X: NVidia 8800 GT not being initialized correctly

[M.Letcher]

Binary package hint: nvidia-glx-180

I suspect this is a jockey problem as using it to install the 180 driver does not work correctly.
System: Q6600, NV 8800 GT, Ubuntu: 9.04 ( Beta ) Live Install CD, Kernel: 2.6.28-11-generic. Two monitors (1=WDE 19" ( 1680x1050 capable and has a mode line listed ), 2=HP ( also 19" but only 1400x900 max ). This may actually be more of a xorg issue with 'future supported video modes' as that's what I'm trying to get setup. The NV driver seems to do this ( but without accel ), but the nvidia-180 driver appears not to support this.

I've had this problem since Intrepid. Hardy was good with the native NVidia driver. The Jaunty 'CD install' video and X works OK and recognizes both the card and both LED monitors and allows running at 1400x900 ( 16:10) on both monitors. Attempting to install the proprietary drivers 'System/Admin/Hardware Drivers' runs and completes without reporting errors. After re-start however, X resorts to 'low graphics' mode and only detects the primary monitor at 1280x1024. I haven't found how to reset X back to the install state and so have to do a 'clean' install from live CD. I'd like to avoid this now as I proceed with setup of U-Studio,etc. I have tried Envy as well a a direct install of the latest x386 driver from NVidia, but haven't made any progress.

Here's a link to earlier reports for Intrepid with Xorg.0.log showing error ( which is what I still get with Jaunty now).
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers-180/+bug/329556

The EE error in the Xorg.0.log when this happens is that the card can't be initialized and X quits upon not finding a valid screen. This happens very consistently.

EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:1:0:0.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Please see the COMMON PROBLEMS section in the README for
(EE) NVIDIA(0): additional information.
(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!

Current status:
Output of lspci: 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8800 GT (rev a2)

Excerpts from Xorg.0.log ( prior to jockey-NV180 install attempt) which seems to find things OK:
(--) PCI:*(0@1:0:0) nVidia Corporation GeForce 8800 GT rev 162, Mem @ 0xfa000000/16777216, 0xc0000000/536870912, 0xf8000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x0000df00/128, BIOS @ 0x????????/131072
(II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)

Attached is the Xorg.0.log output using nv which would be OK if I could get accel & compiz up and running.

Thanks in advance for any help. This has been really annoying, so I'm going to ignore it and move on with Studio setup stuff and see if I can get the audio/midi up and going.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[This is an automated message]

In Jaunty (9.04), we have just updated to the latest
nvidia-graphics-drivers-180 package from nVidia, version 180.44.

This package provides fixes for a large number of bugs, and we need your
assistance in testing if it fixes the issue you reported.

To do this, please do the following:

 a. Update to the 180.44 version of -nvidia using your favorite update
     method

 b. Attempt to reproduce your bug

 c. If your bug still remains, please simply reply to this email
     indicating so.

 d. If your bug is now solved, you can help us by setting your bug
     report to Fix Released:
     * In launchpad, go to your bug report
     * Click on the downward pointing arrow under Status
     * Set the Status field to 'Fix Released'
     * Comment on the change, such as, 'Verified fixed in 180.44'
     * Click 'Save Changes'

 e. If the original problem is solved but there are now other problems,
     please close the original bug and open new ones for those issues.

Thank you!

For details on the changes in this version of -nvidia, please see:

   http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_180.44.html

[Dave (david-ayres3)]

I've been wrestling with this same issue since upgrading to Intrepid.

XFX nVidia 8800GTS/640MB

[M.Letcher (m-letcher)]

Ok, another weekend, another try, and still no joy. I disabled the CD option in the update manager. At least Jockey didn't crash this time. However, the only option in hardware drivers this time was for nv - which appeared to default to nv-173. Jockey looked for drivers but didn't even offer options for 173 much less 180. Attempting to enable effects failed after a search for drivers. So, once again I manually removed nv-180-glx, re-installed it and experienced the failure of X to start. Again, /dev/nvidia0 isn't recognized and so the 8800-GT card at PCI-1:0.0 fails to get initialized and X fails. Back to Vista, again. I'm sooo disappointed that this is taking more than 4 months to resolve as its just getting a graphics driver installed.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreaciated.

I've been trying to get my nieces interested in Ubuntu but this is giving me caution in suggesting it to them. They're busy enough already and lack my patience.

[Dave (david-ayres3)]

I added the cx18 module to the blacklist (usually used for video capture cards like the Hauppage) and the problem is resolved for me.

I remember doing this in 8.10, but it made no difference then.

[M.Letcher (m-letcher)]

I've got a Hauppage video card. I didn't think Ubuntu was even aware of it. I don't use it with Ubuntu ( yet anyway, as I struggle to get basic OpenGL graphics working ). Any hints on how to check status of cx18 (??) and disable it to see if it makes any difference.

I can resend logs, etc. but have posted examples of the xstart fails a couple times previously and current fails are the same.

[Dave (david-ayres3)]

To blacklist the module, add the following to the end of /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf :

blacklist cx18

Reboot and try to enable your restricted drivers.

Let me know how you make out.

[Aaron Plattner (aplattner)]

Whenever you see the message, "Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device," you need to check your kernel log to see why the kernel module couldn't be initialized. Your best bet is to reproduce the problem, run nvidia-bug-report.sh, and then attach the resulting log.

[M.Letcher (m-letcher)]

Hello, thank you for the followup suggestion.

I'm attaching the nvidia-bug-report.log. I don't see anything attracting my attention as to what might need to be corrected, but I'm no expert. Seem's like it ought to turn-on and not throw me back to console mode, but ... ? I've had some other Vista updates and travel since last post and have been slow on this followup, but this is another Ubuntu weekend. Any suggestions/advice is appreciated. Have a nice weekend. I'm hoping to get the MIDI up and running this weekend as well.

[Aaron Plattner (aplattner)]

Here's the problem:
[ 30.912314] vmap allocation failed: use vmalloc=<size> to increase size.
Please see the section in the README about this error.

[M.Letcher (m-letcher)]

Is this a cmd line option to something or a kernal/mod re-compile ?

PS: I almost forgot the thank you for looking into this with me.

 After looking througth the log a third time a couple things do stand out, which is what I think you are commenting on though I have no idea on how to address at this time (A).

This is a standard 8800-GT card (512MB) that I haven't mucked with, so its pretty Vanilla and popular per Steam stats. I'm reallly surprised that it didn't just turn-on in Ubuntu ( most everything else does). Please advise on any next steps. I expect some editing so no problems there. I did notice that the Video BIOS Rev is not identified which is odd (B).

A) This may be what you are referring to, but I'm not sure how to address it.

[ 27.475180] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x26:0xffffffff:1081)
[ 27.475186] NVRM: rm_init_adapter(0) failed
[ 30.912314] vmap allocation failed: use vmalloc=<size> to increase size.
[ 30.912418] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x26:0xffffffff:1081)
[ 30.912424] NVRM: rm_init_adapter(0) failed

B) Video Bios ID:
/proc/driver/nvidia/cards/0
Model: GeForce 8800 GT
IRQ: 16
Video BIOS: ??.??.??.??.??
Card Type: PCI-E
DMA Size: 40 bits
DMA Mask: 0xffffffffff
Bus Location: 01.00.0

[Aaron Plattner (aplattner)]

It's a kernel parameter. The README entry I was referring to is this one:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/185.18.14/README/chapter-09.html#kva_exhaustion

It appears that the message changed, but I believe this is the same problem. The "RmInitAdaptor failed" messages are a direct result of that problem.

[M.Letcher (m-letcher)]

I'll try modifing the boot cmd, and if successfull put it into the menu.lst for GRUB. Haven't tried it yet, but will report results. With your suggestion, and looking around some I found the following link/discussion which applies to my machine as I have a Hauppauge HVR-1600 in my HP m8120n and this is what is probably causing interactions with the NVidia card. I do see the CX-18 driver getting loaded during boots. I sure hope this works as I use the NVidia card all the time and rarely have found a use for the TV tuner ( so far ).

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1043884.html
"This is an issue with all versions of the nvidia driver and the cx18 driver module. Ubuntu per se has nothing really to do with it. The problem is there is insufficient virtual memory being allocated to the kernel for both drivers. The solution (in nearly all cases)is to pass more virtual memory to the kernel at boot by configuring Grub to pass the parameter vmalloc=256m to the kernel at boot."

Note that discussion dates are all very recent.

[M.Letcher (m-letcher)]

No joy.

I tried both adding the 'vmalloc=256MB' to the boot line in Grub and the menu.lst. Neither seems to have helped enable the Nvidia drvr. I'm also noticing that when I show the restricted hardware options I don't see a a list of nvidia drivers ( 173, 180, etc ) anymore rather I just get a single Nvidia driver option which I can activate however I still can't enable features in the display options menu which looks for drivers and then says it can't enable adv features. I'm not at a point where I'd pull the Hauppauge HVR-1600 card yet, but may get there eventually if that's what it takes to debug this.

[beach_defender (barry-hpfm)]

Is this fixed yet?

I've been wasintg a huge amount of time with this bug. I have now got a PCI-Express Card and can finally actually boot my computer (and after only 2 months). BUT, now I get the screen going black every feww minutes or when I change windows.

I tried to install the ATI proprietary drivers, but that failed with the same jockey-common error.