Update: Following the release of Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) I have not needed to use the procedure outlined below. The Restricted Drivers Manager in Ubuntu successfully installed the NVIDIA drivers for me and I’ve been using it without troubles since the release of the distribution. 
I’ve been a long time fan of Ubuntu Linux but this past week has tested my patience. I nearly considered going back to Windows Vista at one point. Ugh!
The issue I was having was that I couldn’t get the correct screen resolution on my new Toshiba Laptop. It has an NVIDIA based video card. I installed the latest version of Ubuntu, Feisty Fawn, and the new Restricted Drivers Manager I thought it would be easy.
Unfortunately this was not the case. The driver that is currently available via the Ubuntu repositories wasn’t working with my hardware. I could change to the right resolution using the nvidia-settings application but the changes wouldn’t last a reboot. I also couldn’t use the nvidia-settings application to save a new xorg.conf file. I kept getting this error:
ERROR: Unable to determine valid vertical refresh ranges
for display device'LPL' (GPU: GeForce Go 7300)!
ERROR: Failed to add display device 'LPL' to screen 0!
ERROR: Failed to add X screen 0 to X config.
ERROR: Failed to add X screens to X config.
ERROR: Failed to generate an X config file!
I discovered that this is a known issue in that driver and that I needed to upgrade to the new one. Sadly the new one isn’t in the repositories yet. So I thought I’d just need to install the build-essential package and install the latest driver from the NVIDIA website.
Sadly this didn’t work either. It appeared as though the kernel module installed by the Ubuntu package wasn’t being removed when I removed the package. The installation of the NVIDIA driver would go fine, but it wouldn’t work because it would see the old kernel module and fail.
Last night I had a breakthrough. I installed Ubuntu Feisty Fawn overwriting the old installation. I then installed the build-essential package and finally installed the NVIDIA driver using their installer. This was a success. I know am able to use the laptop at the native resolution.
The downside to this is that if there is an update to the Kernel I’m going to need to build a new NVIDIA driver kernel module to match before it will work again. But that’s not too hard. It’s also possible that by then the Ubuntu package will have the version that I need.
In the end, I’m still happy with Ubuntu and have learned more about Linux in general. I’ve also gained a renewed dislike for binary only drivers.
Cat picture found using the everystockphoto.com search engine, originally uploaded on Flickr by user Erik Newth.
May 15, 2007 at 12:48 am
well dude…..
vissta is not bad i have also the same one.
May 16, 2007 at 5:34 am
I disagree. Vista has nothing whatsoever to offer its users in the way of productivity improvements, stability, manageability, or device integration.
Microsoft Windows Vista represents in intentional obfuscation of the base Windows UI. The practical upshot of which is that we as users and supporters of Windows pay for the privilege of retraining ourselves and our community of users to perform the same functions that we performed prior to Vista.
Vista does not represent innovation or the advancement of technology. It is simply another way to permit large corporations a more powerful footprint on our desks, laps, and in our homes. If it is truly necessary to fundamentally change the User Interface, then we might as well change to something we can own.
Do not permit anyone to lease you the products of your own imagination.
September 18, 2007 at 7:34 pm
[...] the nvidia-settings package from the Ubuntu repositories. For some reason when I installed the driver the necessary NVCtrl libraries and header files were not [...]
October 8, 2007 at 4:17 am
I’m new to Ubuntu and only somewhat conversant with Linux in general. I want to make it my only OS. I’m discovering I truly share your dislike of binary-only drivers.
I think I could use some clarification on what you mean by the following from the above procedure:
“Last night I had a breakthrough. I installed Ubuntu Feisty Fawn overwriting the old installation. I then installed the build-essential package and finally installed the NVIDIA driver using their installer.”
Are you using NVIDIA’s installer at this point or is there an installer in the build-essential package?
I’m trying to get control of the embedded nVidia GeForce 6 GPU on an ASUS M2NPV-VM motherboard and have resorted to fdisk 6 times now . . .
I confess; I’m not getting it.
October 8, 2007 at 8:40 am
@Larry,
I use the NVIDIA installer. The build-essential package has things in it like the C++ compiler and other tools / software that are necessary to build, a.k.a compile, programs. These are used by the NVIDIA installer to build the Kernel module it needs.
The bare bones steps are (some commands are truncated):
- Start with a fresh install
- Install the build-essential package
- Download the latest NVIDIA driver
- Switch to a new terminal: CTL+Alt+F1
- Stop the X server: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
- Change the permissions on the NVIDIA installer: chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux….
- Start the installer: sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux….
- Start the X server again: sudo /etc/init.d gdm start
Hope this helps, and apologies for not being clearer in my original post. Perhaps an avenue to take will be to try the Ubuntu 7.10 release when it comes hope. I’m personally hoping this will resolve the issues I had that brought me to this.
Let me know how you go.
October 8, 2007 at 10:48 am
techxplorer,
Thanks for all the good information. I followed your instructions with success (able to control resolution up to 1280×1024) until I rebooted the system. On reboot I received the following error message:
————————————————————————-
X Window System Version 7.2.0
Release Date: 22 January 2007
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 7.2.2
Build Operating System: Linux Ubuntu
Current Operating System: Linux asus-unhu 2.6.20-16-generic #2 SMP Sunun Sep 23 18:31:23 UTC 2007 x86-64
Build Date: 04 April 200707
Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure you have the latest version.n.
Module Loader present
Markers: (–) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default settings,g,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,l,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log File: “/var/log/Xorg.0.log”, Time: Sun Oct 7 17:57:55 200707
(==) Using config file: “/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Error: API mismatch: this NVIDIA driver component has version
100.14.19, but the NVIDIA kernel module’s version does not match.
Please make sure that the kernel module and all NVIDIA driver
components have the same version.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIIA kernel module! Please ensure
(EE) NVIDIA(0): that there is a supported NVIDIA GPU in this system, and
(EE) NVIDIA(0): that the NVIDIA device files have been created properly.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Please consult the NVIDIA README for details.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): *** Aborting ***
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
Fatal server error:
no screens found
————————————————————————-
I moved over to the F1 terminal and tried:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart
The song remained the same.
Is there something I can do from this terminal to restart x with positive results?
October 8, 2007 at 12:19 pm
I think what I really meant was repair X.
October 8, 2007 at 12:32 pm
@Larry,
The issue here isn’t that X is necessarily broken. The issue is that there is probably two versions of the NVIDIA kernel module on your system.
As I understand it the chain of components is something like:
X -> NVIDIA Driver -> NVIDIA Kernel module -> Linux Kernel
I also had this issue, and as far as I could tell it was because I’d tried to use the drivers from the Ubuntu repositories. When I tried to remove them, no matter what I tried, the kernel module(s) from the Ubuntu versions would be left behind.
The only way I got around it was to:
- Install Ubuntu from scratch again
- Install the build-essential package
- Install the NVIDIA driver from the NVIDIA package
- Install the outstanding updates
Sorry I can’t be of any more help.
October 8, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Is it that I updated my install before I installed the NVIDIA drivers from the NVIDIA package? I’ll throw fdisk at it and then try loading NVIDIA’a drivers before I update.
October 8, 2007 at 3:21 pm
@ Larry,
In my circumstance I was never really sure when the NVIDIA Kernel module from the repositories got into my system so I started with a fresh install before doing any updates just to make sure.
October 9, 2007 at 9:31 am
Techxplorer,
I am pleased and insanely relieved to report that I now have a stable Feisty system with the nVidia drivers loaded and everything rebootable. Thank-you for all your assistance with this.
The details of my system:
MoBo: ASUS M2NPV-VM AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX
AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz Socket AM2
RAM: 2GB (2×1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800(PC2 6400) Dual Channel
Here’s what worked for me:
1. Started with a fresh load of ‘Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop AMD64/Intel64 Feisty Fawn Client.
2. Updated the Install.
3. Installed the Build-Essentials Package & Dependencies via Synaptic. (this is important, I’d tried Envy without this and it didn’t work)
4. Installed Envy from Alberto Milone’s (link included above) Homepage
5. Ran the Envy Install
6. Ran Envy to Install the nVidia Drivers.
7. Envy Installed: NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-100.14.19-pkg2.run
8. “”Rinsed!”" and Rebooted (don’t take the ‘rinsed’ too seriously)
Alberto Milone has a donation coming.
This Rocks! Once again, Thank-you!
October 9, 2007 at 9:33 am
Oops! Here’s the Envy location to go with the previous post:
http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html
October 9, 2007 at 1:36 pm
@Larry,
Glad to hear you got everything sorted in the end.
Best of luck with you future adventures with Ubuntu.
October 16, 2007 at 4:38 am
I am very new to Ubuntu and Linux in general and I am having a similar problem getting my NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 card to work properly. I’m trying to follow the steps here but I hit a snag. I re-installed Feisty Fawn, updated everything but I can’t find the Build-Essentials and Dependencies in Synaptic Manager. What exactly am I looking for?
October 16, 2007 at 9:10 am
@ MrJoe83
In synaptic you’re looking for a package called “build-essential”.
The build-essential package will bring with it all of the other programs and libraries that you’ll need to compile software. These are what the NVIDIA installer uses to compile its kernel module etc.
October 23, 2007 at 8:47 pm
[...] Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10) First Impressions October 23rd, 2007 — techxplorer Over the weekend I installed the Ubuntu 7.10 Linux distribution also known as Gutsy Gibbon. I’ve been very impressed with it so far. I haven’t had the annoying issue I had with the previous distribution was with the NVIDIA video card drivers. For those that are curious I wrote about them in this previous post. [...]
November 15, 2007 at 9:16 am
[...] Ubuntu repositories. Since upgrading to Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) I don’t need to follow my old procedure any [...]
July 27, 2008 at 4:10 am
What is a good drive image backup program for Ubuntu 8 ?
July 28, 2008 at 10:13 am
@Karl,
I honestly don’t know. I’ve never had to image a drive before. My only suggestion is to to ask your question in the appropriate forum at the Ubuntu Forums website.
Sorry I can’t be of much more help.