Re: Crash, Screwy Dependency, Error Message for Livna Nvidia Modules

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Livna crew, please read the conclusions.

On Thu, Jan 04, 2007 at 12:29:41PM -0700, Charles Curley wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 04, 2007 at 10:57:14AM -0800, oldman wrote:
> > Charles Curley wrote:

> 
> > if you get i586 as a response, you will have to download the i686 kernel
> > and manually overwrite the existing kernel using:
> > rpm -ivh --replacefiles --replacepkgs kernel
> 
> I'll try this this evening.

Yum is weird. I rebooted to a back kernel, erased the latest, and went
to install it:

[root@charlesc ~]# yum install $(locate kernel-2.6.18-1.2869.fc6.i6)
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
...
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Parsing package install arguments
Examining /var/ftp/pub/fc6.updates/i386/kernel-2.6.18-1.2869.fc6.i686.rpm: kernel - 2.6.18-1.2869.fc6.i686
/var/ftp/pub/fc6.updates/i386/kernel-2.6.18-1.2869.fc6.i686.rpm: does not update installed package.
/var/ftp/pub/fc6.updates/i386/kernel-2.6.18-1.2869.fc6.i686.rpm: does not update installed package.
Nothing to do

I didn't ask it to update an installed package, I asked it to install
a new one.

Running "rpm -ivh" worked just fine.

Running "yum install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia" (without rebooting to the
new kernel) ran fine, except for the mysterious "FATAL: Module nvidia
not found." message. I conjecture that comes from the RPM
post-installation script trying to fire up the nvidia driver. Running
it by hand produces:

[root@charlesc ~]# service nvidia-glx start
Checking for nvidia kernel module                          [FAILED]
nvidia.ko module for 2.6.18-1.2868.fc6 kernel not found
Disabling nvidia-glx driver                                [  OK  ]

Which is reasonable as I am on a kernel with no such module.

On reboot, the system ran all the way to GDM. It painted about a
quarter of the background screen, and then halted, leaving the rest of
the screen white and locking up the rodent and the rest of X. There is
a nice trace in /var/log/messages similar to the last one. I won't
bore the list with it.

I rebooted, and ran system-config-display. It went into a tizzy,
making mouse movement very jerky. It then crashed, with a similar
dump.

I then compared xorg.conf with the backup made at installation
time. They were identical.

I rebooted to the old kernel, removed the nvidia packages,
rebooted to the new kernel, and re-installed the nvidia modules. This
time, no mystery message. I got the message about the nvidia module
tainting the kernel.

None the less, when I fired up X, I got the same symptoms: A partial
loading of X and Gnome, the system going unresponsive, and then X
crashing.

Conclusions:

* The kernel module is inserted when the rpm package is
  installed. This only works if the system is running the kernel for
  which the module is compiled.

* It is not obvious that you have to be running the kernel for which a
  module is compiled while installing it. Installation may consist of
  dropping a file or two in the right place(s) and editing a few
  configuration files, neither of which requires a specific kernel.

* The current error message is cryptic and user hostile.

Recommendations:

* If you must have a specific kernel, the time to test for it is
  before you start installing, not when you are almost done. This
  includes testing for architecture.

* If the running kernel is not the one for which the module is
  compiled, refuse to install at all, and give the user a clear
  message saying why, and recommend the correct procedure.

-- 

Charles Curley                  /"\    ASCII Ribbon Campaign
Looking for fine software       \ /    Respect for open standards
and/or writing?                  X     No HTML/RTF in email
http://www.charlescurley.com    / \    No M$ Word docs in email

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