help needed- installing linux drivers for gfx 5200

[premrajeev]

hey i am good in windows but absolute novice in linux. Just installed mandrake linux 10.1 on my athlon system, Now i wanted to install drivers for my geforce fx 5200 agp drivers. someone pls help. i have downloaded linux drives from nvidia website. tried to install it, but it says u must install from root..no idea how to go to root.plz help.

[ujjwal]

Type "su" in the terminal window, and give the root password. Now install the drivers as per the instructions at nVidia's site (http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d..._1.0-7664.html for x86 processors).

Edit - this is the wrong section. You should have posted in the software or the open source section.

[Arachnid]

Yes! Join the club!!!

Its such a pain to install the nvidia drivers.

Chances are, that if you're using the Community verison, you will need to make sure your kernel and kernel source are the same.
Check the version of your kernel-source package with 'rpm -q kernel-source'. Check the version of all installed kernels with 'rpm -qa | grep kernel'. Check your running kernel with 'uname -r'.

This site should help if you need updates :

http://www.mandrivausers.org/easyurpmi/

You'll also need to edit the XF86Config file. (as root, of course)

since u are a newbie to UNIX/Linux, like me, here's some tips i can give you (thanks to the UNIX book i preserved in a glass jar).

To edit files from the console, type vi <filename> and press enter.

This will give you a nice colorful screen of the config file.
To begin editing, press "I" and the status will show that you are in "insert" mode. Edit away to glory and if you want to save your changes and exit, press ESC, then ":wq". If you want to quite without saving, press "ESC", then ":q!".

It's a real pain man...i'm still trying to figure out how its done.

[premrajeev]

I have tried the sh command and was succesful, tried to install it on root, then it says "u must close x windows or x server first. dont know how to start/stop x windows..it just boots into gui.I'm using KDE.Pls assist........

[ujjwal]

You can type CTRL+ALT+F2 to open another virtual terminal, and run the shell script there. If it still doesn't work, you can also kill the X server by running "killall X", and then starting the script.

[premrajeev]

thanx ujwal..will try it and let u know..

[e-freak]

Installing NVidia drivers is the easiest thing on Linux. Just press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to go the console mode. Use the su command and give the root password. Then type init 3 to kill the X-server. Then run the NVidia driver package specified by Ujjwal in the second post. Follow the instructions given by the installer. Once done, type exit to return to the normal user mode. Type startx to restart the X-server. On SuSE, I get the NVidia screen on successful installation of the driver. I dunno bout Mandrake, but this procedure should get the OpenGL support enabled.

[premrajeev]

ow..that was a simple one. will try this tonight..well are u sure this works for mandrake ???

THANX

[e-freak]

Originally Posted by premrajeev

ow..that was a simple one. will try this tonight..well are u sure this works for mandrake ???

THANX

Well, shud work!

[Arachnid]

Does not work man

I've tried EVERYTHING i possibly could...even reinstalling! It just wont budge

[e-freak]

Maybe u didnt get what i was trying to explain. That was the best i could tell u. Now its upto u.