[Solved] Can't start X / Nvidia driver won't load

AirOnSkin · 2009-08-16 10:27:15

Hello everybody

Just wantet to post this in case someone is having the same problem and is searching for a solution.

Again and again after updating either kernel or xorg/nvidia driver I couldn't start X anymore.
I got the following error message:

NVIDIA: could not open the device file /dev/nvidia0 (input/output error)
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:2:0:0

To be honest, I couldn't think of something else as the driver that causes the problem. The module was loaded, my xorg.conf was ok, the device files under /dev existed with the right premissions, ...
I read somewhere on the internet that the framebuffer might be the source of the error. Changeing the vga=xxx entry in my /boot/grub/menu.lst did the trick in the end.

#  FRAMEBUFFER RESOLUTION SETTINGS
#     +-------------------------------------------------+
#          | 640x480    800x600    1024x768   1280x1024
#      ----+--------------------------------------------
#      256 | 0x301=769  0x303=771  0x305=773   0x307=775
#      32K | 0x310=784  0x313=787  0x316=790   0x319=793
#      64K | 0x311=785  0x314=788  0x317=791   0x31A=794
#      16M | 0x312=786  0x315=789  0x318=792   0x31B=795
#     +-------------------------------------------------+

My setting was 1280x1024 (16M). But why in the world would I need 16M colors on the console?
Going back to 755 (256 colors - which is more than enough on the console) solved my problem and I was able to start X again.

I'm not really sure why the framebuffer affects the nvidia driver. Just wanted to let you guys know.

Stay tuned

Air

Last edited by AirOnSkin (2009-08-16 10:27:35)

OzanGuven · 2009-08-24 16:56:14

Hello,

I have Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H motherboard which has onboard NVidia 9400GT.

I got the same error message;

NVIDIA: could not open the device file /dev/nvidia0 (input/output error)
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:2:0:0
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
Fatal server error:
no screens found

Also I get those errors;

arch kernel: NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x31:0xffffffff:1022)
arch kernel: NVRM: rm_init_adapter(0) failed

I'm using latest nvidia driver, also I used nvidia-xconfig to create my xorg.conf

- I tried AirOnSkin's suggestion, but it doesn't solve my problem.
- I tried nolapic, noapic and nopat parameters.
- I upgraded my BIOS version.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder63)  Wed May 27 03:15:36 PDT 2009


Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection



Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Unknown"
    HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
    VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Any other suggestions?

Last edited by OzanGuven (2009-08-24 16:57:10)

AirOnSkin · 2009-09-08 08:26:44

Hmm, I suggest you try the following:

+ Boot your system and login as root
+ Search you local library for installed nvidia packages: pacman -Qs nvidia
+ and remove all of them: pacman -Rsnd nvidia nvidia-utils
+ I'd also search the local harddrive for files that may have been left over and delete them, but do this only in case you know which files you can delete, and which you must keep. Anyway: find / -iname *nvidia*

+ Now make sure your /boot/grub/menu.lst (or the lilo config file) dont't have any vga=xxx settings at all (in the line where you're booting arch)

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro
initrd /kernel26.img

+ Now reboot your system
+ Login as root again
+ Update Pacman and reinstall the nvidia driver: pacman -Sy nvidia

+ Make sure that nvidia is added to the modules array in your /etc/rc.conf

# MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.

MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
MODULES=(... nvidia ...)

+ Reboot your system and login as normal user
+ Try startx

I have a slight guess, that maybe some login managers might interfere. I found out that sometimes (unfortunately not always, so I can't be sure), when I boot into runlevel 3 (text-mode) startx worked, and when I booted into runlevel 5 (with x) the error occured. Just as a hint... I'm really not sure if it concernes the problem.

That's all I can think of to help you. Good luck!

Air

Last edited by AirOnSkin (2009-09-14 11:13:52)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-08-16 10:27:15

[Solved] Can't start X / Nvidia driver won't load

#2 2009-08-24 16:56:14

Re: [Solved] Can't start X / Nvidia driver won't load

#3 2009-09-08 08:26:44

Re: [Solved] Can't start X / Nvidia driver won't load

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