how to Install latest driver for nvidia FX5200 GPU

Guys please help, Open office is pretty important for me.......

hi

What version of Open Office you are using. make sure that you have enabled third party software in software sources. Current stable release of nvidia driver is 180.XX. Try installing this driver and check

Regards
Shyam

I'm using open office 3 updated from open office ppa.

This is a confirmed driver issue and only the latest release for my card, i.e 173.14.18 will fix this but in the official ubuntu repositories i am stuck with 173.14.12...

& Shyam, third party sources are enabled and there is no pending updates for my system......

Any help???

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_173.14.18.html

Woops, sorry, misread.
Try installing the package envyng-gtk, it should do what you want.

I've tried the envyng-gtk.
Even it doesn't allow me to install the latest driver!
It shows that the installed version is 173.14.12 with no option for upgrading to the newest 173.14.18.

Anything else that could help???

nevertheless. thanx for the reply cruncher

I've tried the envyng-gtk.
Even it doesn't allow me to install the latest driver!
It shows that the installed version is 173.14.12 with no option for upgrading to the newest 173.14.18.

Anything else that could help???

nevertheless. thanx for the reply cruncher

Thanks Cruncher, that solved my question.

Hey thanx a lot.
Your instructions worked like a charm.

I'm attaching the log of my terminal, for anyone who might be interested to follow the above procedure. It doesn't include the last step, coz i had to exit X server then n couldn't save it.

Terminal Output

sandeep@Tornado:~$ sudo aptitude purge linux-restricted-modules-`uname -r` linux-restricted-modules-common linux-restricted-modules-generic envyng-core envyng-gtk nvidia-173-kernel-source nvidia-common nvidia-glx-173 nvidia-kernel-common
[sudo] password for sandeep:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done
The following packages are BROKEN:
  envyng-qt linux-generic linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-7-generic
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  envyng-core{p} envyng-gtk{p}
  linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-11-generic{p}
  linux-restricted-modules-common{p} linux-restricted-modules-generic{p}
  nvidia-173-kernel-source{p} nvidia-common{p} nvidia-glx-173{p}
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 8 to remove and 24 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 34.9MB will be freed.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
  linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-7-generic: Depends: linux-restricted-modules-common but it is not installable
  linux-generic: Depends: linux-restricted-modules-generic (= 2.6.27.11.14) but it is not installable
  envyng-qt: Depends: envyng-core (>= 2.0.1) but it is not installable
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

Remove the following packages:
envyng-qt
linux-generic
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-7-generic

Leave the following dependencies unresolved:
jockey-common recommends nvidia-common
Score is 57

Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?] y
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  binutils-static{u} envyng-core{p} envyng-gtk{p} envyng-qt{a}
  linux-generic{a} linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-11-generic{p}
  linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-7-generic{a}
  linux-restricted-modules-common{p} linux-restricted-modules-generic{p}
  nvidia-173-kernel-source{p} nvidia-common{p} nvidia-glx-173{p}
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 12 to remove and 24 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 39.1MB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
(Reading database ... 167410 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-generic ...
(Reading database ... 167407 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-restricted-modules-generic ...
Removing linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-11-generic ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic
Purging configuration files for linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-11-generic ...
(Reading database ... 167346 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-7-generic ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic
(Reading database ... 167286 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-restricted-modules-common ...
Purging configuration files for linux-restricted-modules-common ...
(Reading database ... 167279 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing binutils-static ...
Removing envyng-qt ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
(Reading database ... 167218 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing envyng-gtk ...
Removing envyng-core ...
Removing nvidia-glx-173 ...
Purging configuration files for nvidia-glx-173 ...
Removing nvidia-173-kernel-source ...
Removing all DKMS Modules
Done.
Removing nvidia-common ...
Purging configuration files for nvidia-common ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for libc6 ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

sandeep@Tornado:~$ sudo rm /etc/init.d/nvidia-glx /etc/init.d/nvidia-kernel /lib/linux-restricted-modules/.nvidia_new_installed
rm: cannot remove `/etc/init.d/nvidia-glx': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `/etc/init.d/nvidia-kernel': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `/lib/linux-restricted-modules/.nvidia_new_installed': No such file or directory
sandeep@Tornado:~$ dpkg -l '*nvidia*' | grep '^ii'
ii nvidia-173-modaliases 173.14.12-1-0ubuntu5.1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
ii nvidia-177-modaliases 177.82-0ubuntu0.1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
ii nvidia-71-modaliases 71.86.04-0ubuntu10 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
ii nvidia-96-modaliases 96.43.09-0ubuntu1.1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
ii nvidia-settings 177.78-0ubuntu2.1 Tool of configuring the NVIDIA graphics driv
sandeep@Tornado:~$ sudo aptitude purge nvidia-173-modaliases173.14.12-1-0ubuntu5.1
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "nvidia-173-modaliases173.14.12-1-0ubuntu5.1"
Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "nvidia-173-modaliases173.14.12-1-0ubuntu5.1"
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 24 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done

sandeep@Tornado:~$ sudo aptitude purge nvidia-173-modaliases nvidia-177-modaliases nvidia-71-modaliases nvidia-96-modaliases nvidia-settings
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  nvidia-173-modaliases{p} nvidia-177-modaliases{p} nvidia-71-modaliases{p}
  nvidia-96-modaliases{p} nvidia-settings{p}
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 5 to remove and 24 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 2281kB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
(Reading database ... 167045 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing nvidia-173-modaliases ...
Removing nvidia-177-modaliases ...
Removing nvidia-71-modaliases ...
Removing nvidia-96-modaliases ...
Removing nvidia-settings ...
Purging configuration files for nvidia-settings ...
Processing triggers for menu ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

sandeep@Tornado:~$ dpkg -l '*restricted*' | grep '^ii'
ii kubuntu-restricted-extras 25 Commonly used restricted packages
sandeep@Tornado:~$ sudo aptitude purge kubuntu-restricted-extras
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  kubuntu-restricted-extras{p}
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 24 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 32.8kB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
(Reading database ... 167003 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing kubuntu-restricted-extras ...
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

sandeep@Tornado:~$ sudo aptitude install make gcc pkg-config xserver-xorg-dev build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r` linux-libc-dev
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  build-essential g++{a} g++-4.3{a} libstdc++6-4.3-dev{a}
0 packages upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 24 not upgraded.
Need to get 5491kB of archives. After unpacking 19.1MB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-updates/main libstdc++6-4.3-dev 4.3.2-1ubuntu12 [1354kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-updates/main g++-4.3 4.3.2-1ubuntu12 [4128kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main g++ 4:4.3.1-1ubuntu2 [1444B]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main build-essential 11.4 [7172B]
Fetched 5491kB in 56s (96.4kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package libstdc++6-4.3-dev.
(Reading database ... 167001 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libstdc++6-4.3-dev (from .../libstdc++6-4.3-dev_4.3.2-1ubuntu12_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package g++-4.3.
Unpacking g++-4.3 (from .../g++-4.3_4.3.2-1ubuntu12_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package g++.
Unpacking g++ (from .../g++_4%3a4.3.1-1ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package build-essential.
Unpacking build-essential (from .../build-essential_11.4_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up g++-4.3 (4.3.2-1ubuntu12) ...
Setting up libstdc++6-4.3-dev (4.3.2-1ubuntu12) ...
Setting up g++ (4:4.3.1-1ubuntu2) ...

Setting up build-essential (11.4) ...
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

I'm glad that worked out!
Cheching the log, you might want to reinstall this package now:
sudo aptitude install nvidia-settings
It provides the tool "nvidia-settings", which is some sort of control center for the settings of the nvidia driver.

It's already installed.
I guess it was installed alongside the drivers as i used it to fine tune my resolution!

Hi, I have tried every step Cruncher suggested, and got all my restricted modules uninstalled and everything related to NVIDIA erased, but after installing NVIDIA's binary, I got the same error after reboot. First, the GTK window telling me the screen was not found, then, in text-mode, startx returns multiple errors, mainly the API missmatch about kernel version module being 173.14.12 while that of the driver being 173.14.18...
I've got Kubuntu 8.10 Intrepid, for AMD64, and kernell 2.6.27-14-generic. My PC: AMD Athlon 64 3500+, NVIDIA GeForce 5200.

Thank you very much, and I think is pretty much important to consider including This driver to the distribution's restricted packages, as it's essential to make Kubuntu 8.10 + able to be used correctly, as the OpenOffice bug is unacceptable for such a popular distribution.

strange1712, please post the output of the following command:
dpkg -l | egrep -i "nvidia|restricted|envy"

Hi, I've seen I already have these packages installed... I'll try uninstalling all of them. The output:
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ dpkg -l | egrep -i "nvidia|restricted|envy"
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-19-generic 2.6.24.13-19.45 Non-free Linux 2.6.24 modules on x86/x86_64
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-21-generic 2.6.24.14-21.51 Non-free Linux 2.6.24 modules on x86/x86_64
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-22-generic 2.6.24.14-22.53 Non-free Linux 2.6.24 modules on x86/x86_64
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-10-generic 2.6.27-10.14 Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-11-generic 2.6.27-11.16 Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-12-generic 2.6.27-12.17 Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.
rc linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-13-generic 2.6.27-13.18 Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.
rc nvidia-glx-177 177.82-0ubuntu0.1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
rc nvidia-glx-96 96.43.09-0ubuntu1.1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
rc nvidia-glx-dev-envy 1:96.43.05+2.6.24.503-503.31 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org driver devel
rc nvidia-glx-envy 1:96.43.05+2.6.24.503-503.31 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org driver

Thank you very much!

Sorry, no success... I got the same. I've checked the log file /var/log/nvidia-installer.log from NVIDIA's Installer and everything is clean (except a lot of warnings concerning void pointers in the aritmetic).
Even the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file doesn't seems to report any Error. I have checked /var/log/kern.log and here it's what I found:

...

Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.952094] ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [APC5] enabled at IRQ 16
Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.952115] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[APC5] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.954948] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 173.14.12 Thu Jul 17 18:10:24 PDT 2008
Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.958523] NVRM: API mismatch: the client has the version 173.14.18, but
Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.958526] NVRM: this kernel module has the version 173.14.12. Please
Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.958529] NVRM: make sure that this kernel module and all NVIDIA driver
Mar 30 22:50:29 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.958532] NVRM: components have the same version.
Mar 30 22:50:38 Athlon64 kernel: [ 60.016020] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
...

Any suggestions? I think this is NVIDIA's fail, but It's strange to me because the Only one place I found describing this problem is this page... So, I don't know if this driver fails on all Distros or even in every (K)Ubuntu, and I have not still found the reason this Kernel tries to load that old module... It's not even similar to the one I was using before, as you can see in the same log, hours before:
...
Mar 29 12:12:09 Athlon64 kernel: [ 20.070494] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
Mar 29 12:12:09 Athlon64 kernel: [ 20.388629] ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [APC5] enabled at IRQ 16
Mar 29 12:12:09 Athlon64 kernel: [ 20.388640] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[APC5] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
Mar 29 12:12:09 Athlon64 kernel: [ 20.388869] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 173.14.15 Fri Oct 31 14:32:55 PST 2008
Mar 29 12:12:09 Athlon64 kernel: [ 20.493231] usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 2 if 0 alt 1 proto 2 vid 0x03F0 pid 0x1504
...
Mar 29 12:12:28 Athlon64 kernel: [ 50.429705] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: putting AGP V3 device into 8x mode
...

You see, Kernel Module 173.14.15 =/= 173.14.12
If I install the driver 173.14.15 there is no problem, so, It HAS to be NVIDIA's Problem... :@

No, they are not installed, the "rc" at the beginning means they have been removed. Installed packages have a "ii".
But according to this list, there are no Ubuntu packages related to the nvidia driver installed. Did you install 173.14.12 using the "original" file from the nvidia site? If so, do you still have the installer (the NVIDIA.....run file)? In that case you should run it again, with the "--uninstall" option.

Ah, I see you have an Athlon64 system. For 64bit systems you need a different driver:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/173.14.18/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.18-pkg2.run
(unless you already noticed that yourself, in which case it *does* seem that nvidia messed up the packaging of that file...)

Thanks, but I already noticed that already... and yes, in the "purge" of my system I included uninstalling NVIDIA's driver using the "sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.18-pkg2.run --uninstall" option, and still I get the same, always. In fact, my system failed shutting off (to halt) after I purged again the packages with the rc, and I had to turn it off by hardware, and still, the same error remains keeping me woken up... Thank you very much, but I think NVIDIA is responsible for all this mess... so I think I will post a bug for them.

Can you try this command and post the output, if any?
locate 173.14.12

tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ locate 173.14.12
/usr/src/nvidia-173.14.12
/var/lib/dkms/nvidia/173.14.12

So... there is the kernel-updater for the spurious module... isn't it?

Was this after you had 173.14.18 installed, or after you had it removed?
These two entries appear to be empty directories, otherwise 'locate' would have listed the contents. They may be leftovers of some incomplete uninstall. Try this:
sudo rmdir /usr/src/nvidia-173.14.12 /var/lib/dkms/nvidia/173.14.12

And install 173.14.18 again. My guess/hope is, that the driver only checks for the existence of these directories, in which case this would solve the problem.

Sorry, but the files don't exist. I don't understand why they appear using locate, but if I try to delete them, it tells me they don't exist:

$ sudo rmdir /usr/src/nvidia-173.14.12 /var/lib/dkms/nvidia/173.14.12
rmdir: No se pudo eliminar «/usr/src/nvidia-173.14.12»: No existe el fichero ó directorio
rmdir: No se pudo eliminar «/var/lib/dkms/nvidia/173.14.12»: No existe el fichero ó directorio

(rmdir: «/usr/src/nvidia-173.14.12» couldn't be deleted: File or Directory doesn't exist)

I deleted the directory /var/lib/dkms/nvidia,
$ sudo rm -r /var/lib/dkms/nvidia

I Will try to install again... Anyway I was going to do it to generate a nvidia-bug-report.log by running nvidia-bug-report.sh after my system fails at startup.

Ah, it seems locate checks its database, but not whether the files actually exist. Then the only other idea I have is, to install the 173.14.18 again, and then (no reboot required for this) do this command:
sudo find / -name "*173.14.12*"

(this will take a while, since it actually searches the file system, which locate does not).
Any output?

Ah, ok, I didn't know the filename of the kernel module. Deleting the directory you mentioned might have solved it, but I think the working copies of the kernel module are somewhere in /lib/modules
Can you show me the output of these commands (use copy&paste as they need to be typed exactly as is):
locate -e nvidia.ko
fgrep 173.14.12 `locate -e nvidia.ko`

Hi. Installed 173.14.18 again, and the command sudo find / -name "*173.14.12*" didn't returned anything, after a half hour of disk searching. Then, the problem persists. I generated the bug report and then, nothing returned from both instructions:

tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ locate -e nvidia.ko
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ fgrep 173.14.12 `locate -e nvidia.ko`
(I cancelled this because it took a lot of time and it didn't seem to be doing anything)
^C

Thank you very much, Cruncher, I have learned many things today, and I will keep trying to fix this problem, but for now I'm going to sleep. See you later!

BTW, I found this file:
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
(the only one in this directory)

Then, I made

tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ locate -e nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-10-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-12-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-13-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ fgrep 173.14.12 `locate -e nvidiafb.ko`
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$

BTW, I found this file:
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
(the only one in this directory)

Then, I made

tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ locate -e nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-10-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-12-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-13-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ fgrep 173.14.12 `locate -e nvidiafb.ko`
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$

anything useful?

Hm, OK. Here is an alternative to my last suggestion that should work (reasonably fast):
find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name nvidia.ko

only if this command printed at least one line, run this command:
fgrep 173.14.12 `find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name nvidia.ko`

Then post the output of both commands.
It *should* find at least one instance of the file in /lib/modules, and the fgrep checks whether it's the wrong version.

Ah, just read your post now. Then try this instead:
find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name "nvid*.ko"
fgrep 173.14.12 `find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name "nvid*.ko"`

If the fgrep still returns nothing, the file(s) are not 173.14.12, and I am out of ideas :o)

Look! It found it

tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name nvidia.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ fgrep 173.14.12 `find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name nvidia.ko`
Coincidencia en el fichero binario /lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko

(Coincidence in binary file /lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko)

I get the same with the other command, plus the files nvidiafb.ko I mentioned before:

tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name "nvid*.ko"
/lib/modules/2.6.27-13-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-12-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.27-10-generic/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
tonatiuh@Athlon64:~/Documentos$ fgrep 173.14.12 `find /lib/modules /var/lib/dkms -name "nvid*.ko"`
Coincidencia en el fichero binario /lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko

So I will delete these files and try again to install the driver.

Only /lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko

VICTORY!
This time it worked!
After deleting /lib/modules/2.6.27-14-generic/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko and installing again the 173.14.18 driver, and rebooting, the driver works correctly!

Thank you very much, it's been a very long way now, but you finally did it! Thank you very much!

(Anyway, something shall be wrong with driver or dkms, this is not supposed to be this way confuse and complicated!)

Phew :o)
Glad it finally worked out. I guess the file is a remainder of some incomplete or interrupted install/uninstall or something.

Thinking about it, I belive this is how it may have happened:
You installed the 173.14.12 previously using the downloaded file from the NVIDIA site, and not the ones from the Ubuntu packages. Since this circumvents the clean installation scheme that Ubuntu provides, it creates files (namely the dkms/nvidia directory and the kernel module) which are not protocolled by Ubuntu. So there is no way to cleanly uninstall them, unless you use the "--uninstall" with the original NVIDIA 173.14.12 file which (supposedly) will take care of this.

So for the future, since your current NVIDIA driver is also not an Ubuntu package, please keep the original downloaded file, and remember to do a "--uninstall" with it, once you want to upgrade your driver to some other version.

Usually this is not a problem, since Ubuntu provides clean packages for several versions of the NVIDIA driver. But unfortunately not for the 173.14.18 version.

Well, actually I keep all the files of the NVIDIA Drivers I download... And, I'm not very sure about this... It could be my error erasing the original installer, or it could had been an error with the previous driver I used (and uninstalled it with it's own --uninstall), that was a "beta" (173.14.15), but I'm thinking seriously that it could have been too because I had once used Envyng, but It could even had been Ubuntu's restricted driver utility (which didn't worked well since updated from Hardy {Driver wasn't used altough it said it was being used}).

Anyway, it's something remarkable that the problem lays in one dkms file... maybe generated by Ubuntu's packages, or Envyng-ubuntu's drivers, or NVIDIA's Binary drivers...

At least, for newer card models, troubles seems to be solved.

Thank you for the help in this thread.

I also had a similar problem, installing the 173.14.18 driver, but it detected a 70 series driver instead. I had to do

dpkg -l '*nvidia*' | grep '^ii'

To find I had nvidia-kernel-common installed.
Remove that, as well as delete the nvidia.ko file:

updatedb
locate nvidia.ko
rm `locate nvidia.ko`

Install the driver, and it worked!
Thanks.