I have a MacBookPro3,1 with nVidia GeForce 8600M GT. The information below has been taken from Ubunto 15.10 (20150826 snapshot) with the following kernel:
Linux wedge 4.1.0-3-generic #3-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jul 28 12:25:10 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
The same behavior is observed on 3.19 kernels (Ubuntu 14.04.3 and 15.04). I did not try older kernels.
lspci shows:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G84M [GeForce 8600M GT] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Apple Inc. Device 00a0
Physical Slot: 1
Flags: fast devsel
Memory at d2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable)
Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable)
I/O ports at 5000 [disabled]
Expansion ROM at d3000000 [disabled]
Capabilities:
I have blacklisted the nouveau kernel module; it is not loaded.
When the nvidia kernel module loads, the following are logged by the kernel:
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.314042] [drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.330387] nvidia: module license ‘NVIDIA’ taints kernel.
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.330395] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.347989] nvidia: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.362170] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0002 → 0003)
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.362315] vgaarb: device changed decodes: PCI:0000:01:00.0,olddecodes=io+mem,decodes=none:owns=io+mem
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.364962] [drm] Initialized nvidia-drm 0.0.0 20150116 for 0000:01:00.0 on minor 0
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.364987] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 340.76 Thu Jan 22 12:11:08 PST 2015
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.377784] NVRM: failed to copy vbios to system memory.
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.379326] NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x30:0xffffffff:747)
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.379356] NVRM: rm_init_adapter failed for device bearing minor number 0
Aug 27 14:54:56 wedge kernel: [ 484.379439] NVRM: nvidia_frontend_open: minor 0, module->open() failed, error -5
X11 fails to start as a fallout of that, logging:
[ 475.109] (II) NVIDIA(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
“Default Screen Section” for depth/fbbpp 24/32
[ 475.109] (==) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (==) framebuffer bpp 32
[ 475.109] (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
[ 475.109] (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[ 475.110] (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[ 475.110] (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling 2D acceleration
[ 475.113] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA GPU at PCI:1:0:0. Please
[ 475.113] (EE) NVIDIA(0): check your system’s kernel log for additional error
[ 475.113] (EE) NVIDIA(0): messages and refer to Chapter 8: Common Problems in the
[ 475.113] (EE) NVIDIA(0): README for additional information.
[ 475.113] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
[ 475.113] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failing initialization of X screen 0
Has anyone had luck getting a configuration like this (or similar) working?