Arch Linux

user654564

Member

Registered: 2014-02-15

Posts: 27

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

There are two graphics cards in the MacBook Pro 5,3 (mid 2009 model): NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and NVIDIA 9600M GT discrete graphics.

'lspci | grep -i vga' shows:

02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G96M [GeForce 9600M GT] (rev a1)
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C79 [GeForce 9400M] (rev b1)

user654564

Member

Registered: 2014-02-15

Posts: 27

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

Ah, just saw your edit. So I need a different driver altogether then? What is the name of the package in pacman / AUR?

sl1pkn07

Member

From: Spanishtán

Registered: 2010-03-30

Posts: 371

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

you need the [extra] nvidia drivers. but if you use 2 cards, need edit the "xorg.conf" (/etc/X11/xorg.d/20-nvidia.conf) file (or with other name, but in xorg.d directory)

i don't know what you exactly need, maybe defined the 2 card like:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    BusID          "PCI:2:0:0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device1"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

this is only a EXAMPLE, see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA for info and real configuration options

Last edited by sl1pkn07 (2014-02-17 21:49:49)

user654564

Member

Registered: 2014-02-15

Posts: 27

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

Hmm... Removing the nvidia-96xx packages from AUR and trying extra/nvidia I'm back to the "black screen of death" following a flash of the NVIDIA logo that I mentioned here.

Last edited by user654564 (2014-02-17 22:23:51)

sl1pkn07

Member

From: Spanishtán

Registered: 2010-03-30

Posts: 371

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

in BSOTD you cannot switch to another TTY with ctrl+alt+F2? (for example)

if yes (and you can view the console) please paste here the dmesg/xorg.0.log

user654564

Member

Registered: 2014-02-15

Posts: 27

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

Sorry, what is BSOTD? (I'm relatively new to this, and Google didn't provide much help).

Could you perhaps provide more detailed steps for the process you are describing?

sl1pkn07

Member

From: Spanishtán

Registered: 2010-03-30

Posts: 371

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

Black Screen Of The Death XD

user654564

Member

Registered: 2014-02-15

Posts: 27

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

LoL, should have seen that one coming

I tried CTRL+ALT+F2 after the black screen, but no change occurred.

Are you sure the nvidia driver is correct for the 9400M/9600M? I thought the nvidia-96xx driver was made specifically for this group of graphics cards...

Last edited by user654564 (2014-02-17 23:13:00)

the_shiver

Member

Registered: 2013-03-27

Posts: 130

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

Are you sure the nvidia driver is correct for the 9400M/9600M? I thought the nvidia-96xx driver was made specifically for this group of graphics cards...

that 96xxx referes to the version number of the driver and as stated on the wiki is for really old nvidia cards

sl1pkn07

Member

From: Spanishtán

Registered: 2010-03-30

Posts: 371

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

exactly, see https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topi … -releases/

user654564

Member

Registered: 2014-02-15

Posts: 27

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification, guys.

I guess my next question is, how to get past the black screen that follows the brief appearance of the NVIDIA logo? I've tried various options within 20-nvidia.conf (such as those suggested by @sl1pkn07 and those in the wiki) with no change in the outcome so far.

sl1pkn07

Member

From: Spanishtán

Registered: 2010-03-30

Posts: 371

Re: How to get xorg working with nvidia-96xx?

try

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor0"
    VendorName "Unknown"
    ModelName "Unknown"
    HorizSync 30.0 - 110.0
    VertRefresh 50.0 - 150.0
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    BusID "PCI:3:0:0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 9400M GT"
    Screen "0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device1"
    BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
    Driver  "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 9600M GT"
    Screen "1"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device "Device0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

this enable both cards but only connected to the monitor/panel the discrete card (9400)

i don't know if this working, if not work, create post in devtalk.nvidia.com. is the official nvidia linux forum

good luck!

Last edited by sl1pkn07 (2014-02-18 09:36:55)