custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

revertex · 2006-12-01 19:47:31

First of all my problem is a bit different of the other zillions of threads about nvidia, libgl and mesa issues.
and yes, i did a lot of search, and the recommended solutions doesn't work, because i'm not using the arch kernel nor the percompiled nvidia driver.

i did a fresh arch install using a live cd, following the steps from wiki, except that i install a kernel compiled from source (ck).
xorg install fine after the fist boot, then i installed the nvidia drivers using the nvidia installer.

But now i discover that it's virtually impossible to use a kernel compiled from source, because there is no precompilled nvidia drivers that match my kernel and i have no choice but install nvidia driver using the installer.

libgl-dri and mesa complain about files that already exist, and refuse to install without being forced.
if i install these packages anyway acceleration doesn't work , with all sort of error messages.

i did a lot of search and can't see a solution to my problem.

and there is another way to install nvidia drivers for custom kernels?
i guess i'm doomed with the new changes but why in hell it worked before and now there is no way?

since my first install i used a custom kernel and nvidia drivers compiled from source, but now something seems terribly broken.

do i the only people that compile his own kernel? maybe i'm getting old!

Acid7711 · 2006-12-01 20:05:03

Sorry man, welcome to the same problem I had. In the end I screwed stuff up so bad, a reinstall was in order. I've basically left custom kernel's alone in Arch because they're more hassle than their worth in this Distro, imo.

I've come from Gentoo and others where I ALWAYS compiled my own kernel and nvidia drivers to match. In arch it just causes problems, again imo.

My problem arose attempting to unstinstall the nvidia source package and attempting go revert back to a pre-compiled kernel and nvidia driver. That's when I started having issues. I had the custom kernel and nvidia source compiled and working perfectly fine.

Sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear. Hopefully someone has a solution for ya, I never found one...

Lone_Wolf · 2006-12-01 20:12:03

revertex, your problem may be solved easier than you expected, as the ck kernel for arch is available as a binary package The Linux Kernel and modules (Con Kolivas high performance ck-patchset with specific emphasis on the desktop) .

Just install with the normal kernel, then after pacman -Syu do this :

pacman -S kernel26ck

and change your bootlines in grub/lilo .

[vEX] · 2006-12-01 20:37:47

I'm using the vanilla kernel and vanilla nvidia drivers. What I did was to remove nvidia drivers, install libgl-dri and then reinstall the nvidia driver. I also added a "IgnorePkg = libgl-dri" to packman.conf too make sure it won't cause any more troubles.

revertex · 2006-12-01 20:42:14

thanks for reply.

i prefer compile the kernel myself, i'm paranoid, or maybe simple because i can, and since i started using linux (a distro from hell named gentoo) i used to compile my own kernels.

i don't use compressed kernel image or bootsplash, i think this kind of eyecandy is useless.
also i can see the point to blacklist modules, if i don't need a module, better not compile it.

If use a precompiled kernel is my last resource, i'm consider go to slackware, but i think arch is the coolest distro around.

i don't understand why it worked before, maybe i should fill a bug report, or arch doesn't support custom kernels anymore?

broch · 2006-12-01 21:13:52

simply use stock nvidia driver. I have it installed with all my kernels: default kernel26, 2.6.18.3-grsec and 2.6.19
All this works

Lone_Wolf · 2006-12-01 21:37:05

Just build things with abs/makepkg so pacman can deal with them.

The Wiki has several articles about kernels, but basically you use abs to get the PKGBUILDS for the official packages , modify them and then build your own versions with makepkg .

Since you want to compile a ck-kernel the kernel26ck and nividia-ck PKGBUILDS should be a good starting point.

loserMcloser · 2006-12-02 02:45:58

I use a custom kernel and nvidia drivers, no problems.

Before you worry about getting the nvidia driver installed though -- since you've done a fresh install the first thing you should do after getting networking set up is a "pacman -Syu". The latest libgl-dri and mesa packages shouldn't have any conflicts with the nvidia package.

Unfortunately, to use a custom kernel with nvidia you need to build your own nvidia package every time you build a new kernel. The process I follow is:

(1) Build/install new kernel, refresh your bootloader, reboot. Make sure you keep your kernel source around, don't "rm -rf" it, don't "make mrproper" or "make clean" it. After you reboot, you'll have to continue from the console because xdm/gdm/kdm/startx won't work.
(2) Make sure the /lib/modules/XXX/{build,source} symlinks point to your kernel source, where XXX is your kernel version/name (in case you built your kernel in a temporary location then moved it).
(3) mkdir /tmp/build; cd /tmp/build; cp /var/abs/extra/x11/nvidia/* .
(4) edit the PKBUILD file:
--> change the _kernver variable to the version/name of your custom kernel
--> remove kernel26 from the depends array
--> edit pkgdesc if you want
(5) makepkg
(6) "pacman -U" your new package. You'll probably want to save the nvidia installer file NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XXXXXXXXX.run in /var/cache/pacman/src for if you upgrade your kernel before nvidia upgrades their drivers.
(7) modprobe nvidia
(8) "telinit 5" or "startx"

You can do steps (3)-(5) as a regular user if you have the fakeroot package installed and you enable USE_FAKEROOT in /etc/makepkg.conf

brain0 · 2006-12-02 12:50:51

What loserMcloser said is the recommended way to install nvidia or ati-fglrx on a custom kernel. The advantage is that you will still use the stock nvidia-utils or ati-fglrx-utils package and dependencies will be resolved properly. If you use the nvidia installer, updating with pacman will make trouble at some point.

(4) edit the PKBUILD file:
--> change the _kernver variable to the version/name of your custom kernel
--> remove kernel26 from the depends array
--> edit pkgdesc if you want

You should also change pkgname from nvidia to something like nvidia-custom.

Unfortunately, to use a custom kernel with nvidia you need to build your own nvidia package every time you build a new kernel.

You have to do that anyway. And if you keep the PKGBUILD you created above, you only have to change _kernver and makepkg again. This is much less effort than re-running the nvidia installer every time you install a new kernel.

loserMcloser · 2006-12-02 20:53:49

brain0 wrote:

You should also change pkgname from nvidia to something like nvidia-custom.

If you do that, you won't get pacman telling you about updates to arch's nvidia package when you do "pacman -Syu". (just put "IgnorePkg = nvidia" in /etc/pacman.conf to avoid accidently installing the arch nvidia package over top of your custom nvidia package).

Or I guess you could change pkgname to nvidia-custom and add provides=(nvidia) and conflicts=(nvidia) to the PKGBUILD?

brain0 · 2006-12-02 21:09:41

You get notified because nvidia-utils is updated

Arch Linux

#1 2006-12-01 19:47:31

custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#2 2006-12-01 20:05:03

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#3 2006-12-01 20:12:03

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#4 2006-12-01 20:37:47

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#5 2006-12-01 20:42:14

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#6 2006-12-01 21:13:52

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#7 2006-12-01 21:37:05

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#8 2006-12-02 02:45:58

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#9 2006-12-02 12:50:51

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#10 2006-12-02 20:53:49

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

#11 2006-12-02 21:09:41

Re: custom kernel, nvidia, libgl-dri and mesa problem

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