nvidia-304xx is broken

[Robin Laing]

On 05/02/16 11:03, David A. De Graaf wrote:
> 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
>

It is funny how the obvious seems to be missed when a problem occurs 
because we feel that it cannot be the obvious.

I still get stuck on that one, even after all these years.  I need to 
slap myself for missing it.

Robin