nvidia-331 331.38-0ubuntu7: nvidia-331 kernel module failed to build [macros.h:1:2: error: #error INIT_WORK() conftest failed!]

[Simon Lambourn]

I have just installed ubuntu 14.04 on amd64 hardware, and nouveau is unstable with my NVIDIA Geforce 8200 integrated graphics.
Tried to install nvidia-331 using sudo apt-get install nvidia-331, but the build failed along with the dkms build (and I think something else later).

The error messages during the build were:
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 3-13.0-24-generic (x86-64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-331/331.38/build/make.log for more information
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 3-13.0-24-generic (x86-64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/bbswitch/0.7/build/make.log for more information

I've also tried downloading and installing the nvidia driver direct from nvidia: this also fails with a different build error message

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: nvidia-331 (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
DKMSKernelVersion: 3.13.0-24-generic
Date: Tue Apr 22 14:00:34 2014
DuplicateSignature: dkms:nvidia-331:331.38-0ubuntu7:/var/lib/dkms/nvidia-331/331.38/build/conftest/macros.h:1:2: error: #error INIT_WORK() conftest failed!
PackageVersion: 331.38-0ubuntu7
SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers-331
Title: nvidia-331 331.38-0ubuntu7: nvidia-331 kernel module failed to build
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
modified.conffile..etc.modprobe.d.nvidia.331.hybrid.conf: [deleted]

[Simon Lambourn (simon-lambourn-o)]

Here is the other make.log showing the bbswitch build error

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Tom Goeckel (norak2)]

I'm not sure whether this is related to this bug but I was unable to install nvidia drivers because my default compiler was set to an older version as default (gcc 4.4). Setting the default back to 4.8 solved the problem and I was able to install the drivers.
I found this bug report because I got a similar error message when trying to manually install the proprietary nvidia drivers. When installing from the repos I didn't get an error message at all.

[Simon Lambourn (simon-lambourn-o)]

Hi Max,

Thanks for the email.
I did check and my default GCC is set to 4.8, so that wasn't the problem.
I can't install from the NVIDIA website or from the repos. Both fail
with a compilation error - an unknown function.

Simon

On 10/06/14 13:52, Max Mustermann wrote:
> I'm not sure whether this is related to this bug but I was unable to install nvidia drivers because my default compiler was set to an older version as default (gcc 4.4). Setting the default back to 4.8 solved the problem and I was able to install the drivers.
> I found this bug report because I got a similar error message when trying to manually install the proprietary nvidia drivers. When installing from the repos I didn't get an error message at all.
>

[Simon Lambourn (simon-lambourn-o)]

PS. The problem occurred because I built a ubuntu image using
vmbuilder and installing linux-image-generic + ubuntu-desktop packages.
I am surprised that ubuntu-desktop doesn't pre-req linux-generic? Is
this something I should report as a bug?

Simon

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Bug 1311121] Re: bbswitch-dkms 0.7-2ubuntu1: bbswitch
kernel module failed to build
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:06:27 +0100
From: Simon Lambourn <email address hidden>
To: Bug 1311121 <email address hidden>

Dear Peter,

Thank you for investigating this bug and reporting back. I can confirm
that installing the linux-generic package allowed the nvidia drivers,
and bbswitch, to compile, but I now have another problem with the nvidia
drivers. I think this is because I built the system without the
linux-generic package - so I'm going back and starting again. But I
confirm that your diagnosis about the bbswitch bug is correct.

Thanks very much for your help and I'm sorry that I didn't notice this
myself.

Best regards
Simon Lambourn

On 25/07/14 09:57, Peter Wu wrote:
> It appears that you have linux-headers-3.13.0-24 installed, but not
> linux-headers-3.13.0-24-generic. Install the linux-generic package to
> ensure that you always stay up-to-date with recent kernels including the
> headers.
>
> Please re-open if the problem still persists after doing so.
>
> ** Changed in: bbswitch (Ubuntu)
> Status: Confirmed => Invalid
>