CentOS - Aug 2006 - Video Card Not Recognized Installing CentOS 3.7

I set up a new system that includes the following:

ASUS AE8N-E Motherboard (NVIDIA nForce 4 Ultra Chipset)
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Processor
OCZ PC3200 Gold Edition 1GB Memory
EVGA GeForce 6600 PCI-Express x16 Video Card
CentOS 3.7

The video card wasn't detected and I had to use the VESA driver 
(generic) when I installed CentOS 3.7. As this is the first time I've 
used a NVIDIA video card with Linux my knowledge is nil on this subject. 
After a quick review of the available video drivers that come with 
CentOS 3.7 I did a Google search and came up with this link:

 http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-8762.html

 Linux Display Driver - IA32
 Version: 1.0-8762
 Operating System: Linux IA32
 Release Date: May 22, 2006

I downloaded this driver and attempted to install it. When I run this

# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8762-pkg1.run

to install the driver I'm told that I'm running an X server and that I 
need to exit X before installing the NVIDIA driver. After some 
experimenting I'm left with two questions:

1. How do I exit the X server to install this video driver?

2. How do I restart the X server when the driver is installed?

Any other comments about this subject would be welcome.

Thanks,
Corwin Burgess

On 8/14/06, Corwin Burgess <msgclb at cox.net>
wrote:
> I set up a new system that includes the following:
>
> ASUS AE8N-E Motherboard (NVIDIA nForce 4 Ultra Chipset)
> AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Processor
> OCZ PC3200 Gold Edition 1GB Memory
> EVGA GeForce 6600 PCI-Express x16 Video Card
> CentOS 3.7
Centos 3.7 is current, but old. You probably want to install 4.3, as
it has more recent software and is more updated.
> The video card wasn't detected and I had to use the VESA driver
> (generic) when I installed CentOS 3.7. As this is the first time I've
> used a NVIDIA video card with Linux my knowledge is nil on this subject.
> After a quick review of the available video drivers that come with
> CentOS 3.7 I did a Google search and came up with this link:
>
>  http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-8762.html
>  Linux Display Driver - IA32
>  Version: 1.0-8762
>  Operating System: Linux IA32
>  Release Date: May 22, 2006
This is what you want if you're running the i386 version of centos. If
you're running x86_64, then you want the the x86_64 driver.

You may also need the nforce drivers, which should be on the same page.

> 1. How do I exit the X server to install this video driver?
ctrl+alt+f1
log in, and su - to root. (note that the - in the command is crucial)
then type 'telinit 3'

This will close the x server and put you back to your prompt. You may
have to hit enter or start typing to actually see the prompt line
again.
cd to driver location, run script.
> 2. How do I restart the X server when the driver is installed?
after the driver is in, and you've made the necessary changes to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf (for centos4.... and you made a backup of the
original right?) you can restart the X server by running 'telinit 5'
> Any other comments about this subject would be welcome.
You'll need the kernel-devel package installed for this to succeed on
centos4, and the kernel-source rpm installed on centos3. You'll also
need gcc, and a couple other packages installed. I'd really go with
centos4 unless you have something keeping you at centos 3.


-- 
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell