Upgrade issue

[craesz]

I see that new nvidia drivers have been uploaded by Tex. I recently had an issue with one of my desktops (See http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,90746.msg760680.html#msg760680) and solved it by downgrading drivers. I would like to see if the new drivers [some posts on twitter by Tex seem to indicate I was not alone with nvidia driver issues] would work. I am afraid that if I allow Synaptic to upgrade I won't be able to downgrade again. Is there a way to test these new drivers without totally messing up my ability to downgrade to a driver I know that works? Thanks for the help.

[kjpetrie]

How did you downgrade the driver? Have you still got the installer you used?

[craesz]

Through synaptic. Tex posted somewhere (can't remember where I saw it) that he kept an older version in the repos for that reason. I tried it and it worked. Now I need the answer to the above so I can figure out what to do about new drivers.

[craesz]

It is 260.19.44 I think. It was in the repos. I'm not on that machine right now or I could confirm. The machine here says my only other option is 260.19.44.

The posts I've seen seem to indicate that the upgrade might solve my problem with 270.41.19. I've seen reference to a conflict (Tex's twitter page) between xorg and nvidia but I have no idea if that is an issue. I just want to make sure I can get the 260 driver back if I try to use the new driver because I know it works.

[tom43]

 Hi craesz, This is not the answer you're looking for. That said, I'm running the latest 270.41.19 along with the Kernel update 2.6.38.7 that Tex just released and everything is as smooth as can be. My video card in this computer has the Nvidia 9500GT FYI. IMHO, I wouldn't be concerned about updating because Nvidia is extremely efficient and fast to make any necessary corrections to Drivers when they make an error.

[7272andy]

craez
which driver are you refering to? I'm assuming the nvidia-current-cuda-opencl

This is shown in the repo as being a version 270.41.19 but it is downgradeable to 260.19.44

On the Synaptic menu bar click Package > Force Version
Select the version you want to downgrade to in the pop-up window and click the Force Version button.
Click apply.

The above steps will work wherever the repo has more than one version of a package e.g. flash-player-plugin

Regards

[menotu]

I had lots of problems with both nvidia 270.41.06 and 270.41.19 versions and had to drop back to 260.19.44, but other people have been trouble free.

Whilst in Synaptic do the normal Reload and when you get the list back, select the nvidia driver and then go to the menu > Package > Force Version - now use the dropdown box which should show you the 2 versions.

If you decide to upgrade and things go a bit skewiff you "should" be able to do Force Version and drop back down.

Anyhow, that is how I did it.

I must say this is the very first time I've had any problems with the nvidia drivers and was a mite surprised when it did happen    Live and learn.

[mikkl]

The recommendations here all work as long as Tex keeps the 260.x drivers in the repository.

Another option is to temporarily set Synaptic to not delete packages after download, force a download of your current package and save a copy which can then be installed at a later date using the command line if you have problems.  Of course, this will only work so long as the dependencies do not change.

Alternatively, you could make and test an image of your installation so that if you have problem, you can restore the entire system to the current working state.

mikkl

[craesz]

7272andy: Thanks but I already did that. I want to make sure that an upgrade doesn't leave me stranded.

menotu: Yeah, did that.... what happens when the 260 driver is not in the repos any longer? How can you force a version that doesn't exist?

mikki: Exactly. Once Tex moves them out or the dependencies change I think I will be truly up a creek. UNLESS your recommendation to download the 260 package will work... If the upgrade puts me in a position to not be able to use the machine, I'm in trouble. I'm just trying to cover bases this time. I upgraded blindly because the mantra on the forum is "upgrade regularly" and I did so without any thought that anything could go wrong because it hasn't since I started using PCLinuxOS (Thank you Tex). Now that I know that there are issues that can arise, I will be more careful. Hence the first post above. Just trying to make sure I don't get in this situation again.

[menotu]

menotu: Yeah, did that.... what happens when the 260 driver is not in the repos any longer? How can you force a version that doesn't exist?

Can't I'm afraid - gotta download "to keep" from Synaptic (like a spare tyre  )

But any glitches should show up fairly quickly - mine showed within 30 minutes so I was able to jump back pretty quickly.

If push comes to shove the nvidia site always has old versions that can be downloaded.

[craesz]

If push comes to shove the nvidia site always has old versions that can be downloaded.

good to know. Thanks.

[menotu]

If push comes to shove the nvidia site always has old versions that can be downloaded.

good to know. Thanks.

Please note though, they aren't packaged as rpm's - they come as a .run file.

[DLWood]

Question:  Do you have to only downgrade the x11-driver, or do you also have to downgrade the dkms-nvidia-current package as well?

[craesz]

I did both.

[craesz]

If push comes to shove the nvidia site always has old versions that can be downloaded.

good to know. Thanks.

Please note though, they aren't packaged as rpm's - they come as a .run file.

How would I convert them? If you know....