nvidia-304xx is broken

[David A. De Graaf]

On Thu, Feb 04, 2016 at 06:55:11PM -0700, Robin Laing wrote:
> On 31/01/16 16:29, Ed Greshko wrote:
> >>I wrote the inquiry below to the fedora users maillinglist
> >>but there was no response except a suggestion to ask here,
> >>so this is it.
> >
> >I recently had a problem with the nvidia-340xx.  I would only get a blank screen with no X
> >being started.  I did not check the logs I just did what has worked for me in the past.
> >
> >1.  dnf erase *nvidia*
> >2.  reboot   (You could either boot to gui using nouveau or multi-user mode)
> >3.  dnf install akmod-nvidia-340xx   (In your case akmod-nvidia-304xx
> >4.  reboot
> >
> >
> >>
> >>Since writing the text below, another Fedora 23
> >>kernel-4.3.3-303.fc23.x86_64 made an appearance, along with a new
> >>kmod-nvidia-304xx-4.3.3-303.fc23.x86_64-304.131-1.fc23.x86_64
> >>but they exhibit the identical fault.
> >>
> >>******
> >>The latest two kernels and the nvidia-304xx module are incompatible.
> >>That is, the nvidia.ko module built by akmod-nvidia-304xx won't load.
> >>That means that my three machines with older nvidia video cards (one
> >>built into the mobo) are stuck running the old
> >>
> >>>  kernel-4.2.8-300.fc23.x86_64
> >>    kernel-4.3.3-300.fc23.x86_64
> >>    kernel-4.3.3-301.fc23.x86_64
> >>
> >>In the past, incompatibilities were resolved in about a week.
> >>This time, it's nearly a month.  No new package of akmod-nvidia-304xx
> >>or kmod-nvidia-304xx has shown up at the
> >>rpmfusion-nonfree-updates[-testing] repo.
> >>
> >>The akmod-nvidia-340xx module on another machine that needs it runs fine.
> >>
> >>Does anyone have a clue when this older version of the nvidia module
> >>might be fixed?
> >>
> >>Here are the error messages with the newer kernel:
> >>
> >>Console error message when trying to run 'startxfce':
> >>
> >>(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
> >>modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'nvidia': Unknown symbol in module,
> >>or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
> >>
> >>
> >> From dmesg:
> >>
> >>    ...
> >>[   12.563315] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
> >>[   12.563325] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
> >>[   12.573867] nvidia: Unknown symbol mtrr_del (err 0)
> >>[   12.573977] nvidia: Unknown symbol mtrr_add (err 0)
> >>    ...
> >>[   31.162308] nvidia: Unknown symbol mtrr_del (err 0)
> >>[   31.162397] nvidia: Unknown symbol mtrr_add (err 0)
> >>    ...
> >>[   81.656643] nvidia: Unknown symbol mtrr_del (err 0)
> >>[   81.656736] nvidia: Unknown symbol mtrr_add (err 0)
> >>
> >>
> >
> 
> I tried akmods for 340 on F23  and it doesn't work either.  It won't
> compile.
> 
> Testing from a terminal using akmods --force to rebuild them, I found that
> there is an error in the kernel source that won't work.
> 
> I will start a different thread about it.
> 
> Robin

Robin:
I'm glad to see (from your other thread) that you were able to fix
your nvidia-340xx setup.  As I said above, my experience with that 
version has been completely satisfactory.  It is only the nvidia-304xx
module that is, and remains, broken.  Perhaps your experience
demonstrates why fresh installs should be preferred over upgrades.  

Today my brother's machine in Italy that I maintain via an ipsec tunnel
also failed with the nvidia-304xx package and a dnf update.  To my
surprise I found his video card is a GeForce 605, which purports to be
new enough to be supported by the mainstream nvidia driver.  Sure enough,
when I installed the akmod-nvidia-358.16-1.fc22.x86_64, it worked.

So my experiments confirm that
  akmod-nvidia-358.16-1.fc22.x86_64         - works
  akmod-nvidia-340xx-340.96-1.fc23.x86_64   - works
  akmod-nvidia-304xx-304.131-1.fc23.x86_64  - fails

-- 
        David A. De Graaf    DATIX, Inc.    Hendersonville, NC
        dad at datix.us         www.datix.us


"God tells me how the music should sound, but you stand in the way."
        -Arturo Toscanini to a trumpet player