nVidia drivers on 10.3

[webwalker]

OK, I'm new here so be nice to me. I'm a linux user, but decided to give GhostBSD a try to see how well it works. I have it installed, but it appears to be using the vesa video driver. Will this method work to install nVidia drivers on 10.3?

http://wiki.ghostbsd.org/index.php?titl ... stallation

Also, which of these drivers do you recommend for an 8400 GS?

Or any other help anyone can give me to help me get this working. Right now I'm stuck with 1024x768 on a 1900x1080 monitor. Things do look a bit strange!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Webby

EDIT: Downloaded nVidia -FreeBSD-x86_64-340.96. This appears to be the latest driver for the 8400 GS card.

[ASX]

yes, Nvidia 340.96 is the latest supporting the 8400/8600 series, and yes the info are up to date, preferred method using pkg install.

Welcome to GhostBSD world!

[webwalker]

Thank You ASX for the reply.

I do have a couple of more questions though, Do I need to install these same two files, or different ones for my driver package?

Also we need to install two additional packages:
pkg install nvidia-settings-340.24_1
pkg install nvidia-xconfig-310.14

Also, I used the 'No Loader' option when installing, so does that mean I need to use this set of commands:

Using this commands add needed lines to corresponding files (pay attention at Note!):
echo 'linux_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf
echo 'linux_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
echo 'hint.agp.0.disabled="1"' >> /boot/device.hints

Or this from the 'Notes' box? Or both? Like I say, I'm new to this on BSD. I understand it on linux, but it appears a bit different with BSD.

If you are using BSD loader you may use loader.conf:
echo 'nvidia_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf

Or, if you know the exact commands I need to get them installed and loaded at startup, I would be greatly appreciated.

[ericbsd]

That was wrote by a user and I should update it, to make sure that people understand better

[webwalker]

Thank You ericbsd! I would greatly appreciate it. I can install the drivers, but not sure about the rest of the commands listed. They're not familiar to me. I assume most everyone else knows and understands how to do this. Us newbies, not so much. Does previous versions have drivers already installed, or is that something you do yourself just for your video card?

Thanks,

Webby

[ericbsd]

I did update it and it should be less confusing have a look http://wiki.ghostbsd.org/index.php?titl ... stallation.

[webwalker]

Thanks ericbsd. I'm using an PCI-E video card. What commands do I need for that? (if any)

Also, I used the 'No Bootloader' option, will that be a problem?

When I make the 'nvidia-xconfig' file how does that work, just type in nvidia-xconfig in the terminal and the system will make the appropriate file?

Thanks

[ericbsd]

You might want to put both to be safe.

Code: Select all

echo 'kld_list="nvidia"' >> /etc/rc.conf 
echo 'nvidia_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf

But you probably only need:

Code: Select all

echo 'nvidia_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf

That's it for system you don't need to something else.

Make sure to install nvidia-xconfig and you need to run it:

Code: Select all

nvidia-xconfig

This will add build xorg.conf for you.

[ericbsd]

Oh and if you think the documentation is not enough clear let us know and we can work together to make it better for other. Also you can help writing if you want the wiki is open for every one.

[webwalker]

OK, I did these exact commands yesterday and trashed the install and had to re-install. It would only come up to a 'terminal' screen on reboot.

I think the problem is with the 'nvidia-xconfig' command/s. When I tried to install it I get this: No packages available to install matching 'nividia-xconfig' have been found in the repositories

Then when I try to run nvidia-xconfig I get this message: WARNING: Unable to locate/open X configuration file.

pkg-config: not found
New X configuration file written to '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'

Any good ideas?

Thanks,

Webby

last area of my xorg.conf file

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 28.0 - 33.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 72.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Results of pciconf -lv | grep -B3 display
vgapci0@pci0:1:0:0: class=0x030000 card=0x34ed1458 chip=0x10c310de rev=0xa2 hdr=0x00
vendor = 'NVIDIA Corporation'
device = 'GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3]'
class = display

Please let it be known that I DID NOT know these commands on my own. I acquired these from the FreeBSD forums.

I AM NOT proficient when it comes to the command line.