[elrepo] Nvidia 340.xx driver question

[Fred Smith]

On Fri, Jan 09, 2015 at 11:08:04AM +0000, Phil Perry wrote:
> On 08/01/15 22:29, Fred Smith wrote:
> > On Thu, Jan 08, 2015 at 01:40:29PM -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
> >> On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 1:12 PM, Fred Smith
> >> <fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us> wrote:
> >>> Hi all!
> >>>
> >>> I'm trying to switch out my nvidia card for a newer (but not NEW) one,
> >>> but one which Nvidia says requires the same driver (so it's not a bleeding
> >>> edge update).
> >>>
> >>> THE POINT:
> >>> So, I'm wondering if I need to do something to force the nvidia driver
> >>> to be rebuilt, since the "new" card is a different chipset? And if so,
> >>> how? I'm guessing I could boot to single-user mode and do:
> >>>
> >>> yum erase kmod-nvidia nvidia-x11-drv.x86_64 nvidia-x11-drv-32bit.x86_64
> >>> yum --enablerepo=elrepo-testing install kmod-nvidia-340xx  nvidia-x11-drv.x86_64 nvidia-x11-drv-32bit.x86_64
> >>
> >> Please install nvidia-detect from ELRepo and run it. It will identify
> >> your Nvidia card and tell you which Nvidia driver (package) to use.
> >>
> >> Akemi
> > 
> > thanks Akemi.
> > 
> > but I don't have the "new" one installed right now 'cause it messes
> > up the system.
> > 
> > And I was mistaken, anyway, having just rechecked the nvidia site,
> > which shows 340.xx for the old, and 346.xx for the "new" cards.
> > 
> > so it looks as if I need to get the 346.xx from elrepo, remove the
> > current 340.xx and install the 346.xx. 
> > 
> > but it looks like elrepo doesn't have the 346 driver. Is there going
> > to be one there in the future? (I know, I need to run nvidia-detect,
> > and for that I have to take apart the system again, which I'll do in
> > a little while.)
> > 
> > Fred
> > 
> 
> Hi Fred,
> 
> ELRepo only normally releases the Long Lived branch driver as shown here:
> 
> http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html
> 
> Currently that is 340.xx, although I am expecting Nvidia to update that
> soon. You will find those packages in the main repository.
> 
> At present we also have a 343.xx release (Sort Lived branch) in the
> testing repository. I do not normally build the short lived drivers, but
> did on this occasion as a special request for a user.
> 
> I wasn't even aware of the 346 series release, but I see the download on
> the Nvidia ftp site. If your card is not supported by the 343.xx series
> release then I would be prepared to consider building this driver for
> you as a special request.
> 
> But first I will need to see the output from nvidia-detect, so please
> install and run nvidia-detect from elrepo and paste the output here.
> 
> In terms of swapping the cards, I would do the following:
> 
> 1. Uninstall your current nvidia drivers and go back to the standard
> distro drivers, and reboot to check its working.
> 
> 2. Update the graphics card to your new one and reboot - it should still
> be working.
> 
> 3. Run nvidia-detect with the new card in place and show us the output.
> We can then advise you the correct nvidia driver for your new card, and
> build that driver for you should it not currently exist in our repository.
> 
> 4. Install the correct nvidia drivers for your new card and reboot.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Phil

Phil, thanks for the reply!

Since my last posting I've gotten the "new" card working with the elrepo
340.xx drivers. Here's what I did:

1. reboot in runlevel 3
2. uninstall the existing elrepo nvidia RPMs (which were also 340.xx)
2.5 shut down, swap cards.
3. reboot in runlevel 3
4. install the elrepo 340.xx drivers
5. reboot in runlevel 3
6. run startx to check out how things work

at that point everything seemed to be working, with the exception of a
problem using the GPU as a FoldingAtHome client, which I don't think
is your problem.

7. change default runlevel back to 5 and reboot.

the problem I had in my first try, earlier in the day, wherein my external
RAID box wasn't properly recognized seems to have disappeared and the
hang during boot as described above was gone.

there are several reports on the FoldingAtHome forums about people who
find they need to use an older driver, pre-331.xx to get folding to
work properly and at full speed, when using the 460GTX. So I tried the
325.xx version available in elrepo, and X wouldn't even start due to an
ABI change, or so the error in the X server logs indicated, so I went
back to the 340 version.

Some people on that forum suggest reinstalling their client, as there
could be cruft left over from past events.

I'll get back to you if I find anything you can do to help.

thanks again!

-- 
---- Fred Smith -- fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us -----------------------------
                         God made him who had no sin
                      to be sin for us, so that in him
                 we might become the righteousness of God."
--------------------------- Corinthians 5:21 ---------------------------------