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I'm trying to install the latest nvidia drivers on my "Old Betsy" PIII 866 + geforce 4 ti 4600 system.
Debian Sarge. kernel 2.6./8-2-686. WDM + GNOME.
The error I get:
ERROPR: You appear to be running an X server; please exit X before installing. For further details, please see the chapter "Installing the NVIDIA Driver" in the README available on the Linux driverdownload page at www.nvidia.com."
I've tried <ctl><alt><backspace> to restart X then <ctl><alt><f1>. A crude mouse cursor shows that the Xserver is still running.
Do I just boot into failsafe mode and install it from there?
when you start up the machine (or logout) to get to gdm login screen...
press CTRL+ALT+F2 to get to a console login prompt
Login as root and enter /etc/init.d/gdm stop
that will shut down gdm, and since you haven't logged in yet, X shouldn't be running at this point so you should be set to install your nvidia Drivers.
heres a nice HOW-TO for installing nVidia drivers in Debian.
How come when I type "init 3" I can still use my mouse? I've done that via GNOME + terminal logged in as root then inputting 'init 3', as well as <ctl><alt><backspace> <ctl><alt><f2> logged in as root then typing 'init 3'.
Because Debian doesn't use the init levels like the other distros..
from my experience a lot of other Distros:
Runlevel 3 = Multiuser login no GUI
Run level 5 = GUI
In Debian everything is started in Runlevel 2 including the GUI (typically gdm kdm, or xdm), so switching to run levels 3, 4, or 5 don't have any effect unless YOU have made changes to the init scripts..
The original reply telling you to switch to run level 3 would work in RedHat, or Mandrake and the GUI woiuld have been shut down, but will have pretty much no effect in Debian.
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