Centos 6/RHEL Install Genuine Nvidia Drivers

This tutorial is to install the genuine Nvidia drivers from Nvidia's site (not the kmod or dkms) on Centos 6/RHEL. It is actually easier (and slightly quicker) this way than using the modified ones in the repos. The genuine Nvidia Linux drivers are, unequivocally, the best ones to use if you have an Nvidia card.

We will not be using any repositories and if you have installed your Centos 6 as per this tutorial and set up the kernel correctly you should not get any errors about the wrong compiler.

We are changing the defaults in /etc/inittab because 'telinit 3' and 'Ctl+Alt+F4" do not always disable X server properly and the Nvidia script complains.

I have also put the section on kernels at the bottom of this page so you can fix them, if necessary, before proceeding. It is not difficult to do, simply a matter of removing the out of date ones and updating/installing the matching kernel-headers/kernel-devel files.

You will need

• The Genuine Nvidia Driver/Script from Nvidia
• A disable-nouveau.conf file  (which you will create)
• A line in /etc/grub.conf to disable nouveau from loading.

2 commands to check your kernels match.

$ uname -r                                

$ rpm -qa kernel-devel     

If the numbers don't match scroll down to the bottom of this page to the kernels section, follow it and return here.

Install compile tools if not already installed.

$ sudo yum -y install gcc gcc-c++ automake autoconf make         

Getting the Nvidia Driver

Go to http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us and select your driver, it will have a .run or .sh extension, download to your home directory. The one I used is NVIDIA-Linux-x86-295.49.run      

$ chmod u+x NVIDIA-Linux-x86-295.49.run    make it executable

(substitute the above file for your version of it)

Leave it in your home directory.

Blacklisting nouveau driver.           

$ sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf   enter

blacklist nouveau options nouveau modeset=0

and save the file 

See Vim Editor for vi commands                                 

$ sudo cp /etc/grub.conf /etc/grub.conf.bak    backup grub.conf                                        
$ sudo vi /etc/grub.conf              and find this section

  kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-220.el6.i686 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_centos-lv_root rd_NO_LUKS  KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=uk LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_LVM_LV=vg_centos/lv_swap rd_NO_MD SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 rhgb quiet crashkernel=auto rd_LVM_LV=vg_centos/lv_root rd_NO_DM
initrd /initramfs-2.6.32-220.el6.i686.img

After the line rhgb or somewhere appropriate enter this line

rdblacklist=nouveau nouveau.modeset=0    

Save the file. Now change the run level 

$ sudo vi /etc/inittab       

Scroll down and change default to '3'   

Save, exit & reboot. 

Login as root in console mode.                       

Installing the driver

Go to the Nvidia script in your home directory.

# cd /home/<user_name> 

# ./N + tab key         

# ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-295.49.run     hit enter to run it

Substitute the above file for your version of it.

Follow the dialogue box, largely 'accept' and 'write to xorg.conf' at the end, and your drivers are installed. If you get an error message about the wrong compiler version then scroll down to the bottom of this page and follow the section on how to update the kernel in Centos6/RHEL

# vi /etc/inittab           change back to '5'

Reboot (Not telinit 5)

Log on as a normal user and open up this tutorial to finish off your settings.

$ lspci | grep VGA           shows current video hardware

Setting up with Nvidia settings

Open a terminal

$ su -c 'nvidia-settings'              enter password

The Nvidia settings dialogue box will open so you can adjust resolutions and refresh rates etc in the 'X Server Configurations' tab and save everything to xorg.conf to make it permanent and keep the same setup on reboot.

A thread on Nouveau & Modeset in Slackware.

To reverse the procedure if you have to use a different graphics card then just

$ sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nouveau.conf 

$ sudo cp /etc/grub.conf.bak /etc/grub.conf

Switch cards on a Laptop.

If using a laptop with both onboard and dedicated cards then you can use Bumblebee, which enables you to switch between them.
Bumblebee is in both Elrepo & Atrpms repos as 'bbswitch', so install one of them and issue the command

$ sudo yum -y --enablerepo=elrepo install bbswitch 

Atrpms repo may also add a new kernel so you can either keep it and remove old/update to new as below, or just remove it and keep your current ones.

If you don't wish to install the repos you can just download the package from either one, in Elrepo it is listed as 'bumblebee'.

Kernels

To ensure smooth compiling lets fix the kernels, you should do this before you install Nvidia drivers.

There may have been a kernel update since the last release
meaning you have got 2 different ones installed 

$ rpm -qa | grep kernel  

shows the kernel files you have, as below, typically

kernel-firmware-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.noarch
dracut-kernel-004-284.el6_3.noarch
kernel-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.i686  New
kernel-2.6.32-279.el6.i686      Old

With old from the original install
and new fom the epel repo

(The new one should match your kernel-firmware)

Reboot, press space bar + boot from new kernel 

remove the old one

$ sudo yum -y remove kernel-2.6.32-279.el6.i686
And add matching headers and devel

$ sudo yum -y install kernel-headers kernel-devel

Repeat the command to check they match as below

kernel-devel-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.i686
kernel-headers-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.i686
kernel-firmware-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.noarch
dracut-kernel-004-284.el6_3.noarch
kernel-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.i686

Now you have a correct /usr/src/kernels folder

Then you can install gcc etc

$ sudo yum -y install gcc gcc-c++ automake autoconf make

You should be able to compile without kernel errors.

IMPORTANT Once you have got a full set of matching kernel files on a running machine, take care not to update unless absolutely necessary OR you are very experienced, as it can result in boot problems.