Nouveau blacklisting tool unavailable

[kevjonesin]

I reinstalled 'xf86-video-nouveau' and now have access to tty(1 - 3) consoles back.

Bit of a 'Catch 22' at this point ... I guess I'll try the process again (making sure to reboot after blacklisting and before launching nvidia) to see if it changes anything.

Hoping to sort this out. I really need functionality from the proprietary driver. [I suppose exploring alternate version of the driver .... but it didn't even install so ... best I stop blabbering and get back to the re-implementation test/attempt I suppose ...]

[kevjonesin]

"Second verse, same as the first" ... I re-installed 'xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist-noarch-1' and rebooted. Same as before, I am now unable to get a display in tty consoles. sigh ...

The question remains, since I've again blacklisted nouveau (and rebooted) what driver is currently providing the display I'm now intereacting with? And is it the same that fails when I atempt to go to tty(1 - 3)? Or ... ?

[edit: Is the system running via the 'i915' driver through some sort of default firmware on the nVidia card?]
[edit: Present hardware summary via 'lshw': https://dpaste.de/GsOH/raw]
[edit: Web searching has led me to look into 'framebuffer'. There is an entry 'fb0' in /dev. However, I installed 'hwinfo' and

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sudo hwinfo --framebuffer

produces no output. I'm kinda' out-of-my-depth at this point. Is there a way to manually invoke the framebuffer before/while going to tty console? What 'should' be happening? And what are the specific names and terms invloved?]

[ElderDryas]

I have never had to use the "blacklist tool" when installing the nvidia driver.

After "slapt-get --update" and "slapt-get -i kernel-source", I simply "Ctrl + Alt + F1", cd to where I have stashed the driver, "init 3", then "sh N[TAB completion]" and run the shell script.

The first time thru, the script will ask questions which (iirc) are merely to disable the nouveau driver (thus eleminating the need for the "blacklist tool"). Reboot when done, logon, "Ctrl + Alt + F1", cd to where I have stashed the driver, "init 3", then "sh N[TAB completion]" and run the shell script again. This time it will actually install the driver.

Easy peasy.

EDIT: Actually, everything is sudo'd nowadays

[mimosa]

Shouldn't it be F2?

Alternatively, boot in runlevel 3 so X is never involved. To do this, hit TAB at the initial Lilo menu, and just add a '3' before pressing Enter.

Alternatively, boot normally, open a terminal and do

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sudo init 3

then log in again. You may wish to run screen (ctrl-a to switch between virtual terminals or whatever they're called).

It's a long time since I've installed the Nvidia driver, but I also don't recall having to mess with any blacklist package.

[ElderDryas]

Shouldn't it be F2?

I say F1, you say F2...they both work (and I cut-n-pasted it from from the wiki)

Alternatively, boot in runlevel 3....

I was trying to keep it as simple as possible (boot, Ctrl+Alt+F1, cd, init 3, run shell)

EDIT: And as I recall, the last time I tried to manually blacklist nouveau (years ago), I had all sorts of problems too.

[gapan]

Unless I am mistaken, with the nvidia proprietary driver, you need to add "nomodeset" as a boot option.

And am I getting this right? You remove the nouveau driver and blacklist it, then you reboot, without having installed the nvidia proprietary driver? If that's so, then I guess if X comes up, it is using the generic VESA driver. You don't need to reboot before installing the nvidia driver, just exit X.

[ElderDryas]

Unless I am mistaken, with the nvidia proprietary driver, you need to add "nomodeset" as a boot option.

I have never added that.

And am I getting this right? You remove the nouveau driver and blacklist it, then you reboot, without having installed the nvidia proprietary driver

I run the nvidia script twice. The first time <it> removes the nouveau driver (if you answer the questions it asks correctly)....reboot and the second time it installs the nvidia driver. I never manually remove/blacklist the nouveau driver.

If that's so, then I guess if X comes up, it is using the generic VESA driver.

I think so, it's a very ugly resolution rebooting after the first run through.

You don't need to reboot before installing the nvidia driver, just exit X.

One would think so, but I think I tried that once and it didn't work...but it was so long ago that I really don't remember.

EDIT: I wonder if it has something to do with kernel mods changing (nouveau -> VESA)?

[gapan]

Unless I am mistaken, with the nvidia proprietary driver, you need to add "nomodeset" as a boot option.

I have never added that.

Could be. I have never had an nvidia, but I have set up a handful for friends. It's been a long time though, so I don't really know.

You don't need to reboot before installing the nvidia driver, just exit X.

One would think so, but I think I tried that once and it didn't work...but it was so long ago that I really don't remember.

EDIT: I wonder if it has something to do with kernel mods changing (nouveau -> VESA)?

I'm not talking about actually running the nvidia driver. You do need a reboot to do that. I'm talking about installing it only. Again, I really don't know.

[ElderDryas]

I have never had an nvidia, but I have set up a handful for friends.

My guess is that it would depend on the combination of the kernel version, the driver version and the specific video card involved.

[kevjonesin]

Thanks ElderDryas (great profile pic, btw), I'll give it another go by re-enabling nouveau and letting the nVidia software pave its own way.

Sidenote: When I went to disable nouvea the second time (after re-enabling to compare) glapt only showed the blacklist option. Here's a screenshot: http://www.zimagez.com/zimage/screensho ... 2825am.php [I still made the actuall change back to disabled nouveau with slapt-get in terminal though.]

Regardless, I'm still curious to understand what's happening now— with nouveau blacklisted and without yet having installed the nvidia driver. What is providing display function to X11 in this 'land between'? And why are attempts to get a dislpay in tty consoles failing? Is it the i915 driver handling some (VESA?) mode in gui? Display responsiveness is slow in this mode. Most noticeable lag when switching virtual desktops/workspaces. How is X11 running at all at present? Doesn't it make use of a framebuffer as well? Etc. As I've recently had issues accessing tty consoles from a range of current distros it leaves open the possibility of a bug in something that's in general use. And again, no such problems with Bodhi 2.4—which is based on the older Ubuntu 12.04 LTS—on another partition on the same disk.

Mimosa, I'm not using lilo. I'm using grub2 via the pre-exisiting Bodhi instance on another partition. I chose the 'no bootloader' option when installing Salix and then booted to Bodhi and ran 'update-grub' and it readily found Salix and added it to the grub boot choices.
[edit: Oh, and btw, at present with nouveau blacklisted I now have an icon in my system-tray prompting me that udates are available. Clicking it leads to gslapt offering to update 'xf86-video-nouveau'.]