Unable to start xserver on Mandrake 9.2

sin667 · 07-14-2011, 12:49 PM

Yesterday was crazy busy, sorry I did not have a chance to check in.

I just ran XFdrake and chose vesa, confirmed the change in my XF86Config-4 file. startx gave the same problem.

Inside of the usr/src/ directory I only have another directory named RPM. Inside of that RPMS/, and inside of that are directories named athlon, i386, i486, i586, i686, k6 and noarch. Not sure if any of those are what I need to look into.

My return from uname -r was: 2.4.22-10mkenterprise

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 07-14-2011, 03:56 PM

I don't see a directory called linux in what you've posted, so I don't think you have the kernel-source installed. Does this system have 1GB (or more) of ram? This seems to be the reason why the enterprise kernel was installed. I did some digging around and cannot find any kernel-source that specifically mentions enterprise. However there is this kernel-source: kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm I'm not sure if it can be used. The reason why I'm talking about kernel-source is after all that we've tried, it seems that the best way forward would be to do a manual re-install of the nvidia drivers. In order to do this you need to have the kernel-source already on the system that matches your current kernel version to compile against. You will also need to download the correct nvidia driver. If you decide to go down this route these are the files you need to download:

1. kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm available from here: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat....i586.rpm.html (File Size: 173.66 MB)

2. GeForce4 Ti 4200 Driver Version 96.43.19 available here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...19-driver.html (File Size: 15.7 MB)

If you can get those two files and transfer them to the system, we can set about installing the kernel-source and then installing the nvidia driver. You only need to put them in a location where we can easily find them.

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 08:32 AM

I do have 2 512 chips in this system, not sure if that is why they chose the enterprise.

I have both of those files copied over to my root directory. I hope that kernel version works.

Please advise on how to go about doing this.

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 07-15-2011, 08:56 AM

First we'll make sure both files are marked as executable:

Code:

chmod +x kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run

To save some typing use tab completion for both files, i.e. type kernel-source now press the tab key and the rest of the filename will be competed for you.

To install the kernel-source type:

Code:

rpm -ivh kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm

again you can use the tab completion method instead of typing the whole filename. When this is done do the following for the nvidia driver:

1. type: telinit 3 to kill the xserver (if you don't see a command prompt after hitting enter, press enter again)

2. type: ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run the install process should now start. Follow the onscreen instructions.

At some point you will be asked if you would like to download a module or kernel (I can't remember which) select no and continue with the install.

3. Once the install process has finished, no need to reboot, simply type: telinit 5 close your eyes, hit enter and hopefully when you open them again you have graphical login.

Good Luck

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 09:17 AM

off of the rpm -ivh command, I got the following errors.

Code:

error: Failed dependencies
glibc-devel is needed by kernel-source-2.4.22-10mkd
ncurses-devel is needed by kernel-source-2.4.22-10mkd
gcc is needed by kernel-source-2.4.22-10mkd

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 09:41 AM

Tried running the ./NVIDIA one just for fun and got the following error.

Code:

ERROR: Unable to find the system utility 'ld'; please make sure you have the
 package 'binutils' installed. If you do not have binutils installed,
 then please check that 'ld' is in your PATH.

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 10:04 AM

Something interesting. When I rebooted above the login prompt it says:

Mandrake Linux release 9.2 (FiveStar) for i586
Kernel 2.4.22-10mdkenterprise on an i686 / tty1

Not sure if that can help in figuring out the kernel issue.

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 07-15-2011, 10:23 AM

Do you happen to have the installation discs for Mandrake 9.2? If so these files should be on there.

Do:

Code:

urpmi glibc-devel ncurses-devel gcc

you will be notified which disc to insert.

If you don't have the discs, then you can get the files from here:

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat....i586.rpm.html glibc-devel

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat....i586.rpm.html ncurses-devel

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat....i586.rpm.html gcc

The nvidia installer won't work until we have all the tools needed to compile the required modules.

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 11:15 AM

Ok. I got the files loaded from the install CDs.

I ran the NVIDIA installer, and after I accept the license agreement it just hangs there. (In the NVIDIA installer.)

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 07-15-2011, 11:22 AM

Wow this machine is resisting all attempts to fix it! Ok, there should now be a log file for us to look at. Please post the contents of /var/log/nvidia-installer.log

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 11:37 AM

I know! Stubborn little machine doesn't want to print anymore.

Code:

nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Tue Jan  1 19:50:27 2002
installer version: 1.0.7

PATH:
/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin

option status:
  license pre-accepted               : false
  update                             : false
  force update                       : false
  expert                             : false
  uninstall                          : false
  driver info                        : false
  precompiled interfaces             : true
  no ncurses color                   : false
  query latest version               : false
  OpenGL header files                : true
  no questions                       : false
  silent                             : false
  no recursion                       : false
  no backup                          : false
  kernel module only                 : false
  sanity                             : false
  add this kernel                    : false
  no runlevel check                  : false
  no network                         : false
  no ABI note                        : false
  no RPMs                            : false
  no kernel module                   : false
  force SELinux                      : default
  no X server check                  : false
  no cc version check                : false
  run distro scripts                 : true
  no nouveau check                   : false
  run nvidia-xconfig                 : false
  sigwinch work around               : true
  force tls                          : (not specified)
  X install prefix                   : (not specified)
  X library install path             : (not specified)
  X module install path              : (not specified)
  OpenGL install prefix              : (not specified)
  OpenGL install libdir              : (not specified)
  utility install prefix             : (not specified)
  utility install libdir             : (not specified)
  installer prefix                   : (not specified)
  doc install prefix                 : (not specified)
  kernel name                        : (not specified)
  kernel include path                : (not specified)
  kernel source path                 : (not specified)
  kernel output path                 : (not specified)
  kernel install path                : (not specified)
  precompiled kernel interfaces path : (not specified)
  precompiled kernel interfaces url  : (not specified)
  proc mount point                   : /proc
  ui                                 : (not specified)
  tmpdir                             : /root/tmp
  ftp mirror                         : ftp://download.nvidia.com
  RPM file list                      : (not specified)
  selinux chcon type                 : (not specified)

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 07-15-2011, 11:44 AM

I don't see any errors. Can you run the installer again and leave it for say 15mins to see if it times out.

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 11:46 AM

Sure. Trying that now. Thanks again for all your help. It's much appreciated.

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 07-15-2011, 11:50 AM

It's not often these days I get the opportunity to check my terminal skills, thank you for the challenge

sin667 · 07-15-2011, 12:33 PM

~45 min later. Still on that installer screen.

I've tried ctrl+alt+backspace to get back to terminal. With no results.