Ubuntu 7.10 - can't use my 8400 GS nvidia card

well guys i got Ubuntu 7.10 running but i can't use my 8400 GS nvidia card, [so i can't use it should i need an special driver??

 

What can we say... possibly.. you will need to load the driver as a module in the kernel..
If you have a look at your xorg.conf file there may be some clues. It is probably using the generic "NV" driver. I did read in passing that you can change this call to point at the right driver.. but that is way beyond the scope of the AD linux area.. try the ubuntu forums.

 

have you tried envy?
It works quite well

 

Have you installed the restricted driver? It should be supported in 7.10 from what I see, but Ubuntu doesn't install it by default because it isn't GPL. Restricted drivers are somewhere in the settings menu, should be pretty straightforward to install it.

There should really be some option in the installer to accept personal responsibility and just install video card drivers, DVD and MP3 support by ticking a few boxes, so many people run into this issue.

 

Mick.. you can load it as a module during boot..

Code:

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"nVidia Corporation NV5M64 [RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro]"
	Driver		"nv"
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

By changing the "nv" to the specific driver module.

Anyway.. it's an old thread and there are tons and tons of guides to nvidia drivers on the ubuntu forums.

 

you are better off trying envy to try and get the proper nvidia driver working.

The driver "nv" is just an open source driver with no 3d support.

 

I looked at envy when I went to set mine up under Ubuntu... It seemed to involve more steps, downloading and dicking around than just getting hands dirty with some (actually pretty basic) command line stuff, and I don't particularly like having to install a whole bunch of stuff that is only ever going to be used once. The fact I didn't have a working network adapter might have inspired me to avoid having to install all the dependencies, or maybe it was the fact that I only had a dialup connection at the time too. Regardless, I seem to recall a lot of unnecessary dicking around for what wasn't that difficult a task.

Just another example of Ubuntu's "user friendliness" showing itself for what it really is I guess.

 

To find out which modules your kernel has available do this.

-type f -iname "*.o" -or -iname "*.ko"

and look for the nvidia module matching yours.. If not there you can load it by specifying a full path in the xorg.conf file, but I have never had the need.
According to ubuntu the way to do it is this..

Anyway.. as before.. this thread is a month old. People who want to use modern hardware need to learn to use the specific distro's forums and faq's or they are in for a long and bumpy ride.