After X.org update, NVIDIA proprietary driver reports ABI incompatibility
Environment
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Issue
- When starting the X.org server, it fails with the following error message:
================ WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING ====
This server has a video driver ABI version of 13.1 that is not supported by this NVIDIA driver. Please check
http://www.nvidia.com/ for driver updates or downgrade to an X server with a supported driver ABI.
=====================================================
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The ABI version in the above message may differ.
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The graphical environment (GUI) will not start after a reboot and recent updates.
Resolution
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The third-party NVIDIA driver can be updated or downgraded to match the current kernel and Xorg version.
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In order to find which NVIDIA driver version works a specific kernel and X.org version, the easiest way is to check the relevant NVIDIA's driver version's minimal requirements:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/*NVIDIA driver version*/README/minimumrequirements.html -
A list of all available NVIDIA driver versions is can be found at: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86
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For example 304.30 is the first version that reports to work with X.org 1.13: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/304.30/README/minimumrequirements.html
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While the latest one is stated at: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/latest.txt
Root Cause
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Each version of NVIDIA proprietary driver works with specific kernel and X.org version.
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Red Hat makes sure that while updating X.org server, all supported drivers are also updated to support the new ABI that may have been introduced; however, as Red Hat is not distributing the proprietary driver for NVIDIA graphic cards, this has to be updated manually by the users.
Diagnostic Steps
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Note that the machine won't boot to a graphical environment at runlevel 5.
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Inspect the Xorg logs in
/var/log/Xorg.*.logfor messages such as:This server has a video driver ABI version of 13.1 that is not supported by this NVIDIA driver. Please check http://www.nvidia.com/ for driver updates or downgrade to an X server with a supported driver ABI. -
When runing
startxfrom runlevel 3 the message above may also be shown. -
Check
/var/log/yum.logor/var/log/messagesfor indications of any recent updates to the kernel, xorg-x11-server-Xorg, or other Xorg tools/driver packages, which may have occurred before the last reboot.
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