Nvidia and Testing Woes

Followed wiki

1. uname -r
2. # apt-get install module-assistant gcc nvidia-kernel-common
3. # m-a update
4. # m-a prepare
5. # m-a auto-install nvidia

Error:

Package nvidia-kernel-source is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package nvidia-kernel-source has no installation candidate

6. Edited sources.list to include sid repositories
7. # apt-get update
8. Tried to install nvidia-kernel-source package from sid but it has too many dependencies that might break something. (N)
9. Gave up. Will try Envy
10. Followed instructions to modify Envy here

sudo nano -w /usr/share/envy/instun/classes.py

However, file does not exist. Sigh.
11. # sudo apt-get --purge remove envy
12. Experimented with this patch over at debianhelp
13. Searched google for nvidia-glx_1.0.8776-4_i386.deb and nvidia-kernel-source_1.0.8776-4_i386.deb
14. # dpkg -i nvidia-glx_1.0.8776-4_i386.deb

dpkg -i nvidia-glx_1.0.8776-4_i386.deb
Selecting previously deselected package nvidia-glx.
(Reading database ... 81340 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking nvidia-glx (from nvidia-glx_1.0.8776-4_i386.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of nvidia-glx:
nvidia-glx depends on nvidia-kernel-1.0.8776; however:
Package nvidia-kernel-1.0.8776 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing nvidia-glx (--install):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
nvidia-glx

15. This has to go first:

# dpkg -i nvidia-kernel-source_1.0.8776-4_i386.deb

*That didn't work..
16. I will try this:

# apt-get install nvidia-kernel-1.0.8776

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package nvidia-kernel-1.0.8776 is a virtual package provided by:
nvidia-kernel-2.6.18-4-k7 1.0.8776+6
nvidia-kernel-2.6.18-4-686 1.0.8776+6
nvidia-kernel-2.6.18-4-486 1.0.8776+6
You should explicitly select one to install.
E: Package nvidia-kernel-1.0.8776 has no installation candidate

17. Gah. I'm tearing my heart out
18. Hopped over to linuxquestions.org and I found something
19. Going to test rickh's post

It's always better to stay with the official Debian packages. Running Lenny, you should now have kernel 2.6.22. Check that first. If necessary install that kernel, reboot, then... this is the right way to do it.

Add these lines to your sources.list file
Code:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main

Create a file named /etc/apt/apt.conf if it does not exist. It should include this line:
Code:

APT::Default-Release "testing";

# aptitude update
# aptitude install linux-headers-$(uname -r) module-assistant build-essential
# aptitude install -t unstable nvidia-kernel-$(uname -r) nvidia-kernel-source nvidia-xconfig
# m-a prepare

Reboot into Single User mode, then...
# m-a a-i nvidia
# modprobe -v nvidia
# nvidia-xconfig

Then reboot back as a regular user.

20. Been at it for 6 hours. Wow. Don't complain danny. Don't think about your Windows Nvidia CD ROM (that could install in 5 minutes) :(...
21. That's it. I mean its dead again. Pshaw.....