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Envy Legacy - Frequently Asked Questions - Debian

Table of Contents

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A) How do I Install Envy?

1) Download and install the deb package:

double click on the deb package in OR open Terminal or Konsole and type:

2) Enable Debian's required repositories. See Point E.

3) Make sure that all the dependencies were installed by typing:

NOTE: if the dependencies cannot be installed you will have to enable the required repository. See Point E.

4) Launch Envy's GUI (inside a Desktop Environment such as GNOME,KDE, etc.) by selecting it in the "Applications/System Tools" menu

OR if you need to use Envy's textual interface you will have to type:

B) Can I use Envy if I had installed the Nvidia driver via Envy version 0.8.2 (or lower) or via the Nvidia installer?

Yes, you can, but you will need to follow these steps:

1) Remove the older version of envy (you can skip this step if you only used the Nvidia installer):

2) Download and install Envy's deb package

3) Log out and press CTRL+ALT+F1 (so as to get out of the Desktop Environment, i.e. you'll see ONLY the command line)

4) Log in (if required)

NOTE: you will NOT need to repeat the whole process next time you want to install the Nvidia driver (you should be able to use Envy's GUI)

5) Run Envy's textual installer by typing:

6) Choose to "Clean the Installation of any Nvidia driver" by typing "6" and press ENTER.

7) Then you can use the "Install" function.

NOTE: you will NOT need to repeat the whole process next time you want to install the Nvidia driver (you should be able to use Envy's GUI)

C) What happens if you are no longer able to access your Desktop Environment (because of a blank screen at boot)?

Boot in RECOVERY MODE from the GRUB Menu (select it using your keyboard) almost as soon as you turn on your computer (it will take you to the command line). Then you will need to type:

then simply type:

and boot as usual. On next reboot the Xserver should work fine (but you will use the open source driver)

D) What happens if I upgrade Debian to a newer release (e.g. from Debian Etch to Debian Lenny)?

You will only have to follow these steps:

1) Launch Terminal or Konsole and type:

2) Log out and press CTRL+ALT+Backspace (so as to restart the Xserver)

3) Log in and upgrade your Debian installation

E) What shall I do to enable the required repositories on Debian?

You will only have to follow these steps:

1) Open Terminal or Konsole and become root by typing:

2) Open your /etc/apt/sources.list by typing:

3) You will see something similar to the following text:

put a "#" before the line which begins with "deb cdrom" and replace "etch main" with "etch contrib main" so that the text looks like the following:

4) Refresh the packages list:

F) What happens if the kernel is upgraded (e.g. via system updates)?

You will only have to follow these steps:

1) Restart your computer and the Xserver will crash (since it will lack a module).

2) Say No if the system asks you whether you want to see the output of the error to debug.

NOTE: press ALT+F1 if all you can see is a black screen

3) Launch Envy's textual interface from the command line by typing:

4) Install the driver again.

NOTE: make sure that the kernel headers (linux-headers) for that kernel are also installed.

G) Shall I uninstall the ATI/NVIDIA driver before I install a new version of the driver through Envy?

Envy will do it for you. However if you want to uninstall the driver, nothing bad will happen ;)

H) What happens when ATI or NVIDIA release a new driver?

You will have to wait for a new release of Envy to support that driver.

Known Issues

Envy cannot be launched from the Applications menu on Debian Etch unless you add your username to the sudoers list

You can launch Envy by typing:

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