Nvidia support

[Bill Fink]

On Fri, 17 May 2002, brad allison wrote:

> On Fri, 17 May 2002, Bill Fink wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 16 May 2002, Bill Fink wrote:
> > 
> > > On Thu, 16 May 2002, brad allison wrote:
> > > 
> > > > On Thu, 16 May 2002, Bill Fink wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > HOWTO For Setting Up Accelerated X using NVIDIA Graphics Cards on YDL
> > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > 
> > > > > 1.  Get a very recent Linux kernel.  I recommend the 2.4.19-pre8-ben0
> > > > >     kernel.
> > > > 
> > > > [jackal@isis jackal]$ uname --release
> > > > 2.4.18-0.9a
> > > 
> > > I'd really recommend using the 2.4.19-pre8-ben0 kernel, which you can
> > > rsync from rsync.penguinppc.org.  The standard 2.4.18 kernel doesn't have
> > > Ani Joshi's riva PPC patch. so be sure you *DO NOT* have CONFIG_FB_RIVA
> > > enabled in the kernel.  Failure to do say may very well cause your
> > > system to crash when you try to use the accelerated "nv" X driver.
> > 
> > Well I just checked and the YDL 2.2 2.4.18 kernel does have Ani Joshi's
> > riva PPC patch, but it also has CONFIG_FB_RIVA enabled in the kernel.
> > I am unable to test the YDL 2.2 2.4.18 kernel since it won't boot on the
> > 867 MHz G4.  Since others have reported that just using the "novideo"
> > yaboot option doesn't work with the YDL 2.2 2.4.18 kernel, if you want
> > to use that kernel, you'll need to rebuild the kernel with CONFIG_FB_RIVA
> > disabled.  But I still believe your best bet is to rsync the latest BenH
> > 2.4.19-pre8-ben0 kernel from rsync.penguinppc.org, and that's what I
> > highly recommend if you want to get the accelerated "nv" X driver to
> > work with NVIDIA graphics cards on YDL.
> 
> I tested Ben's kernel 2.4.19-pre8-ben0.  It booted fine with the novideo 
> option in yaboot.conf.

Let's make sure you're actually booting using the OpenFirmware video.
If you cat /proc/cmdline, does it contain video=ofonly and no other
video options?  And if you cat /proc/fb, does it look similar to the
following:

0 OFfb /pci@f0000000/NVDA,NVMac@10

How did you get the 2.4.19-pre8-ben0 kernel?  You probably will need to
build it from the source obtained via rsync:

	cd directory_where_you_want_the_kernel_source
	rsync -avz --delete rsync.penguinppc.org::linux-2.4-benh .

Note the "." by itself at the end of the rsync line is required.

I can send you my .config as a known working version if you think that
would help.

> When I changed the driver in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 to Driver "nv" and did 
> a "startx" the box locks up.

That would happen if you didn't really use the OpenFirmware video during
booting.  BTW someone else mentioned success using the YDL 2.1 2.4.10-12a
kernel with the "novideo" option, but then you might lose some other
features from the newer kernels.

I wonder what else could be different in your case.  I'm running this
fine on an 867 MHz G4 with a nVidia Corporation NV11 (GeForce2 MX)
(rev 161 and also rev 178).  What hardware platform and type of NVIDIA
card are you using (do a cat /proc/pci | grep -i nvidia)?  I'm using
this with two different types of monitors (both VGA), one of which is
a SONY CPD-G400 19" monitor and the other is a much older monitor for
which I don't remember the manufacturer and model.

						-Bill