Fedora 64-bit Graphics Problems on Install

[John Trager]

Hello All,

Here is a rundown on my computer:

AMD Athlon64 3800+ with 2GB RAM with ASUS AV8 Motherboard


The first thing I tried to do was to download the Fedora 64-bit version onto a single DVD,
which was no problem.

I then tried to install it on my SATA hard drive with a 200GB Partition... when it probes
my video card, the screen goes dark for a bit, and then after sometime, I get vertical
lines on the screen, and some more garbage later on...  It appears that the video driver
isn't working correctly.  It is selecting the NVIDIA 6600 driver...  Is there a way to
tell the install program to use the VESA driver (generic) for the graphical install???

I did try to install it using the Text version, and it went through fine, but there was NO
GUI interface... I guess when one does this it uses the standard VESA driver (generic)?


MY FIRST CHOICE is to get the 64-bit version working, but I have also tried the RAD HAT
ENTERPRISE 32-bit version.  This for the most part works fine, but there are some issues
which I think is related to the 64-bit install.  When I install the 32-bit version, it
probes my computer and picks the VESA driver (generic), which then works fine.  Now, I
have tried the NVIDIA 6600 display driver in the list for graphics hardware... and when I
do this it does the same thing as with the 64-bit install!  Something doesn't seem
right with these drivers, or am I doing something wrong???  I used the
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-pkg1.run file on the PNY Technologies website.  I typed "init
3" before install it.  I didn't change some of the other things that are
mentioned by various people (Change Driver "nv" to Driver ?nvidia"...)
because there was no file there yet called "XF86Config".  As a matter of fact,
after I installed this driver, I still do not see this file!  However when I boot up the
Linux System, I see the NVIDIA LOGO on my monitor... and there is also a NVIDIA X Server
type area in one of the pull down windows (system settings?)...  Where would this driver
appear?  Would it take the place of the NVIDIA 6600 driver under display hardware? 
I'm new to Linux...

Am I better installing the 32-bit Fedora version or the 64-bit version?  It sure would be
nice to see a 64-bit version operating on this machine!


Thanks for any help!


John

[Dave Stevens]

Quoting John Trager <JTrager(a)Carolina.rr.com&gt;:

>  Hello All,
>  
>  Here is a rundown on my computer:
>  
>  AMD Athlon64 3800+ with 2GB RAM with ASUS AV8 Motherboard
>  
>  
>  The first thing I tried to do was to download the Fedora 64-bit version onto
>  a single DVD, which was no problem.
>  
>  I then tried to install it on my SATA hard drive with a 200GB Partition...
>  when it probes my video card, the screen goes dark for a bit, and then after
>  sometime, I get vertical lines on the screen, and some more garbage later
>  on...  It appears that the video driver isn't working correctly.  It is
>  selecting the NVIDIA 6600 driver...  Is there a way to tell the install
>  program to use the VESA driver (generic) for the graphical install??? 
Yes, look at the text file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and scan down 60 lines or so to
the Device section. You need to change what is there now, probably "nv" to
"vesa". Since you have no gui you probably have to learn some elementary vi
commands to do this. Good luck.

D

ps this is not a comprehensive fix, just something that wqill get you a GUI so
you can proceed with a more satisfactory solution.
>  
>  I did try to install it using the Text version, and it went through fine, but
>  there was NO GUI interface... I guess when one does this it uses the standard
>  VESA driver (generic)?
>  
>  
>  MY FIRST CHOICE is to get the 64-bit version working, but I have also tried
>  the RAD HAT ENTERPRISE 32-bit version.  This for the most part works fine,
>  but there are some issues which I think is related to the 64-bit install. 
>  When I install the 32-bit version, it probes my computer and picks the VESA
>  driver (generic), which then works fine.  Now, I have tried the NVIDIA 6600
>  display driver in the list for graphics hardware... and when I do this it
>  does the same thing as with the 64-bit install!  Something doesn't seem right
>  with these drivers, or am I doing something wrong???  I used the
>  NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-pkg1.run file on the PNY Technologies website.  I typed
>  "init 3" before install it.  I didn't change some of the other things that
>  are mentioned by various people (Change Driver "nv" to Driver
> ?nvidia"...)
>  because there was no file there yet called "XF86Config".  As a matter of
>  fact, after I installed this driver, I still do not see this file!  However
>  when I boot up the Linux System, I see the NVIDIA LOGO on my monitor... and
>  there is also a NVIDIA X Server type area in one of the pull down windows
>  (system settings?)...  Where would this driver appear?  Would it take the
>  place of the NVIDIA 6600 driver under display hardware?  I'm new to Linux...
>  
>  Am I better installing the 32-bit Fedora version or the 64-bit version?  It
>  sure would be nice to see a 64-bit version operating on this machine!
>  
>  
>  Thanks for any help!
>  
>  
>  John
>   

-- 
In the world’s anti-Bush zones it is fashionable to regard him as an imperialist
redneck of limited intellectual capacities. -- George Ross in Le Monde Diplomatique

[Phil Meyer]

John Trager wrote:
>   
>  I did try to install it using the Text version, and it went through 
>  fine, but there was NO GUI interface... I guess when one does this it 
>  uses the standard VESA driver (generic)?
>   
>    
When you install in text mode, the installer ASSUMES that you are 
building a server and sets the default run mode to 3.  Upon first boot, 
edit /etc/inittab (carefully) and set the default run mode to 5.

You can also try startx on that first run.  It will probably do all the 
right stuff to figure out your display.

Also, you will probably want to run yum update on that first boot.  Go 
to lunch and check it later, or do it over night.

Then next time you reboot things should be normal.

If you really want to start over, you may also want to try the Fedora 
Unity release.  It is more current.

I have installed several x86_64 systems, and have had less display 
troubles with the Unity release, since it includes many updates.

Try:

http://torrent.fedoraunity.org/torrents

Good luck!

[Jeff Vian]

On Sun, 2006-08-27 at 13:54 -0400, John Trager wrote:
>  Hello All,
>   
>  Here is a rundown on my computer:
>   
>  AMD Athlon64 3800+ with 2GB RAM with ASUS AV8 Motherboard
>   
>   
>  The first thing I tried to do was to download the Fedora 64-bit
>  version onto a single DVD, which was no problem.
>   
>  I then tried to install it on my SATA hard drive with a 200GB
>  Partition... when it probes my video card, the screen goes dark for a
>  bit, and then after sometime, I get vertical lines on the screen, and
>  some more garbage later on...  It appears that the video driver isn't
>  working correctly.  It is selecting the NVIDIA 6600 driver...  Is
>  there a way to tell the install program to use the VESA driver
>  (generic) for the graphical install???
>   
>  I did try to install it using the Text version, and it went through
>  fine, but there was NO GUI interface... I guess when one does this it
>  uses the standard VESA driver (generic)?
>   
>   
>  MY FIRST CHOICE is to get the 64-bit version working, but I have also
>  tried the RAD HAT ENTERPRISE 32-bit version.  This for the most part
>  works fine, but there are some issues which I think is related to the
>  64-bit install.  When I install the 32-bit version, it probes my
>  computer and picks the VESA driver (generic), which then works fine.
>  Now, I have tried the NVIDIA 6600 display driver in the list for
>  graphics hardware... and when I do this it does the same thing as with
>  the 64-bit install!  Something doesn't seem right with these drivers,
>  or am I doing something wrong???  I used the
>  NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-pkg1.run file on the PNY Technologies website.  I
>  typed "init 3" before install it.  I didn't change some of the other
>  things that are mentioned by various people (Change Driver "nv" to
>  Driver ?nvidia"...) because there was no file there yet called
>  "XF86Config".  As a matter of fact, after I installed this driver, I
>  still do not see this file!  However when I boot up the Linux System,
>  I see the NVIDIA LOGO on my monitor... and there is also a NVIDIA X
>  Server type area in one of the pull down windows (system settings?)...
>  Where would this driver appear?  Would it take the place of the NVIDIA
>  6600 driver under display hardware?  I'm new to Linux...
>   
>  Am I better installing the 32-bit Fedora version or the 64-bit
>  version?  It sure would be nice to see a 64-bit version operating on
>  this machine! 
My recommendation is a bit different than you have tried.
I also have the nvidia 6600 video card and was unable to do a graphics
install, but the text install worked well.

The instructions and the package you are using are very old.  XF86config
is no longer used since Fedora switched to xorg for the video drivers.
If you want to use the source package for the drivers (which will work)
you would be better using the driver directly from nVidia and following
their instructions. It seems like the one from PNY is out of date.

I prefer the pre-built driver from the livna repo.

First you need to be in run level 3.
Then enable the livna repo and yum install kmod-nvidia
reboot and it should come up with graphics using the nvidia driver.

The only additional step I had to do was to manually set the vertical
sync for my system in the monitor section of the xorg.conf file.  It
refuses to automatically select the default VertRefresh value for my
Samsung T and I have to manually set that in order to use the maximum
resoulution.

With that I have been very happy using x86_64 and the nVidia driver.

Instructions for a lot of things FC5 related (including the nvidia
drivers) can be found at the great web site provided by Stanton Finley
http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_5_installation_notes.html




>   
>   
>  Thanks for any help!
>   
>   
>  John
>   
>  -- 
>  fedora-list mailing list
>  fedora-list(a)redhat.com
>  To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list

[John Trager]

Hi Jeff,

I just want to Thank You for answering my email, regarding the problem I was 
having with the 64-bit Fedora and my graphics card!  I followed the advice 
you gave me, using Stanton's Installation notes and everything now works 
great!

I originally installed it in text mode, because of the graphics card 
problem.  I was then later able to install the video driver for NVIDIA 6600, 
and now I see the GUI!

Thanks again for your advice, I really appreciate it!  I have 64-bit Linux 
on my machine before Windows XP 64-bit!


John

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Vian" <jvian10(a)charter.net&gt;
To: "For users of Fedora Core releases" <fedora-list(a)redhat.com&gt;
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: Fedora 64-bit Graphics Problems on Install


>  On Sun, 2006-08-27 at 13:54 -0400, John Trager wrote:
> > Hello All,
> >
> > Here is a rundown on my computer:
> >
> > AMD Athlon64 3800+ with 2GB RAM with ASUS AV8 Motherboard
> >
> >
> > The first thing I tried to do was to download the Fedora 64-bit
> > version onto a single DVD, which was no problem.
> >
> > I then tried to install it on my SATA hard drive with a 200GB
> > Partition... when it probes my video card, the screen goes dark for a
> > bit, and then after sometime, I get vertical lines on the screen, and
> > some more garbage later on...  It appears that the video driver isn't
> > working correctly.  It is selecting the NVIDIA 6600 driver...  Is
> > there a way to tell the install program to use the VESA driver
> > (generic) for the graphical install???
> >
> > I did try to install it using the Text version, and it went through
> > fine, but there was NO GUI interface... I guess when one does this it
> > uses the standard VESA driver (generic)?
> >
> >
> > MY FIRST CHOICE is to get the 64-bit version working, but I have also
> > tried the RAD HAT ENTERPRISE 32-bit version.  This for the most part
> > works fine, but there are some issues which I think is related to the
> > 64-bit install.  When I install the 32-bit version, it probes my
> > computer and picks the VESA driver (generic), which then works fine.
> > Now, I have tried the NVIDIA 6600 display driver in the list for
> > graphics hardware... and when I do this it does the same thing as with
> > the 64-bit install!  Something doesn't seem right with these drivers,
> > or am I doing something wrong???  I used the
> > NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-pkg1.run file on the PNY Technologies website.  I
> > typed "init 3" before install it.  I didn't change some of the other
> > things that are mentioned by various people (Change Driver "nv" to
> > Driver ?nvidia"...) because there was no file there yet called
> > "XF86Config".  As a matter of fact, after I installed this driver, I
> > still do not see this file!  However when I boot up the Linux System,
> > I see the NVIDIA LOGO on my monitor... and there is also a NVIDIA X
> > Server type area in one of the pull down windows (system settings?)...
> > Where would this driver appear?  Would it take the place of the NVIDIA
> > 6600 driver under display hardware?  I'm new to Linux...
> >
> > Am I better installing the 32-bit Fedora version or the 64-bit
> > version?  It sure would be nice to see a 64-bit version operating on
> > this machine!
>  My recommendation is a bit different than you have tried.
>  I also have the nvidia 6600 video card and was unable to do a graphics
>  install, but the text install worked well.
>
>  The instructions and the package you are using are very old.  XF86config
>  is no longer used since Fedora switched to xorg for the video drivers.
>  If you want to use the source package for the drivers (which will work)
>  you would be better using the driver directly from nVidia and following
>  their instructions. It seems like the one from PNY is out of date.
>
>  I prefer the pre-built driver from the livna repo.
>
>  First you need to be in run level 3.
>  Then enable the livna repo and yum install kmod-nvidia
>  reboot and it should come up with graphics using the nvidia driver.
>
>  The only additional step I had to do was to manually set the vertical
>  sync for my system in the monitor section of the xorg.conf file.  It
>  refuses to automatically select the default VertRefresh value for my
>  Samsung T and I have to manually set that in order to use the maximum
>  resoulution.
>
>  With that I have been very happy using x86_64 and the nVidia driver.
>
>  Instructions for a lot of things FC5 related (including the nvidia
>  drivers) can be found at the great web site provided by Stanton Finley
>  http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_5_installation_notes.html
>
>
>
>
> >
> >
> > Thanks for any help!
> >
> >
> > John
> >
> > -- 
> > fedora-list mailing list
> > fedora-list(a)redhat.com
> > To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list
>
>  -- 
>  fedora-list mailing list
>  fedora-list(a)redhat.com
>  To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list