Nvidia driver problems in Fedora Linux X86_64 - checking nvidia.ko failed or Segment fault in starting the drive module

1. for the first issue, however reinstalling the driver, updating by
nvidia-installer -a --update (internet access should be firstly ready)
or just copy the complained nvidia.ko file to the path that
the /etc/init.d/nvidia script searches, e.g.   /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia. All seems no effect !

try to find the driver release of fedora for nvidia display driver :

yum list "*nvidia*" leads to a multitude of stuff related to the driver

----------------------
akmod-nvidia.x86_64                                             1:195.36.31-1.fc12.7               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
akmod-nvidia-173xx.x86_64                                       173.14.27-1.fc12.5                 rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
akmod-nvidia-96xx.x86_64                                        96.43.18-1.fc12.6                  rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia.x86_64                                              1:195.36.31-1.fc12.7               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-173xx.x86_64                                        173.14.27-1.fc12.5                 rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-173xx-2.6.32.26-175.fc12.x86_64.x86_64              173.14.27-1.fc12.5                 rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.12-174.2.17.fc12.x86_64.x86_64               190.53-1.fc12.3                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.12-174.2.19.fc12.x86_64.x86_64               190.53-1.fc12.4                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.12-174.2.22.fc12.x86_64.x86_64               190.53-1.fc12.5                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.12-174.2.3.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                190.53-1.fc12.1                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     190.42-1.fc12.4                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.6-145.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     190.42-1.fc12.6                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.6-162.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     190.42-1.fc12.7                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.6-166.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     190.42-1.fc12.8                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.31.9-174.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     190.53-1.fc12                      rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.10-90.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     1:195.36.15-1.fc12.1               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.11-99.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                     1:195.36.15-1.fc12.2               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.12-114.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.24-1.fc12.1               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.12-115.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.24-1.fc12.2               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.14-127.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12                 rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.16-141.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12.1               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.16-150.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12.2               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.19-163.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12.3               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.21-166.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12.4               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.23-170.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12.6               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.26-175.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                    1:195.36.31-1.fc12.7               rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.8-58.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                      190.53-1.fc12.6                    rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.9-70.fc12.x86_64.x86_64                      1:195.36.15-1.fc12                 rpmfusion-nonfree-update
.................

just use the correct version for current kernel, for example

yum -y install kmod-nvidia-2.6.32.21-166.fc12.x86_64.x86_64

then go to /etc/init.d/, ./nvidia status,  Got it !


2. when the problem got resolved as above, there comes another :
During the start-up, it reports as :
Enabling the nvidia driver: /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions: line  $LINENO Segmentation fault "$@" (core dumped)....

For this one, Leight123Linux 's  cure is really great, simple but definitely efficacious :

mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.broken
nvidia-config-display disable
nvidia-config-display enable

see the source I consulted to :
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/index.php/t-247152.html

Just this simple, the nasty problem got fixed up!

Thanks to Leigh123linux again for this useful tip!


[ For a complete guide for installing Nvidia Driver on Fedora Linux, here is a good reference at http://www.if-not-true-then-false.com/2010/fedora-14-nvidia-drivers-install-guide-disable-nouveau-driver/ ]