nVidia drivers: FATAL: module nvidia not found?

Message

Mrhnhrm · Post by **Mrhnhrm** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:06 pm

Well, I think I've finally been able to install Gentoo (wow what an experience for a linux newbie...

)
I've decided to start adding stuff to the basic system, starting with xorg-x11. After that I remember that it is probably going to need video drivers. So I've emerged nvidia-drivers. This process went pretty smoothly.
However, when I tried to modprobe the resulting kernel module, I was given a message saying something to the effect of

FATAL: module nvidia not found

The funniest thing is that a file named nvidia.ko exists in the /lib/modules/(kernel name)/ directory.
So, is there some way to make the system see and make use of this file?
Thanks in advance

Zach_the_Lizard · Post by **Zach_the_Lizard** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:23 pm

Well, for one, edit your xorg.conf file to make use of the nvidia driver for when you get it fixed.

Secondly, check to see if it is in /lib/modules/<kernel_name>/kernel/drivers/video. This is where my nvidia.ko is located, and perhaps you chould copy it there and see if it works.

Pearlseattle · Post by **Pearlseattle** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:36 pm

My nvidia.ko is located in:
/lib/modules/2.6.24-gentoo-r4/video/

Post by **Chewi** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:55 pm

Presumably you haven't changed kernel since you installed it. It should have run automatically but try running depmod. Failing that, you could try loading it directly with insmod /path/to/nvidia.ko just to see what happens. Maybe it will shed some light on the problem.

bunder · Post by **bunder** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:12 pm

you can also try "modules-update -f" (or was it update-modules... it's symlined either way)

cheers

Naib · Post by **Naib** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:49 pm

your GCC hasn't changed since you compiled your kernel has it?

ie you are compiling nvidia-drivers with a different gcc then your kernel was compiled with?

Mrhnhrm · Post by **Mrhnhrm** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:33 pm

So, I guess I was in too much of a hurry yesterday (or was it lack of sleep?). I've been able to solve the problem, but the solution description won't make much sense if a more detailed situation description is not given. When configuring a kernel I've added "Mrhnhrm edition 1" appendage to kernel version string, just for the heck of it.
And guess what? All the modules and related files created during kernel compilation reside in /lib/modules/kernel-(version)Mrhnhrmedition1/ And nvidia.ko and its related files reside in directory /lib/modules/kernel-(version)Mrhnhrm/ which is slightly different directory name

So, since I've complied and installed no other modules after messing around with nvidia-drivers I thought it would be safe to copy everything from the directory created by nvidia-drivers installation to the "default" modules directory.

Morale: don't create fancy custom kernel version appendages

Thanks for your moral support

Rede · Post by **Rede** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:43 am

I seem to be having the same problem with my nvidia.ko module. I did have gnome and the nvidia driver all running fine for a while and then I did something and can't get it working.

I tried to do what was said here but with no luck.

Unlike the solution here my nvidia.ko exists in the correct place, I believe when I unmasked the latest builds of the nvidia driver this began. I have searched around and none of the answers seem to help

Vash63 · Post by **Vash63** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:39 am

Mrhnhrm wrote:So, I guess I was in too much of a hurry yesterday (or was it lack of sleep?). I've been able to solve the problem, but the solution description won't make much sense if a more detailed situation description is not given. When configuring a kernel I've added "Mrhnhrm edition 1" appendage to kernel version string, just for the heck of it.
And guess what? All the modules and related files created during kernel compilation reside in /lib/modules/kernel-(version)Mrhnhrmedition1/ And nvidia.ko and its related files reside in directory /lib/modules/kernel-(version)Mrhnhrm/ which is slightly different directory name
So, since I've complied and installed no other modules after messing around with nvidia-drivers I thought it would be safe to copy everything from the directory created by nvidia-drivers installation to the "default" modules directory.

Morale: don't create fancy custom kernel version appendages

Thanks for your moral support

My guess would be that it's the spaces that did it... you can change the name of the kernel if you like and it doesn't really cause any problems, spaces can cause issues with a lot of scripts though.