Nvidia SLI in Arch

uberGeek · 2006-05-02 05:12:22

Any tips on getting SLI working in Arch?

I suspect this is the problem:

(WW) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize SLI!  Reason: Only one GPU detected. 
(WW) NVIDIA(0):      Only one GPU will be used for this X screen.

Not really sure what to try next.

Thanks for any thoughts!

FUBAR · 2006-05-02 09:05:54

[offtopic]
I'm sorry: I use Arch because I don't crap money (yet).

Stop pimping your luxury problems, you bastard!
[/offtopic]

Sorry, can't offer any real help.

Blaasvis · 2006-05-02 09:31:08

try posting your config ?

uberGeek · 2006-05-04 00:05:36

I don't crap money, but I've got a few bucks.

I use Arch cause it's the best distribution I've ever seen.

[pimping]
Dual 2.8GHz Opterons, 4GB RAM (K8WE Motherboard)
Dual TV tuners (PVR500)
Dual GB Ethernet
Dual PCI Express x16 slots with a 7800GTX in each, 256MB (490MHz/1.3GHz)
Three 74GB Raptors in Hardware RAID3
250GB and 400GB WD SATA HD's
24" Dell 2405FPW LCD, 1920x1200, 5 inputs (picture-in-picture, picture-beside-picture)
Dual boot Arch and Winbloze XP64 (only to play BF2)
[/pimping]

So, here's my config:

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier      "Xorg Configured"
  Screen       0  "Screen2" 0 0
  InputDevice     "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice     "PS/2 Mouse" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option          "AllowMouseOpenFail" "true"
EndSection

Section "Files"
        RgbPath         "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
        ModulePath      "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
        # Additional fonts: Locale, Gimp, TTF...
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
#        FontPath        "/usr/share/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/75dpi"
#        FontPath        "/usr/share/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/100dpi"
        # True type and type1 fonts are also handled via xftlib, see /etc/X11/XftConfig!
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/ttf/western"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/ttf/decoratives"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/openoffice"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-bitstream-vera"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/latex-ttf-fonts"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/defoma/CID"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/defoma/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load            "ddc"  # probing of monitor
        Load            "dbe"
        Load            "dri"
        Load            "extmod"
        Load            "glx"
        Load            "bitmap"
        Load            "type1"
        Load            "freetype"
        Load            "record"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Keyboard0"
        Driver          "keyboard"
        Option          "CoreKeyboard"
        Option          "XkbRules" "xorg"
        Option          "XkbModel" "pc105"
        Option          "XkbLayout" ""
        Option          "XkbVariant" ""
        Option          "AutoRepeat" "200 125"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "PS/2 Mouse"
        Driver          "mouse"
        Option          "Protocol" "auto"
        Option          "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
        Option          "SendCoreEvents" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "dell_2405FPW"
        Option          "DPMS" "true"
        ModeLine "1920x1200" 154.128 1920 1968 2000 2080  1200 1203 1209 1235 -Hsync -Vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "GeForce7800"
        Driver          "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier              "Screen2"
        Device                  "GeForce7800"
        Monitor                 "dell_2405FPW"
        DefaultColorDepth       24
        Option                  "NoLogo" "true"
        Option                  "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"
        Option                  "SLI" "AFR"
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "1920x1200" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1920x1200" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1920x1200" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400"  "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection

#Section "DRI"
#        Mode 0666
#EndSection

I don't think this is the problem. I think the problem is getting the 2nd card recognized (i.e. getting nvidia1 to join nvidia0 in /dev) I base this guess on the warnings I posted in the top of this thread.

Again, thanks to all for any input, even if it's not any real help

FUBAR · 2006-05-04 07:57:31

I read SLI is only supported in nVidia's 8x.yz and later drivers. Are you using those? Does the SLI work in Windows?

[offtopic]
Jesus christ, that system is insane!
[/offtopic]

postlogic · 2006-05-04 11:01:36

[offtopic]
I hate you and the system you rode in on.
[/offtopic]

uberGeek · 2006-05-04 18:17:28

Hey!

I'm using this, I got from Arch testing: nvidia-1.0.8178-16.pkg.tar.gz. It works quite well, 'cept for SLI. I don't really need SLI in Linux, but I would like to get it working, because it should, and I may want it in the future.

I just checked, 1.0.8756-1 is now it testing (has been for almost a month, doh!)...I'm going to try it tonight.

SLI works great in Windoze.

lspci shows both cards:

02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 7800 GTX (rev a1)
81:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 7800 GTX (rev a1)

I only have nvidia0 in /dev, I'm thinking I should also have a nvidia1. Is that correct?

Nothing but love for my fellow Archers!

uberGeek · 2006-05-04 23:08:02

Ok, I missed a line in the XOrg log, not an answer, but an additional clue...I hope:

(WW) NVIDIA: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:129:0:0) found
(WW) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize SLI!  Reason: Only one GPU detected. 
(WW) NVIDIA(0):      Only one GPU will be used for this X screen.

nvidia 1.0.8756-1 drivers did not make a difference, btw.

byte · 2006-05-05 09:48:22

'man xorg.conf' wrote:

BusID "bus-id"
This specifies the bus location of the graphics card. For PCI/AGP cards, the bus-id string has the form PCI:bus:device:function (e.g., "PCI:1:0:0" might be appropriate for an AGP card). This field is usually optional in single-head configurations when using the primary graphics card. In multi-head configurations, or when using a secondary graphics card in a single-head configuration, this entry is mandatory. Its main purpose is to make an unambiguous connection between the device section and the hardware it is representing. This information can usually be found by running the Xorg server with the -scanpci command line option.

I think you need two "Device" entries.

uberGeek · 2006-05-07 06:44:58

Two device entries made no difference, I tried a number of different combinations, moving BusID from one to the other etc...

Every working SLI xorg.conf I've found while googling has ONE device entry. And, only one line that is different from a non-SLI xorg.conf: 'Option "SLI" "AFR"'

Some lines from Xorg.0.log:

(--) PCI:*(2:0:0) nVidia Corporation GeForce 7800 GTX rev 161, Mem @ 0xa2000000/24, 0xb0000000/28, 0xa1000000/24, I/O @ 0x2000/7
(--) PCI: (11:8:0) unknown vendor (0x4444) unknown chipset (0x0016) rev 1, Mem @ 0xc4000000/26
(--) PCI: (11:9:0) unknown vendor (0x4444) unknown chipset (0x0016) rev 1, Mem @ 0xc8000000/26
(--) PCI: (129:0:0) nVidia Corporation GeForce 7800 GTX rev 161, Mem @ 0xce000000/24, 0xd0000000/0, 0xcd000000/24, I/O @ 0x6000/7
...
(**) NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA SLI enabled; using alternate frame rendering.
(**) NVIDIA(0): ConnectedMonitor string: "DFP"
(**) NVIDIA(0): Use of AGP disabled per request
(WW) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize SLI!  Reason: Only one GPU detected. 
(WW) NVIDIA(0):     Only one GPU will be used for this X screen.
(II) NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA GPU GeForce 7800 GTX at PCI:2:0:0

So, as we can see by (--) the second card IS being probed, but later the "Only one GPU detected" warning.

So, I'm still with my original theory, which could very well be wrong, I need a second nvidia device in /dev.

FUBAR · 2006-05-08 07:48:53

Have you looked into the nvidia module? Maybe you have provide parameters or load it twice, once for every VGA. Just some tips, though.

nvidia-config --sli=on, also in the thread they talk about

Option "sli" "1"

in xorg.conf

uberGeek · 2006-05-08 17:03:51

I've not looked into possible parameters to the nvidia module yet, but it's my next move. I have tried modprobe nividia twice in a row, but I only get nvidia0 in /dev out of that.

I'm using "Option" "sli" "afr" now, this is what causes X to actually try and start SLI. I chose AFR based on some benchmarks I found on the web that showed it offered the best overall performance boost in Linux.

I would think that Option "sli" "1" is a variation of this, AFR, after all, will resolve to a constant value, like 1, 2, etc... I would hedge a guess that "0" turns SLI off, "1" is auto, "2" is a specific mode like "AFR", etc... I think it's worth a shot, however, so I'll try it with 0, 1, 2 & 3 and see if anything changes. I won't be able to work on the box until the 15th however, as I'm on the road this week

Thanks for showing an interest, and trying to help! As always, all input is welcome.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-05-02 05:12:22

Nvidia SLI in Arch

#2 2006-05-02 09:05:54

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#3 2006-05-02 09:31:08

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#4 2006-05-04 00:05:36

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#5 2006-05-04 07:57:31

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#6 2006-05-04 11:01:36

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#7 2006-05-04 18:17:28

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#8 2006-05-04 23:08:02

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#9 2006-05-05 09:48:22

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#10 2006-05-07 06:44:58

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#11 2006-05-08 07:48:53

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

#12 2006-05-08 17:03:51

Re: Nvidia SLI in Arch

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