System hangs when I go from X to console (nvidia)

[Bob Johnson]

> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 18:01:28 +0000
> From: Graeme Smith <graeme at r5k.net>
> Subject: System hangs when I go from X to console (nvidia)
> To: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> Message-ID: <200402191801.31401.graeme at r5k.net>
> 
> I wonder if anybody has had this problem or can tell me what to try   
> next.
> 
> I installed a Geforce 2 400 MX into my machine yesterday and actually 
> succeeded in getting it to work with X after 12 hours.  All apart 
> from from one annoying detail anyway.  When I leave X, either by 
> ctrl+alt+bs or ctrl+alt+f[1-8] or rebooting etc. the machine becomes 
> totally non responsive as soon as it tries to go into console.  I 
> have to switch off and switch on (no reset button) to get it back to 
> life.  I think my hard drives are going to start a petition soon to 
> make me stop.

I have an Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 and a similar problem.  When I shut 
down KDE it locks up the system with graphical garbage on the screen and 
requires a reboot to recover.  However, there are some differences from 
what you describe:

- If I switch to text mode with ctrl-alt-f[1-8], there is no problem.

- If I tell KDE to shut down and then _very_quickly_ do ctrl-alt-f1 I
   can cleanly exit from KDE.

- I can reboot without powering down by using ctrl-alt-delete (which in
   a default install will do a clean shutdown and reboot).  This avoids
   the fsck caused by powering down to reboot, and is safer for your
   filesystem.

[part of message skipped]
> The machine is a Compaq Proliant 800 (with embedded video which I've 
> turned off on motherboard)
> The card is a Elsa Gladiac 511 PCI (with twin output + TV, I'm only 
> interested in getting it to work with one output)
> FreeBSD is 5.2 and all ports are up to date as of this morning.

I'm using Nvidia's driver.  The default FreeBSD driver did not have this 
problem for me.  It appears that I installed the Nvidia driver on Oct 
13, but I don't know how to check what specific version it may be. 
Other than this problem, I've been quite happy with Nvidia's driver. 
I'm using it rather than the FreeBSD nv driver because I wanted support 
for dual-headed operation (TwinView).

> 
> Any pointers or suggestions welcomed.
> 

I'm figuring that some day I will get annoyed enough that I will 
download a new version of the driver from Nvidia, and that by the time I 
do that, they will have fixed the problem.  I don't know when that might 
be, though.

> Many thanks,
> 
> Graeme
> 

- Bob