Installing NVidia Graphics card drivers

The commercially supported proprietary graphics drivers for NVidia graphics cards are not included with the Red Hat distribution. Only a basic driver is available. (Good enough for the 2-D world) The NVidia drivers are libraries and loadable modules which are tightly integrated with the kernel for ultimate OpenGL, 3D and DRI integration and performance.

To install the NVidia graphics drivers, boot the kernel which you wish to use with the NVidia drivers. The NVidia driver installer will use the running kernel as it's target. The NVidia installer is a console (non X-Window graphics) shell script program which will detect which kernel you are running and download the appropriate drivers. If you are running a known kernel (i.e. a prebuilt Red Hat kernel) it will install a prebuilt driver. If you are running a custom kernel you MUST have the appropriate kernel source available as it will attempt to rebuild the kernel from source with the appropriate NVidia kernel modifications and support. Installation:

Download the NVidia installer script from:
- http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
  or
- http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html.
Enter console mode without running W-Windows: ctrl + alt + F1
As root bring the system to init level 3 by:
- Boot with /etc/inittab entry:
```
        id:3:initdefault:
        
```
  OR
- Issue the command: init 3
Run the NVidia installer in console mode: sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run
Bring system to init level 5:
- Reboot with /etc/inittab entry:
```
        id:5:initdefault:
        
```
  OR
- Issue the command: init 5
Edit file /etc/X11/XF86Config to tweak options. (Sample for NVidia Quadro Pro Dual Monitor)

Using YUM to install nVidia drivers for kernel currently running:

yum install nvidia-glx kernel-module-nvidia-`(uname -r)`
yum install kernel-module-nvidia-`(rpm -q --queryformat="%{version}-%{release}\n" kernel | tail -n 1)`

[Potential Pitfall]: File /etc/X11/xorg.conf
If not updated, change in the "Device" section, from:

   Driver      "nv"

to:

   Driver      "nvidia"

[Potential Pitfall]: If switching init levels does not work, then changes may be required to udev in which case you need to reboot the system so that the device path is generated: /etc/udev/devices/nvidia*
Module loading may be forced by adding the following entry to the end of /etc/rc.local, /sbin/modprobe nvidia

[Potential Pitfall]: NVidia Quadro Pro dual monitor cards may produce stretched images in Open Office or Adobe Acrobat reader.
See: YoLinux.com: Dual Monitor Configuration - Fix for dual monitor configuration and pitfalls

Links: