New kernel won't boot SOLVED! Thanx again!

[erripe]

I test the new kernel on my 2 systems. On both, the mixer have to being augmented while switching kernel.
On my little netbook, the kernel don't know the video code of the computer (317) but, pressing the space bar, the GUI handle the resolution very well. Fixable? i will try before asking.
On my desktop and, main machine, the new kernel won't build dependency, don't even read on disk, only show splash screen (i let it work overnight) until i do the update on safemode;
For now, it work well but, i have to boot without my wacom cth 470 plugged (many thanks to AS for the drivers). Seem, with the  tablet, to boot OK till the GUI try to load the drivers but, show the commands instead of executing them until freezing.
Still in beta testing with that new kernel...

[djohnston]

I test the new kernel on my 2 systems. On both, the mixer have to being augmented while switching kernel.
On my little netbook, the kernel don't know the video code of the computer (317) but, pressing the space bar, the GUI handle the resolution very well. Fixable? i will try before asking.

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,106264.msg907844.html#msg907844

Please start a new thread if you are seeking help with the other problems.

[dougmack]

Hello, again--  I thought I was done here; I got a workable 2.x.pae kernel working fine, but now I'm curious.  I checked the codes in menu.lst for the sixth and eighth
entries, which are 2.6...bfs, which will boot to a GUI, and 3.2...pae.bfs, which won't boot at all--the original problem of this post.  All the numbers and letters in
the codes are the same.  (menu.lst is posted here a few screens back.) So why won't it boot? 
(If it would boot, and IF I could import my 2.6... desktop, I would use it, as it might run faster.  (I don't know what else it might have.)  But only if I could keep
my present desktop.  I don't want to emulate Ub***o with its ever-changing gui! Change for the sake of change is not my cup of tea, thanx.)

Thanx for you interest.  --doug

[hal8000]

When you install a new kernel e.g. 3.2.xx  any modules that are compiled outside the kernel
e.g. Nvidia and ATI drivers will not be present in the new kernel.

This means after booting with the new 3.2.xx kernel you have to install your Nvidia drivers and setup your card again. This has already been mentioned in an earlier post in this same thread.
Hope that helps.

[dougmack]

I don't think it helps. I can't start the new kernel at all--not even in terminal mode--so how would I tell it to install Nvidia drivers and setup the card? Somewhere
along the way to the solution which finally happened, I did see, briefly, the 3.2.xx gui, but I don't remember what I was doing at the time, and I could never
get it back.  I'm probably missing something fundamental, but I don't know what.
Thanx for answering--doug

[hal8000]

If you can't get to terminal mode (or can't get a working display) then you are in trouble.
Most video cards vesa compatible so generally will work with the vesa driver.


One method that works for me is to edit xorg.conf to the vesa driver, update the package,
then edit the file again.
In your /etc/X11/xorg.conf  you will have a section called device.
In my case it looks like this:

--snip--

Section "Device"
    Identifier "device1"
    BoardName "ATI Radeon HD 2000 and later (radeonhd/fglrx)"
    Driver "fglrx"
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

--snip--


If I change the driver from fglrx (ATI Catalyst driver) to vesa, then my
PC will still boot, without accelerated graphics but still useable so I could
run synaptic and re-install the ATI catalyst drivers.

Warning:
However I strongly suggest you make a copy of xorg.conf first and test your
settings with the vesa driver.
Should the worst happen and you cannot get a working display, then you need
a working copy of the live PCLinux CD, boot with this, mount your / partition
and edit xorg.conf from the live CD.
Of course you could always make a copy of xorg.conf, change it to vesa and
call it xorg.conf.vesa  this way you can just rename files. You should only
proceed if you feel confident with these methods, if not, see what other
replies you receive.

[djohnston]

This means after booting with the new 3.2.xx kernel you have to install your Nvidia drivers and setup your card again.

Not if he installed the video drivers from Synaptic, along with the corresponding dkms modules. The video drivers are separate kernel modules, but are automatically recompiled with the addition of a new kernel because of the dkms modules. It's the reason the first boot of a newly installed kernel on PCLinuxOS takes so much longer to complete than any subsequent boots.

Exploring Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS)

[Old-Polack]

Hello, again--  I thought I was done here; I got a workable 2.x.pae kernel working fine, but now I'm curious.  I checked the codes in menu.lst for the sixth and eighth
entries, which are 2.6...bfs, which will boot to a GUI, and 3.2...pae.bfs, which won't boot at all--the original problem of this post.  All the numbers and letters in
the codes are the same.  (menu.lst is posted here a few screens back.) So why won't it boot?  
(If it would boot, and IF I could import my 2.6... desktop, I would use it, as it might run faster.  (I don't know what else it might have.)  But only if I could keep
my present desktop.  I don't want to emulate Ub***o with its ever-changing gui! Change for the sake of change is not my cup of tea, thanx.)

Thanx for you interest.  --doug

Doug,

Uninstall the 3.2 kernel using Synaptic. Once that is done, install the 3.2 kernel again. When you did this last time you didn't have the dkms-nvidia173 package installed, so the driver couldn't be rebuilt for that kernel. Now you do have that package installed, so a new install of the 3.2 kernel should build the nvidia driver properly on the first reboot. It will take a few minutes to do this, so the boot process will be longer than usual. Just wait it out, and that should fix the problem. Future boots will be back to normal speed.

[CaptainSarcastic]

I have a GeForce 550 Ti video card, and I was using an NVidia driver with "170" in the name.  When I installed the new kernel, it said something about
removing Nvidia 170, and that's the problem.  The kernel will boot to a CLI ("safe mode") but it comes up with all kinds of errors regarding NVIDIA. 
(I have done some digging since last nite.)

I've gone through the thread, and I didn't see any explanation of why you are running an outdated version of the Nvidia drivers in the first place.  Running video drivers a generation behind your card would seem like something which could lead to issues in and of itself.

[Old-Polack]

CaptainSarcastic:

Good point. Just18 in his Reply #8, already pointed out that that card should be using the nvidia-current driver, rather than the nvidia-173 driver. I don't know why Doug is using the earlier driver in this case, unless the nvidia-current caused some problems, and this is a work-around.

[JohnW_57]

CaptainSarcastic:

Good point. Just18 in his Reply #8, already pointed out that that card should be using the nvidia-current driver, rather than the nvidia-173 driver. I don't know why Doug is using the earlier driver in this case, unless the nvidia-current caused some problems, and this is a work-around.

http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/35482
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/44240

The Geforce 550 Ti is only supported by the current nvidia drivers
Have a Geforce 250 and the 173. x driver is terrible slow on it!
The Geforce 550 is 2 generations higher as the Geforce 250.

JohnW

[dougmack]

To OldPolack:  You were absolutely right.  I did what you said, and sure enough, everything comes up roses, including my old stick-in-the-mud desktop display!
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ uname -a
Linux Linux1 3.2.18-pclos1.pae.bfs #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue May 22 04:56:12 CEST 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
Thank you.

Now, to CaptainSarcastic:   I have both the 173 and the current DKMS files installed, according to Synaptic.  It's hard for me to remember what
was going on with all the problems trying to get 3.2.xx running, but it seemed like I could not get anything but the original 2.6...NON pae running
until I installed the dkms 173...2012. As I mentioned in the thread originally, when I first installed the 3.2.xx kernel, Synaptic deleted the 173 version.
I don't think it was even in the repo for a few days.  I don't know how to convert the -2012 version to the -current version, and I don't want to
get locked out of everything.  The display works fine now, with one exception:
I don't know if it's the driver or something else--
I can no longer get a second display on the TV thru either the DVI or the HDMI connector on the card, and this is true in _both Linux and XP_.
I don't know if the driver set something in the card, or if there's something else wrong.  As per a previous thread, I could get video from
Linux, and both video and sound in XP.  I decided back then, after much futzing around, that I would be satisfied with just XP, so I could
watch delayed TV shows and/or movies, but now I get nothing on the TV, so if there are any suggestions along that route, I'd like to
have them.  If not, I'll call the GeForce people and see what, if anything, they suggest.  (I know they don't support Linux, but they
should support XP, and that's all I really need for that application.)  

Thanx for the input, gang.  --doug

[JohnW_57]

Hopefully more luck with this driver ( when it's in repositories).

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-amd64-302.17-driver.html

Removed the "TwinView" X configuration option; the functionality it provided is now enabled by default.

Previously, the NVIDIA X driver only enabled one display device for an X screen unless "TwinView" was enabled. Now, the NVIDIA X driver enables, by default, as many display devices as the GPU supports driving simultaneously. To limit how many display devices are driven by an X screen, use the "UseDisplayDevice" X configuration option.

JohnW

[Old-Polack]

To OldPolack:  You were absolutely right.  I did what you said, and sure enough, everything comes up roses, including my old stick-in-the-mud desktop display!
[doug@Linux1 ~]$ uname -a
Linux Linux1 3.2.18-pclos1.pae.bfs #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue May 22 04:56:12 CEST 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
Thank you.

Now, to CaptainSarcastic:   I have both the 173 and the current DKMS files installed, according to Synaptic.  It's hard for me to remember what
was going on with all the problems trying to get 3.2.xx running, but it seemed like I could not get anything but the original 2.6...NON pae running
until I installed the dkms 173...2012. As I mentioned in the thread originally, when I first installed the 3.2.xx kernel, Synaptic deleted the 173 version.
I don't think it was even in the repo for a few days.  I don't know how to convert the -2012 version to the -current version, and I don't want to
get locked out of everything.  The display works fine now, with one exception:
I don't know if it's the driver or something else--
I can no longer get a second display on the TV thru either the DVI or the HDMI connector on the card, and this is true in _both Linux and XP_.
I don't know if the driver set something in the card, or if there's something else wrong.  As per a previous thread, I could get video from
Linux, and both video and sound in XP.  I decided back then, after much futzing around, that I would be satisfied with just XP, so I could
watch delayed TV shows and/or movies, but now I get nothing on the TV, so if there are any suggestions along that route, I'd like to
have them.  If not, I'll call the GeForce people and see what, if anything, they suggest.  (I know they don't support Linux, but they
should support XP, and that's all I really need for that application.)  

Thanx for the input, gang.  --doug

Doug,

I'm actually surprised the nvidia-173 works at all with that card. It's possible, because of that drivers age, it could damage your present card if used too long.

Try this;

PCC --> Hardware --> Configure Video Card for the Graphics Card, choose NVIDIA GeForce 6100 to GeForce 360 which should actually be the default when you open the drop menu. Click the OK button at the bottom of the window.

When asked if you want the proprietary driver, click the Yes button.

Click the box Enable duplicate display on the second display, then click the OK button on the next screen.

Click the Quit button on the next screen.

The next screen asks if you want to keep this configuration... click the Yes button.

The next screen says to reboot for the changes to take effect. Click the OK button, close PCC with the window X button, then reboot.

This again will be a long boot, because dkms needs to rebuild the nvidia-current driver, just as it did the older nvidia-173 driver. Wait for it to do so, then when you get to the login screen, login again.

You should now have the second monitor working, as well as having the proper driver for that card being used.

Let us know how that works.

[Just17]

PCC --> Hardware --> Configure Video Card for the Graphics Card, choose NVIDIA GeForce 6100 to GeForce 360 which should actually be the default when you open the drop menu. Click the OK button at the bottom of the window.

If it behaves like mine the default shown will actually be Vesa .....  this card - so far - needs manual selection of the drivers.

So it is a matter of searching for and selecting the correct driver from a sub menu of the list.