strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

xor · 2014-10-12 09:34:00

last night i have added wheezy-backports to my /etc/apt/sources.list.
initial updates went fine. i was happy and curious.

but then...
along with a new kernel (3.16 series) i received an update for my nvidia drivers from version 304 to 319.
had i only known before that version 304 is the last driver to support my ancient GeForce 7600GT 512MB 8x AGP.

so i went straight on, heading for trouble.
after a reboot, i couldn't manage to start an X server at all.
red alert, captain !

i have tried to uninstall nvidia driver version 319 and re-enable version 304,
which - of course - did NOT work because 304 does not co-operate with the 3.16 kernel series.
and this is where the headaches began...

after a bad sleep (i really felt bad after that experience), i had a better idea this morning.
i removed the new kernel and told grub to use the default one instead.
then i removed the doomed nvidia 319 driver and re-installed the beloved 304 driver.

so far, all is fine. pooooh... now it's time for coffee !

EDIT: typos & layout

Last edited by xor (2014-10-13 20:31:03)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2014-10-12 12:19:43

Thanks for the heads-up @xor -- I'm sure others will find this useful...
You can explicitly install a lower version of the backported kernel if you wish:
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy-back … po.1-amd64
It's only the linux-image-<arch> meta-package that is updated.
You could also apt-pin the nvidia driver to a lower version, but I don't use apt-pinning so I'm not sure of the details...

Sector11 · 2014-10-12 15:11:58

Also ... couldn't one just put the nvidia driver on hold?

### HOLD ###
alias hld='sudo apt-mark hold'
alias unhld='sudo apt-mark unhold'

And as much as HoaS doesn't like 'smxi" I and others find it invaluable for installing some things: Nvidia driver being a big one.
12 Oct 14 | 12:06:34 ~

    $ vid
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.12.4 driver: nvidia Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: GeForce 210/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 340.46
 
 12 Oct 14 | 12:06:39 ~
    $

johnraff · 2014-10-13 00:55:46

Sector11 wrote:

Also ... couldn't one just put the nvidia driver on hold?

I think the problem there would be that the new backports kernel doesn't support the old driver.

Sector11 · 2014-10-13 14:07:26

OOPS! DUH! I'll shut up now.

xor · 2014-10-13 14:34:38

@johnraff: exactly !

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#1 2014-10-12 09:34:00

strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

#2 2014-10-12 12:19:43

Re: strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

#3 2014-10-12 15:11:58

Re: strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

#4 2014-10-13 00:55:46

Re: strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

#5 2014-10-13 14:07:26

Re: strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

#6 2014-10-13 14:34:38

Re: strange nvidia adventures using backports on wheezy

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