configuring X on the Presario with the 8200M driver

[Kenneth]

Moving this discussion to freebsd-x11.

I have a Presario CQ60 with the NVIDIA 8200M G, and X is working!

Here are the steps to get there.  Do everything as root:

1) Update your ports to the most recent.  Follow the FreeBSD manual, section 4.5 Using the Ports Collection, nuke the contents of /usr/ports, and install a new base using portsnap or cvsup.

2) Install the nvidia-driver.
# cd /usr/ports/x11-driver/nvidia-driver
# make install clean  (I built with options FREEBSD_AGP checked, ACPI checked, LINUX unchecked).  

3) You can install 2 more optional tools for configuring the nvidia card settings.  I have not used them, but I installed them.
# cd /usr/ports/x11-driver/nvidia-settings
# make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11-driver/nvidia-xconfig
# make install clean

4) I also installed the fbdev driver from X.Org.
# cd /usr/ports/x11-drivers/xf86-video-fbdev
# make install clean

5) Add the nvidia driver as a dynamically loaded kernel module.
# cd /boot
# vi loader.conf  (you better know how to use vi to edit)
--- add the line nvidia_load="YES"
--- it is the only line I have in my loader.conf file

6) Reboot the system
# reboot

7) If you want to see the version you just installed (your versions may be newer than mine below)...
# pkg_info | grep nvidia
nvidia-driver-185.18.29
nvidia-settings-190.32
nvidia-xconfig-190.32
# pkg_info | grep fbdev
xf86-video-fbdev-0.4.0_2

8) Generate your xorg.conf.new file.
# cd /root
# Xorg -configure

9) Edit the xorg.conf.new file.
# vi xorg.conf.new
--- change the line    Driver "nv"
            to read    Driver "nvidia"

10) Test the config file.
# Xorg -config xorg.conf -retro
--- you should get a grey screen and your mouse should work, especially if your mouse worked when installing FreeBSD
--- to kill the test, press CTRL-ALT-BKSP

11) If everything worked, move and rename (drop the new extension) the config file to the /etc directory
# mv xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

12) Test again.  Log in as another user belonging to the wheel group (or login as root).
% startx
--- you should get 3 green windows
--- you can kill X by clicking on the large window on the left, and typing exit