i cannot install ubuntu or any linux

Story: Problem installing/running Ubuntu/Mint on Toshiba notebookTotal Replies: 10
Author Content
lolren

Nov 07, 2010
7:53 AM EDT 		i cannot install ubuntu or any other linux on my primary desktop since they made the switch to nouveau.... i have a nvidia geforce 8400gs and when i boot to linux the first thing i see is the last windows desktop on the same machine but screw up(with a reboot) and after a fresh turn on, no reebot, after plymouth, the image is black...
Bob_Robertson

Nov 07, 2010
12:30 PM EDT 		Lolren,

Can you get to a console (ctl-alt-F1)?

If so, then use the package management to remove the nouveau packages. That won't remove the kernel driver, which requires blacklisting.

The proprietary Nvidia driver installer will create a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist entry for nouveau. I'm not on my Nvidia-powered machine to check at the moment.

I recently had to drop nouveau when I discovered that Google Earth errors with it.
Koriel

Nov 07, 2010
4:12 PM EDT 		I have done multiple NVidia installs the first thing i do is set up X to use the Vesa driver how you do this will depend on your distro.

Secondly if your distro already has the Nvidia propriatery drivers in it use your distro's package manager to install them otherwise goto Nvidia and download from there, you will have to follow NVidia install instructions from this point the Nvidia drivers have to be installed from the console without X running or they did the last time i did it a few months ago.

As to why folks like redhat ship nouveau drivers when they dont work and are unfinished with the newer NVidia cards is just dumb but dont bother trying to tell them that you will hit a brick wall, they should just ship with the vesa driver used as default instead and leave it up to user to install the proprietary driver at least that way the system would at least be working to a much greater extent after installation.

The other way is to use a Linux distro that comes with the nvidia drivers as part of their software repository such as PCLinuxOS when you first install PCLinuxOS it defaults to the vesa driver then you just click the configure your computer icon goto hardware section and select configure graphics select you graphics card and it will tell you that a proprietary driver is available and would you like to use it just click yes and it will download and install it.

PCLinuxOS is one of the few that defaults to VESA ie the right way to do things then makes it easy to get the proprietary one.

Note: I have no connections to PCLinuxOS other than being a user, i just have a great appreciation of distros that think carefully about the users installation experience .
azerthoth

Nov 07, 2010
10:40 PM EDT 		if they thought about it so highly the drivers would be on the disc.
gus3

Nov 08, 2010
12:18 AM EDT 		Slackware also defaults to VESA.

Just sayin'.
jdixon

Nov 08, 2010
9:48 AM EDT 		> Just sayin'.

I was refraining from pointing out the obvious, but since gus3 insisted. :)

Yes, Slackware defaults to the VESA driver. You can then install NVidia's drivers if you wish, or the nouveau or nv driver if you prefer. Sometimes using the most universal defaults and leaving configuration to the user is a good thing.
gus3

Nov 08, 2010
2:53 PM EDT
Quoting:You can then install NVidia's drivers if you wish, or the nouveau or nv driver if you prefer.
Or Intel, or ATI, or Cirrus... although they probably won't work with nVidia chips...
Bob_Robertson

Nov 08, 2010
3:02 PM EDT 		> although they probably won't work with nVidia chips...

Picky picky.
Koriel

Nov 08, 2010
4:35 PM EDT 		@azerthoth They cannot put them on disk due to license issues , a license is required from nvidia to ship their drivers, who's gonna pay for it on a free distro?
azerthoth

Nov 08, 2010
7:59 PM EDT 		Koriel, I think I'd read that before parroting it. Let me help with that.
Quoting:2. GRANT OF LICENSE

2.1 Rights and Limitations of Grant. NVIDIA hereby grants Customer the following non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the SOFTWARE, with the following limitations:

2.1.1 Rights. Customer may install and use one copy of the SOFTWARE on a single computer, and except for making one back-up copy of the Software, may not otherwise copy the SOFTWARE. This LICENSE of SOFTWARE may not be shared or used concurrently on different computers.

2.1.2 Linux Exception. Notwithstanding the foregoing terms of Section 2.1.1, SOFTWARE designed exclusively for use on the Linux operating system may be copied and redistributed, provided that the binary files thereof are not modified in any way (except for unzipping of compressed files).

2.1.3 Limitations.

No Reverse Engineering. Customer may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the SOFTWARE, nor attempt in any other manner to obtain the source code.

No Separation of Components. The SOFTWARE is licensed as a single product. Its component parts may not be separated for use on more than one computer, nor otherwise used separately from the other parts.

No Rental. Customer may not rent or lease the SOFTWARE to someone else.
hkwint

Nov 08, 2010
8:02 PM EDT 		I also became annoyed at the many distro's not using VESA as default. Changing screen configuration is something even Windows gets right:

You ask the user "do you want to keep this settings?", and if the user doesn't click Yes within 30 sec, you assume the user cannot see the prompt box and fall back to another default option.

Why that kind of 'test' is not in Fedora, Ubuntu etc. is still a riddle to me. They could fire up Nouveau, ask the user if display settings are OK, if so, keep Nouveau, if not, switch to VESA.

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