If you want to install the newest Nvidia Drivers from Nvidia on Debian Etch, be sure you follow these basic things:

• the linux-headers package matching the installed Linux kernel is installed
• the pkg-config and xserver-xorg-dev packages are installed
• the nvidia-glx package has been uninstalled with the –purge option and the files /etc/init.d/nvidia-glx and /etc/init.d/nvidia-kernel do not exist

If you meet all of these things with a basic Desktop install of Debian Etch, you should not have any problem installing the newest 100.14.19 Nvidia Drivers! Good luck!