gtx260: windows works, linux not: black screen!

[H.i.M]

Its the first time i need an expert, a littlebit ambarrassing maybe.
Please read carefully.


In short:
I have "X" in Windows 7 but not in Linux, neither with the nvidia nor the nv driver with any distribution (tested ubuntu 8.10 / 9.04; Fedora 10).

Full Story:
1. i bought a nvidia gtx260 on ebay with preinstalled watercooling. No bill, no original wrapping, no original stock-cooler.
2. it worked with no problem in Kubuntu 9.04-64 with nvidia 185.18.14.
3. i tried coolbits & autoadjust, applied -> working.
4. played Nexuiz, 10min, freeze, cold restart.
5. "X" not working: Black screen.
6. tried several things (distributions, drivers, with and without coolbits, etc.) -> alway black screen. but VESA worked.

7. Downloaded&Installed Win7 -> Black screen after installation
8. Win7 + Fallback mode "640*480 worked, installed driver nvidia 186.18 -> driver changed automatically resolution to 1600*1200, 3D-acceleration active.
9. default restart win7, works. 3D Acceleration active. No graphical errors, all clocks at default (source: gpu-z / rivatuner /atitool)

10. test Live CD kubuntu 9.04 (NV-driver) -> black screen
11. test installed system Kubuntu 9.04 with nvidia 185.18.14 -> black screen.
12. restart

13. Default Win7 start -> black screen
14. Win7 + Fallback mode "640*480, worked, set resolution to 1600*1200
15. restart Win7 default -> worked with 3d (tested nexuiz, no problems, high performance), clocks are default.
16. All steps are reproduceable, please ask, which logs /screenshots you may need.

17. comparison:
Has anyone, any idea whats going on there?
Ideas:
- wrong 2D- or 3D-clock on startup (coolbits?)
- interrupted Fallback (see "4.") caused by cold restart
- corrupted bios

The black screen,was first seen after the coolbits "auto adjust" in nvidia-settings. Since this time i always get a black screen in Linux; And in Win7 after i used any linux distribution before.

thanks for your audience
H.i.M

[H.i.M]

Some information i got by
gpuz, atitool, rivatuner & cpuz: http://www.mypicx.com/06192009/phoronix_gtx260/

Detailed gpu-Information provided by RivaTuner: http://paste.ubuntuusers.de/395564/

.... Linux logs will follow.

[Kano]

In some cases 185.18.14 does not work, try my distro or use *buntu when you prepare it

wget -N http://kanotix.com/files/install-nvidia-debian.sh

sudo rm -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf*
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Then login in vt1 and run:

sudo sh install-nvidia-debian.sh -vs

-v allows you to specify any already released nvidia driver version, s is the opengl 3.1. special driver which tends to work when the latest one does not.

Btw. a clean way to reset hw to a defined state is removing powerplug, press power on, add power plug again.

[H.i.M]

In some cases 185.18.14 does not work, try my distro or use *buntu when you prepare it

wget -N http://kanotix.com/files/install-nvidia-debian.sh

sudo rm -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf*
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Then login in vt1 and run:

sudo sh install-nvidia-debian.sh -vs

-v allows you to specify any already released nvidia driver version, s is the opengl 3.1. special driver which tends to work when the latest one does not.

Btw. a clean way to reset hw to a defined state is removing powerplug, press power on, add power plug again.

Hey Kano
Many thanks for your guide.
I would try your steps, but my card started working again.

After i played a bit in 2D-clock with Rivatuner in WIN7 and changed the DVI-plug, the card showed a picture in X. I suspected these 2D-clocks to be wrong, after i played with coolbits in Linux.

It could either have been the 2D-clocks or channging the DVI-plug.

Problem is solved

@Nvidia guys
The windows driver seemed to have some "fallback" feature. I would like to see this in the Linux driver, too!
I bought Nvidia because of LINUX!

H.i.M

[hax0r]

..snip..

You wasted so much time messing around with OSes, why not test for stability first, overheating/IHS contact, and inspect the card for any physical damage such as popped/ripped capacitors.

[H.i.M]

You wasted so much time messing around with OSes, why not test for stability first, overheating/IHS contact, and inspect the card for any physical damage such as popped/ripped capacitors.

There was no physically issue.
Things got bad after overclocking with coolbits. The card stays cool and gets never over 60C. I think it was something like a bios-issue.

hax0r thank you for your ideas, but i think you havent read my first post carefully enough.

H.i.M

[Kano]

Well if you did not fry your card then you can just poweroff and restart to reset to default values even if it crashes. If you don't have got

nvidia-settings -l

in autostart then OC settings are not stored. Usually your card should be fast enough even without OC.

[kingttx]

Similar issue, same driver, older card

I had a fairly similar issue with the 185 driver on an older 8500 card. Although it did fine while in use, X would freeze up when the computer was idle for a while. I don't know how long it took to freeze up but nothing would respond, not even hitting NumLock would toggle.

This required several hard reboots which eventually prompted Ubuntu 9.04 to run fsck on the drives.

What eventually began happening is a black screen or sometimes the nVidia splash screen after the Ubuntu splash screen, and then a total lockup. I ran the live CD and it booted just fine but booting back into the 185 driver produced the same thing. I even ensured the card didn't have a popped capacitor and reseated the card.

What finally worked is moving back to the latest 180 driver. The computer will boot without the black screen/lockup and will idle without the lockup.

Something is going on with the 185 driver.