Tuesday, April 29, 2008

NVIDIA Graphic card is not working properly (UBUNTU, Linux), Help!

I had some starting trouble in enabling my NVIDIA Graphic card in my Linux system. Though I still am a novice in Linux, I have searched net and found following steps that have helped me in enabling NVIDIA on my Linux System. Before going ahead to the method, I wish to tell that my Laptop is Dell Inspiron 1520 with NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS. Following steps helped me enabling NVIDIA:

Prerequisites:

  1. linux-restricted-modules-2.6.22-14-386_2.6.22.4-14.9_i386 at Restricted Device manager, you can use synaptic package manager to install it or you can download and install manually from this locaiton. (Linux-Restricted-Modules)

  2. Envy (Download)

  3. Download and install both from the link given.

Steps:

  1. Download NVIDIA 100.14.19 driver from NVIDIA website to a location from where you can access it easily. Give the details about the NVIDIA graphic card and download.

  2. Logout (press Ctrl+Alt+F1) to go to test console and login.

  3. Stop gdm by

Code:

Sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

  1. Install NVIDIA driver by going to its location where you have downloaded it.

  2. Reboot system

Code

Sudo reboot

  1. Login and go to System Tools --> NVIDIA settings (if you can’t find it here it means driver was not installed, try again from step 2)

  2. In NVIDIA settings enable driver if it is not enabled by going to System -->Administration --> Restricted Device Manager and enable it (For this you need to have Linux restricted Module installed).

  3. After enabling NVIDIA driver from restricted driver manager reboot system (sudo reboot).

  4. After reboot Open NVIDIA settings from Applications--> System tools --> Nvidia Settings. It should display all the options under GPU0, select DFP-0 (in my case it was DFP0-seiko). Click “Acquire EDID”, you will be prompted to save file, save it somewhere i.e. ~/edid.bin and copy it to /etc/X11. Now get the EDID.

Code:

Sudo cp ~/edid.bin /etc/X11/edid.bin

  1. Logout and go to text console (press Ctrl+Alt+F1) and login in text console

  2. Run envy in text mode

Code:

Sudo envy -t

  1. Clear earlier NVIDIA driver installation (100.14.19) and install new NVIDIA driver, let envy configure xorg.conf, but do not reboot i.e. in default answers say ‘Y’ or yes if envy asks to configure xorg.conf and ‘N’ or no to reboot.

  2. Open xorg.conf file


Code:

Sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf


Look for section “Device” and add the following line


Code:

Option “CustomEDID” “DFP-0:/etc/X11/edid.bin


  1. And under section “Screen”, subsection “Display” make sure that your default mode is listed, if not add “1280X800” “1024X768” “800X600” to the modes lines.

  2. Save and close xorg.conf and reboot.

  3. See if everything is ok! Change screen resolution if it’s not ok, else go ahead and make sure you can see all the options in NVIDIA-settings.

  4. Reboot once again to make sure that everything is working properly (optional).

  5. You are all set. NVIDIA driver must be working properly. It did for me.

  6. Thanks to someone! Destiny, God, Me or Salil (if u know him)


Monday, April 28, 2008

Limewire not working. Help!

Limewire was not working for the first time when I have installed it on my system and after troubleshooting for sometime and searching over net, browsing through various sites I found the problem. I thought to put it here and it may be helpful for others. In my case it was the problem of a file named gnutella.net. Following steps worked for me:

  1. Download Limewire from its official site.
  2. Install Limewire.
  3. Exit Limewire if its running.
  4. Download gnutella.net
  5. Add this file to C:\Users\name you use to login\AppData\Roaming\Limewire (Replace, if there is an older version of file in the folder already present)
  6. Start Limewire again
This has worked for me. Good Luck, let me know if it works for you too or even if it dosen't, it will help people decide what method to use for making it work.

Dual Booting and Free Linux CD

My system is on dual booting with both Windows Vista and Ubuntu (Linux). I know Windows but I am not quite familiar with the Linux but I wish to learn this Operating System. So I have installed Ubuntu. Good thing about Linux (Ubuntu) is that it is free and one can just order it for free. You can request for free CD from here, Requesting an Ubuntu CD. Though there are few other sources from free Linux but they allow free download that is really painful when your internet connection is so slow that you have to leave it overnight for downloading a simple file. Before installing it will be good to try Live CD so that you can get a taste of Linux before actually using it. Word of caution is make a backup of your data before installing another OS like Linux. I have lost some of my memorable pictures when I have not made backup before installing Ubuntu in my laptop. Preferably make a backup on another hard drive/CD/DVD. I have had some really amazing experiences with Linux and I think I started loving it.


More details about my computer



Details of My Laptop

I just have to say that I am loving it. Thanks to Dell. Mine is Dell Inspiron 1520, read reviews at NotebookReview, Cnet.com, Another one at NotebookReview, About.com, TrustedReviews, TechSpot, Mouthshut.com, Laptopmag.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5450 @ 1.66GHz 4.7 3.4

Memory (RAM) 2.00 GB 4.5 Determined by lowest subscore

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 3.4

Gaming graphics 895 MB Total available graphics memory 4.4

Primary hard disk 16GB Free (40GB Total) 4.6

Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium

System

Manufacturer Dell Inc.

Model Inspiron 1520

Total system memory 2.00 GB RAM

System type 32-bit operating system

No. processor cores 2

64-bit capable Yes

Storage

Total size of hard disk(s) 135 GB

Disk partition (C:) 16 GB Free (40 GB Ttal)

Disk partition (D:) 29 GB Free (38 GB Total)

Media drive (E:) CD/DVD

Disk partition (F:) 28 GB Free (57 GB Total)

Graphics

Display adapter type NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Total graphics memory 895 MB

Dedicated graphics memory 128 MB

Dedicated system memory 0 MB

Shared system memory 767 MB

Display adapter driver version 7.15.11.5669

Primary monitor resolution 1280x800

DirectX version DirectX 9.0 or better

Network

Network Adapter Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

Network Adapter Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller