Latest xorg update breaks nvidia due to ABI ( wheezy )

[dbbolton]

I did a safe upgrade yesterday and after restarting found that X is broken. The error message indicates that the version of the X server and the version of the nvidia driver are not compatible (something about the ABI version). There was a warning message that told me to download the latest driver. I found out that I _am_ using the lastest driver for my card-- 280.13 on GeForce Go 7300.

The warning said the only other thing to do would be to downgrade X, which sounds like a nightmare.

I tried using nouveau but it couldn't find any screens. Right now I'm using vesa and it doesn't seem to be capable of a 16:10 aspect ratio.

I have had plenty of problems with wheezy and have thought about doing a clean installation of squeeze, so maybe I'll do that if there's no other option.

Edit: found this thread
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=69341

Tried the IgnoreABI option to no avail.

[jheaton5]

See the thread on the aptosid site

[dbbolton]

See the thread on the aptosid site

It's 8 pages long. What am I looking for?

Reading the first page tells me that neither -ignoreABI nor nouveau is a valid option. I play games that require 3D.

[jheaton5]

See the thread on the aptosid site

It's 8 pages long. What am I looking for?

Reading the first page tells me that neither -ignoreABI nor nouveau is a valid option. I play games that require 3D.

Sorry. I remembered a lengthy discussion on ignoreABI from this thread. I just re-read the thread and the discussion starts on page 6. But it also does not provide any resolution to the issue. You are using wheezy and this is about sid.

[julian67]

I did a safe upgrade yesterday

If you're not running stable then there is no such thing as a safe upgrade;)

If it's a machine you rely on then don't run anything else except stable.

If you now need to downgrade then it needn't be a nightmare, in fact it looks to me like running testing or unstable can be where the nightmares lie, while running stable+custom kernel+latest nvidia driver+anything you care to build is very trouble free and easy. Quit X, or boot to a console, and find all installed xorg or xserver packages and use apt to install the version you want, i.e. `apt-get install xserver-xorg=1:7.5+8` for stable or `apt-get install xserver-xorg=1:7.6+8~bpo60+1` for backports, and so on.

[62chevy]

julian67 is the easiest way to go or you can get what you need from here. The problem with that is all the dependencies you will have, it's good for one or two things but you may need more. I think you have already done the backports downgrade. You may also want to pin xserver-*

Code: Select all

chevy@sid:~$ cat /etc/apt/preferences
Package: xserver-*
Pin: version 2:1.10.4-1
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
Pin: version 1:0.9.4-2+b1
Pin-Priority: 700


[dbbolton]

If you're not running stable then there is no such thing as a safe upgrade;)

If it's a machine you rely on then don't run anything else except stable.

I've been around long enough to have heard this admonition, and I'm fully aware that I get to keep both pieces.

If I were running a server that stored, say, a business's financial transactions or a hospital's medical records, I'd definitely stick to stable--no questions asked. But this is a laptop that I use for mostly quotidian tasks like web browsing and occasionally homework. If it completely breaks and I need a computer, I can use my brother's computer or go to the library. I have had this computer for about 2 years or so (it was a few years old when I got it) and I've always used testing and never had any serious complications. I have always thought of testing as a sort of middle ground between stability and shiny-new packages that is suitable for general desktop use. I also try to do my part in submitting useful bug reports when I come across a hiccup here and there.

I am certainly not pointing any fingers at the Debian developers for this crash, and not really the Nvidia devs either. I just happen to have an old piece of hardware that they can longer support (at least that's how it seems to me). I think people with newer cards just had to install a newer version of the nvidia driver, but there is no newer version for my hardware.

If you now need to downgrade then it needn't be a nightmare, in fact it looks to me like running testing or unstable can be where the nightmares lie, while running stable+custom kernel+latest nvidia driver+anything you care to build is very trouble free and easy. Quit X, or boot to a console, and find all installed xorg or xserver packages and use apt to install the version you want, i.e. `apt-get install xserver-xorg=1:7.5+8` for stable or `apt-get install xserver-xorg=1:7.6+8~bpo60+1` for backports, and so on.

I did downgrade to backports versions of key xorg packages and everything seems to be working fine.

I still will probably do a clean-install of squeeze because I think this isn't a real solution since my hardware is getting outdated (and I wanted to redo my partition scheme). But then once wheezy goes stable I'll be in another mess.

[cynwulf]

Newer nvidia packages in experimental in case that's of any use. You still need IgnoreABI in xorg.conf according to the changelog.

[dbbolton]

Newer nvidia packages in experimental in case that's of any use. You still need IgnoreABI in xorg.conf according to the changelog.

Based on the nvidia site's driver search, I don't think my card is supported past 280.13 but I'm not sure how to verify it.

[julian67]

280.13 is the latest version:

ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/latest.txt

If you want to know which cards an nvidia driver supports:

ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/280.13/README/README.txt