[CentOS] Nvidia Geforce 5200 graphic card

Wed Aug 16 22:54:48 UTC 2006
Philip Wyett <philipwyett at blueyonder.co.uk>

On Wed, 2006-08-16 at 15:58 -0500, Corwin Burgess wrote:
> Josep M. wrote:
> > Hello.
> >
> > I have a Nvidia Geforce 5200 graphic card, the quality much is less that
> > in windows, I would like how I can adjust this. Image quality is good,
> > but usual desktop have much less quality, I use 1024*768 in both.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> >   
> 
> Take a look at the article 'NVIDIA Driver Release 1.0-8762' at this link:
> http://www.linuxhardware.org/
> 
> You'll find the driver under 'Usual Links:' at the bottom of the 
> article. If you click on the 'README' and then on 'A. Supported NVIDIA 
> Graphics Chips' you'll find out if your graphics card is supported. If 
> not then maybe there's another driver out there somewhere.
> 
> Philip Wyett gave me some really good help in this thread:
> [CentOS] Video Card Not Recognized Installing CentOS 3.7
> 
> Hope that helps,
> Corwin
> 

As Corwin has stated the latest driver is OK for you as the GeForce FX
5200 is supported. This chips hardware ID is also part of at least the
CentOS 4.x kernel.

Note: I _never_ use any form of rpm based wrapped nvidia driver that can
      be found in some third party repos. I do not find this necessary
      at all and find people who do have more issues.

Below is my usual method for nvidia driver install.

Prerequisites:

 * The gcc tool chain be installed.
 * The kernel-devel package be installed.

The latest driver release is here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-8762.html

 * Download the .run driver file to a location of your choosing.
 * Obtain root privileges using 'su -' and entering the root password.
 * Open and edit '/etc/inittab' with your preferred editor and change
   the line:

    id:5:initdefault:

    to

    id:3:initdefault:

   This will change your runlevel from 5 (graphical) to 3 (text). Save
   the changes and exit the editor.

   Note: Some people use telinit, but I prefer not to as I newer cards
         as well as older ones.

 * Reboot your machine.
 * You will boot up into runlevel 3 and at the end of the process will
   be presented with a text login.
 * Login as root.
 * Run the nvidia driver installer with a command line like:

    sh /path_to_the_downloaded_driver/driver_filename.sh

 * Once the installer begins you will be prompted with various
   questions. Answer the questions as appropriate. When it asks to go to
   the nvidia ftp to find a pre built module, answer in the negative.
 * Once the basic questions have been answered, it will go away and
   build then install the nvidia kernel module.
 * Once the install portion completes you will be asked if you wish to
   configure X using the nvidia configuration tool - Answer in the
   negative!!!

   Note: This tool I have found is immature and does more harm
         than good.

 * Once the total install has completed it will prompt you of the fact
   and you can exit the installer.
 * While still as root, open and edit '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' and make the
   following changes.

   Line:

    Load "dri"

    to

    #Load "dri"

   Line:

    Driver "nv"

    to

    Driver "nvidia"

   This will make the newly installed nvidia driver be loaded and ignore
   anything dri (Direct Rendering Infrastructure). Save the changes and
   exit the editor.

 * Open and edit '/etc/inittab' with your preferred editor and change
   the line:

    id:3:initdefault:

    to

    id:5:initdefault:

    This will reverse your earlier change and make the system boot to
    runlevel 5 (graphical) by default again. Save the changes and
    exit the editor.

 * Now back at the prompt, type 'exit' to logout from the root account.
 * Do the three finger salute i.e. 'Ctrl + Alt + Delete' to reboot.

All being correct the system will reboot and you will see an nvidia logo
screen once or twice during boot (this will tell you the driver is
loading OK) and it should boot as normal from then on.

This completes the way I personally do it. For those wondering why the
reboot. Well... nvidia cards that are unknown to the kernel will cause
kudzu to kick in and configure the hardware id before proceeding, so now
out of habit I use the same method for all.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Phil