nvidia
kmod-nvidia-[any kernel version]
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs

Then reboot and install kmod-nvidia. Remember that on Fedora 12 you need to follow the extra step given on this page: http://rpmfusion.org/Howto/nVidia

NoOneElse · #5 11th March 2010, 07:31 PM

I my self was running in to all kinds of problems with kmod too. so I just went ahead and used the nvidia driver from nvidias website and intalled it following the installers intructions.

you need gcc, the kernel-devel and I think kernel-headers for the kernel you intend to keep

I have the latest kernel so I use the latest kernel-devel and kernel-header

start the terminal, su -, init 3, login as root, cd to the dowloads folder (that is where my newly downloaded driver went) and type " sh Nvidia.........bin" I dont remeber the exact name and it may be different for your card than mine.

I'm typing this at work so I can't view my home machines settings. Sorry

there ight be some warnings about symbolic links and other due to the fact that u used the rpmfusion installer but once the installer finishes all is good.

reboot and enjoy

The down side is that you must perform this task everytime you get a kernel update but so far this has been the most reliable way to do it. At least for me.

I haven't bother with kmod in about 2 months

amazoneveryday · #6 11th March 2010, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firewing1

Try updating the kernel if possible, then uninstall the following packages if they're installed:

Code:

kmod-nvidia
kmod-nvidia-[any kernel version]
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs

Then reboot and install kmod-nvidia. Remember that on Fedora 12 you need to follow the extra step given on this page: http://rpmfusion.org/Howto/nVidia

@Firewing1
Updating the kernel is why/when my 3D acceleration stopped in the first place.
I opted not to recreate the initrd (it looked messy and complicated) and edited the grub.conf instead.
My grub.conf has the nouveau blacklisted in every kernel entry.
I ran the "setsebool -P allow_execstack on" command that the tutorial suggested.

@NoOneElse
I'm going to do that right now. I'm kind of irked at the moment and at least if I screw that up I can only blame myself, rather than slow-to-update repositories. If I don't post again in the next few hours it means I don't have a functioning X environment!

***Firewing1*** · #7 11th March 2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amazoneveryday

@Firewing1
Updating the kernel is why/when my 3D acceleration stopped in the first place.
I opted not to recreate the initrd (it looked messy and complicated) and edited the grub.conf instead.
My grub.conf has the nouveau blacklisted in every kernel entry.
I ran the "setsebool -P allow_execstack on" command that the tutorial suggested.

Please attach a copy of /var/log/Xorg.0.log to this thread, it will provide some useful debugging information as to why acceleration isn't enabled. What GPU are you using?
Edit: @Which GPU - Sorry, I should have read your signature first

Quote:

Palit GTS 250 1GB

amazoneveryday · #8 11th March 2010, 08:01 PM

akmod did the trick, apparently.

as root:

Code:

yum remove kmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
yum install akmod-nvidia
reboot

I cannot explain why akmod works now but did not work 12+ hours ago.

***bob*** · #9 11th March 2010, 08:06 PM

It's been my experience that while any kmod-nvidia is present (even old ones), the akmod won't build. When you removed the kmod, it allows the akmod to take over.

***Hlingler*** · #10 11th March 2010, 08:29 PM

That's not the way it's supposed to work: akmod-* should build any missing kmods for any kernels. This appears to be a bug, or at the very least an unexpected "glitch".

V

P.S.

Quote:

Updating the kernel is why/when my 3D acceleration stopped in the first place.
I opted not to recreate the initrd (it looked messy and complicated) and edited the grub.conf instead.
My grub.conf has the nouveau blacklisted in every kernel entry.
I ran the "setsebool -P allow_execstack on" command that the tutorial suggested.

Not a good idea to skip this step, but re-installing the nvidia packages probably automatically did this for you.

***bob*** · #11 11th March 2010, 08:32 PM

Well, this has been happening for me for well over a year now. If all kmods are gone, then akmod takes over, however if I've got any kmods left over, even ones from some forgotten kernel, then akmod remains mute. I had believed that it was the way they were designed to 'work together' - kmod takes the lead if there's one present, akmod if none are present.

***Hlingler*** · #12 11th March 2010, 08:37 PM

I'd suggest filing a bug report with RPMFusion, since this is not the expected behavior (http://rpmfusion.org/Packaging/KernelModules/Akmods):

Quote:

But the user still needs to do something manually when he needs a kmod for a newly installed kernel. This is what the akmodsd daemon is trying to fix: it's a script normally started from init on bootup that checks if all kmods are present. If a kmod is not found then akmods tries to rebuild kmod.srpms found in a certain place in the filesystem; if that works it will install the rebuilt kmod into the running kernel automatically.

I cannot file a bug report, since I don't use these packages.

V

leigh123linux · #13 11th March 2010, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob

It's been my experience that while any kmod-nvidia is present (even old ones), the akmod won't build. When you removed the kmod, it allows the akmod to take over.

akmod-nvidia wont build if the kmod-nvidia package is installed
To rectify try

Code:

su
yum install akmod-nvidia
rpm -e kmod-nvidia

The kmod-nvidia package isn't a kernel module

Code:

[leigh@localhost ~]$ yum info kmod-nvidia
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, presto, refresh-packagekit, remove-with-leaves,
              : show-leaves
Available Packages
Name       : kmod-nvidia
Arch       : x86_64
Version    : 190.53
Release    : 2.fc12
Size       : 30 k
Repo       : rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
Summary    : Metapackage which tracks in nvidia kernel module for newest kernel
URL        : http://www.nvidia.com/
License    : Redistributable, no modification permitted
Description: This is a meta-package without payload which sole purpose is to
           : require the nvidia kernel module(s) for the newest kernel.
           : to make sure you get it together with a new kernel.

[leigh@localhost ~]$

The kmod-nvidia packages with a kernel version don't block akmod-nvidia

Code:

[leigh@localhost ~]$ yum info kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.9-70.fc12.x86_64-195.36.08-1.fc12.x86_64
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, presto, refresh-packagekit, remove-with-leaves,
              : show-leaves
Installed Packages
Name       : kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.9-70.fc12.x86_64
Arch       : x86_64
Version    : 195.36.08
Release    : 1.fc12
Size       : 13 M
Repo       : installed
Summary    : nvidia kernel module(s) for 2.6.32.9-70.fc12.x86_64
URL        : http://www.nvidia.com/
License    : Redistributable, no modification permitted
Description: This package provides the nvidia kernel modules built for the Linux
           : kernel 2.6.32.9-70.fc12.x86_64 for the x86_64 family of processors.

[leigh@localhost ~]$

Code:

[leigh@localhost ~]$ rpm -qa |grep nvidiakmod-nvidia-2.6.32.9-67.fc12.x86_64-195.36.08-1.fc12.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs-195.36.08-1.fc12.x86_64
nvidia-xconfig-1.0-2.fc12.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-195.36.08-1.fc12.x86_64
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.9-70.fc12.x86_64-195.36.08-1.fc12.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs-195.36.08-1.fc12.i686
akmod-nvidia-195.36.08-1.fc12.x86_64
nvidia-settings-1.0-3.4.fc12.x86_64
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.9-64.fc12.x86_64-190.53-1.fc12.1.x86_64
[leigh@localhost ~]$

***bob*** · #14 11th March 2010, 08:47 PM

(what he said).

amazoneveryday · #15 11th March 2010, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hlingler

I'd suggest filing a bug report with RPMFusion, since this is not the expected behavior (http://rpmfusion.org/Packaging/KernelModules/Akmods):I cannot file a bug report, since I don't use these packages.

V

How do I file a bug report? I've never done it... I'm so thankful free software works at all I'm loathe to report bugs because it might sound like I'm complaining.