On Sun, Jan 28, 2018 at 5:28 AM, Wirtti Pereira
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi, I've been using SL for a couple of months. I'm setting up a PC to run
> Gromacs 5.1.4. It was running rime with CPU. Then i've installed a NVidia
> 2070M and start trying to compile. It happens to have several dependencies
> and I was installing one after another.
> The last packages I've install before the boot problem were EPEL and DKMS.
> After have these packs installed I've rebooted the machine once to have the
> drivers loaded (unfortunately I don't know how to do it on the fly). Then
> the I've couldn't make it boot again. I've tried safety mode boot also. I've
> removed the NVidia card but it keeps freezing.
> What else could I do?
> Thanks in advance, Rafael

That does not sound like a Scientific Linux issue, per se. That sounds
like "I tried to compile in new kernel modules when I added my NVidia
card, and stuff got broken" issue. We might be able to help.

Which version of Scientific Linux do you have installed? I don't see a
"dkms" package for SL 6, I assume you installed the dkms" package from
EPEL for SL 7.

Can you boot with Scientific Linux installation media, such as a CD or
USB frob, using the livedvd or installation DVD image in rescue mode,
so that you can get at the filesystem of your original OS ? In
production enviironments, I personally like to set up a PXE setup so
that I can boot to rescue media just using the local network
connections, but I suspect that is more work than you need right now.
Booting with such media should also make your network available, and
let you copy critical personal work elsewhere. This is why I like USB
frobs for doing that kind of rescue boot: it lets me copy files from
the system being rescued to the rescue media itself, so I don't have
to do more.

Let's look at what you've done recently. Activated EPEL, meaning did
"yum install epel-release", and made EPEL rpm's available? Right,
should not have touched kernel or base OS because EPEL is really
careful to avoid overwriting the base RHEL published or Scientific
Linux republished packages. Installed dkms from EPEL? Right, that
should have enabled the building of dynamically loadable kernel
modules. Installed a powerful NVidia card, presumably to use the GPU?
Right. I suspect you grabbed NVidia kernel code from somewhere and
tried to hand-install NVidia modules, and lost the ability to reboot?

"Start trying to compile."  NVidia tools, on top of a previously
working kernel you could boot with? Or Gromacs, and that maybe
detected your NVidia card and started trying to install modules?