Attachment 317570 Details for Bug 425312 – patch including description of simplified xorg.conf file.

patch including description of simplified xorg.conf file.

nvidia-guide.xml (text/plain), 16.81 KB, created by Michael Mol on 2012-07-08 12:39:59 UTC

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><?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?>
>
><!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
>
><guide>
><title>Gentoo Linux nVidia Guide</title>
>
><author title="Author">
>  <mail link="swift@gentoo.org">Sven Vermeulen</mail>
></author>
><author title="Author">
>  <mail link="nightmorph@gentoo.org">Joshua Saddler</mail>
></author>
><author title="Editor">
>  <mail link="curtis119@gentoo.org">M Curtis Napier</mail>
></author>
><author title="Editor">
>  <mail link="wolf31o2@gentoo.org">Chris Gianelloni</mail>
></author>
>
><abstract>
>Many Gentooists have an nVidia chipset on their system. nVidia provides specific
>Linux drivers to boost the performance of your card. This guide informs you how
>to install and configure these drivers.
></abstract>
>
>
>
><license/>
>
><version>2</version>
><date>2011-09-11</date>
>
><chapter>
><title>Introduction</title>
><section>
><body>
>
><p>
>The nVidia drivers in the tree are released by nVidia and are built against the
>Linux kernel. They contain a binary blob that does the heavy lifting for talking
>to the card. The drivers consist of two parts, a kernel module, and an X11
>driver. Both parts are included in a single package. Due to the way nVidia has
>been packaging their drivers, you will need to make some choices before you
>install the drivers.
></p>
>
><p>
>The <c>nvidia-drivers</c> package contains the latest drivers from nVidia with
>support for <e>all</e> cards, with several versions available depending on how
>old your card is. It uses an eclass to detect what kind of card you're running
>so that it installs the proper version.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Driver compatibility</title>
><section>
><title>Which version?</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>The <c>nvidia-drivers</c> package supports the full range of available nVidia
>cards. Multiple versions are available for installation, depending on the
>card(s) you have.
></p>
>
><p>
>Newer cards such as the GeForce 400, 300, 200, 100, 9, 8, 7, and 6 series should
>use the latest drivers.
></p>
>
><p>
>Older cards such as the GeForce FX 5 series should use the 173.x drivers, such
>as <c>nvidia-drivers-173.14.15</c>. For these cards, you should mask
><c>>=x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-174.00</c> in your
><path>/etc/portage/package.mask</path> file. This will prevent newer versions of
>the driver which are incompatible with your card from being installed.
></p>
>
><p>
>Old cards such as the GeForce 3 or GeForce 4 series require the 96.x drivers.
>For these cards, you should mask <c>>=x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-97.00</c> in
>your <path>/etc/portage/package.mask</path> file.
></p>
>
><p>
>The oldest NV2x-based cards (such as TNT, TNT2, GeForce, and GeForce 2) are no
>longer supported by <c>nvidia-drivers</c>. Instead, use an open-source driver:
><c>xf86-video-nouveau</c> (recommended) or <c>xf86-video-nv</c> (old,
>deprecated).
></p>
>
><p>
>You can check for driver compatibility for your card at to determine which
>driver supports it by viewing the README at its appropriate x86 or x86-64
><uri link="http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html">release page</uri>.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Configuring your Card</title>
><section>
><title>Kernel Configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>As mentioned above, the nVidia kernel driver installs and runs against your
>current kernel. It builds as a module, so it makes sense that your kernel must
>support the loading of kernel modules. If you used <c>genkernel all</c> to
>configure the kernel for you, then you're all set. If not, double check your
>kernel configuration so that this support is enabled:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Enabling the Loading of Kernel Modules">
>Loadable module support ---&gt;
>  [*] Enable loadable module support
></pre>
>
><p>
>You also need to enable <e>Memory Type Range Register</e> in your kernel:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Enabling MTRR">
>Processor and Features ---&gt;
>  [*] MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) support
></pre>
>
><p> Also, if you have an AGP graphics card, you can optionally enable
><c>agpgart</c> support to your kernel, either compiled in or as a module. If
>you do not use the in-kernel agpgart, then the drivers will use their own
><c>agpgart</c> implementation, called <c>NvAGP</c>.  On certain systems, this
>performs better than the in-kernel agpgart, and on others, it performs worse.
>You will need to evaluate this on your own system to get the best performance.
>If you are unsure what to do, use the in-kernel agpgart:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Enabling agpgart">
>Device Drivers --->
>Graphics Support --->
>-*- /dev/agpgart (AGP Support) --->
></pre> 
>
><note>
>On amd64, the IOMMU controls the agpgart setting.
></note>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Arch-specific notes</title>
><body>
>
><impo>
>For x86 and AMD64 processors, the in-kernel driver conflicts with the binary
>driver provided by nVidia. If you will be compiling your kernel for these CPUs,
>you must completely remove support for the in-kernel driver as shown:
></impo>
>
><pre caption="Remove the in-kernel driver">
>Device Drivers --->
>Graphics Support --->
>&lt;*&gt; Support for frame buffer devices --->
>&lt; &gt;   nVidia Framebuffer Support
>&lt; &gt;   nVidia Riva support
></pre>
>
><p>
>A framebuffer alternative is <c>uvesafb</c>, an <uri
>link="http://dev.gentoo.org/~spock/projects/uvesafb/">advanced
>framebuffer</uri>. Note that you can choose to compile it into your kernel, or
>as a module. The following example compiles uvesafb into the kernel.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Enable uvesafb support">
>Device Drivers --->
>Graphics Support --->
>&lt;*&gt; Support for frame buffer devices --->
>&lt;*&gt;   Userspace VESA VGA graphics support
></pre>
>
>
><p>
>Or you can try <c>VESA</c>:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Enable VESA support">
>Device Drivers --->
>Graphics Support --->
>&lt;*&gt; Support for frame buffer devices --->
>[*]   VESA VGA graphics support
></pre>
>
>
><p>
>For more information, you can look up the documentation for your chosen
>framebuffer in <path>/usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/</path>.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Continuing with Kernel Configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>The <c>nvidia-drivers</c> ebuild automatically discovers your kernel version
>based on the <path>/usr/src/linux</path> symlink. Please ensure that you have
>this symlink pointing to the correct sources and that your kernel is correctly
>configured. Please refer to the "Configuring the Kernel" section of the <uri
>link="/doc/en/handbook/">Installation Handbook</uri> for details on configuring
>your kernel.
></p>
>
><p>
>First, you'll need to choose the right kernel source using <c>eselect</c>. If
>you are using <c>gentoo-sources-2.6.34-r1</c>, your kernel listing might look
>something like this:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Check your /usr/src/linux symlink">
># <i>eselect kernel list</i>
>Available kernel symlink targets:
>  [1]   linux-2.6.34-gentoo-r1 *
>  [2]   linux-2.6.33-gentoo-r2
>  [3]   linux-2.6.32.9
><comment>(Verify that the right kernel is marked with an asterisk</comment>
></pre>
>
><p>
>In the above output, you'll notice that the <c>linux-2.6.34-gentoo-r1</c> kernel
>is marked with an asterisk (<b>*</b>) to show that it is the symlinked kernel.
></p>
>
><p>
>If the symlink is not pointing to the correct sources, you must update the link
>by selecting the number of your desired kernel sources, as in the example
>above.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Create/Update /usr/src/linux symlink">
><comment>(Select the correct kernel)</comment>
># <i>eselect kernel set 1</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Installing the Appropriate Drivers</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Now it's time to install the drivers. You can do this by first following the
><uri link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">X Server Configuration HOWTO</uri> and
>setting <c>VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia"</c> in <path>/etc/make.conf</path>. When you
>install the X server, it will then install the right version of
><c>nvidia-drivers</c> for you.
></p>
>
><note>
>The drivers can be installed with the <c>gtk</c> USE flag set in
><path>/etc/make.conf</path>. This will install
><c>media-video/nvidia-settings</c>, a handy graphical tool for monitoring and
>configuring several aspects of your nVidia card.
></note>
>
><impo>
>Every time you <uri link="/doc/en/kernel-upgrade.xml">compile a new kernel</uri>
>or recompile the current one, you will need to reinstall the nVidia kernel
>modules. An easy way to keep track of modules installed by ebuilds (such as
><c>nvidia-drivers</c>) is to install <c>sys-kernel/module-rebuild</c>. Once
>you've installed it, simply run <c>module-rebuild populate</c> to populate its
>database with a list of packages to be rebuilt. Once you've finished compiling
>or recompiling a kernel, just run <c>module-rebuild rebuild</c> to rebuild the
>drivers for your new kernel.
></impo>
>
><p>
>Once the installation has finished, run <c>modprobe nvidia</c> to load the
>kernel module into memory. If this is an upgrade, you should remove the
>previous module first.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Loading the kernel module">
># <i>lsmod | grep nvidia &amp;&amp; rmmod nvidia</i>
># <i>modprobe nvidia</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>To prevent you having to manually load the module on every bootup, you probably
>want to have this done automatically each time you boot your system, so edit
><path>/etc/conf.d/modules</path> and add <c>nvidia</c> to it.
></p>
>
><impo>
>If you compiled <c>agpgart</c> as a module, you will need to add it to
><path>/etc/conf.d/modules</path> as well.
></impo>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Configuring the X Server</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Once the appropriate drivers are installed you need to configure your X Server
>to use the <c>nvidia</c> driver instead of the default <c>nv</c> driver.
></p>
>
><p>
>If you do not have an xorg.conf file, it is sufficient to simply tell the X Server to load the module; it will likely handle the remainder of your configuration itself. Create <path>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</path> with the contents:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Creating the initial xorg.conf file">
>Section "Device"
>  Identifier "my nVidia Card"
>  Driver "nvidia"
>EndSection
></pre>
>
><p>
>This will allow the X server to use the video card to probe most of the remainder of your display setup. You will be able to tune and adjust this later using the <c>nvidia-settings</c> command.
></p>
>
><p>
>If you already have an xorg.conf file, open <path>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</path> with your favorite editor (such as
><c>nano</c> or <c>vim</c>) and go to the <c>Device</c> section. In that
>section, change the <c>Driver</c> line:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Changing nv to nvidia in the X Server configuration">
>Section "Device"
>  Identifier "nVidia Inc. GeForce2"
>  <i>Driver     "nvidia"</i>
>  VideoRam   65536
>EndSection
></pre>
>
><p>
>Then go to the <c>Module</c> section and make sure the <c>glx</c> module gets
>loaded while the <c>dri</c> module doesn't:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Updating the Module section">
>Section "Module"
>  <comment>(...)</comment>
>  <i># Load  "dri"
>  Load  "glx"</i>
>  <comment>(...)</comment>
>EndSection
></pre>
>
><p>
>Next, in section <c>Screen</c>, make sure that either the <c>DefaultDepth</c>
>directive is set to 16 or 24, or that you only have <c>Display</c> subsections
>with <c>Depth</c> settings of 16 or 24. Without it, the nVidia GLX extensions
>will not start.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Updating the Screen section">
>Section "Screen"
>  <comment>(...)</comment>
>  <i>DefaultDepth 16</i>
>  Subsection "Display"
>  <comment>(...)</comment>
>EndSection
></pre>
>
><p>
>Run <c>eselect</c> so that the X Server uses the nVidia GLX libraries:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Running eselect">
># <i>eselect opengl set nvidia</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Adding your Users to the video Group</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>You have to add your user to the <c>video</c> group so he has access to the
>nVidia device files:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adding your user to the video group">
># <i>gpasswd -a youruser video</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>This might not be totally necessary if you aren't using <c>udev</c> but it
>doesn't hurt either and makes your system future-proof.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Testing your Card</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>To test your nVidia card, fire up X and run <c>glxinfo</c>, which is part of the
><c>mesa-progs</c> package. It should say that direct rendering is activated:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Checking the direct rendering status">
>$ <i>glxinfo | grep direct</i>
>direct rendering: Yes
></pre>
>
><p>
>To monitor your FPS, run <c>glxgears</c>.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Enabling nvidia Support</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Some tools, such as <c>mplayer</c> and <c>xine-lib</c>, use a local USE flag
>called <c>xvmc</c> which enables XvMCNVIDIA support, useful when watching high
>resolution movies. Add in <c>xvmc</c> in your USE variable in
><path>/etc/make.conf</path> or add it as USE flag to <c>media-video/mplayer</c>
>and/or <c>media-libs/xine-lib</c> in <path>/etc/portage/package.use</path>.
></p>
>
><p>
>There are also some applications that use the <c>nvidia</c> USE flag, so you
>may want to add it to <path>/etc/make.conf</path>.
></p>
>
><p>
>Then, run <c>emerge -uD --newuse world</c> to rebuild the applications that
>benefit from the USE flag change.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Using NVidia Settings Tool</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>nVidia also provides you with a settings tool. This tool allows you to monitor
>and change graphical settings without restarting the X server and is available
>through Portage as <c>media-video/nvidia-settings</c>. As mentioned earlier, it
>will be pulled in automatically if you install the drivers with the <c>gtk</c>
>USE flag set in <path>/etc/make.conf</path> or in
><path>/etc/portage/package.use</path>.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Troubleshooting</title>
><section>
><title>Getting 2D to work on machines with 4Gb or more memory</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>If you are having troubles with the nVidia 2D acceleration it is likely that
>you are unable to set up a write-combining range with MTRR. To verify, check
>the contents of <path>/proc/mtrr</path>:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Checking if you have write-combining enabled">
># <i>cat /proc/mtrr</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>Every line should contain "write-back" or "write-combining". If you see a line
>with "uncachable" in it you will need to change a BIOS setting to fix this.
></p>
>
><p>
>Reboot and enter the BIOS, then find the MTRR settings (probably under "CPU
>Settings"). Change the setting from "continuous" to "discrete" and boot back
>into Linux. You will now find out that there is no "uncachable" entry anymore
>and 2D acceleration now works without any glitches.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>
>  When I attempt to load the kernel module I receive a "no such device"
></title>
><body>
>
><p>
>This usually occurs when you don't have a matching video card. Make sure that
>you have an nVidia-powered graphical card (you can double-check this using
><c>lspci</c>).
></p>
>
><p>
>If you are confident that you have an nVidia card, check your BIOS and see if
>the directive <e>Assign IRQ to VGA</e> is set.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Expert Configuration</title>
><section>
><title>Documentation</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>The nVidia driver package also comes with comprehensive documentation. This is
>installed into <c>/usr/share/doc</c> and can be viewed with the following
>command:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Viewing the NVIDIA documentation">
>$ <i>less /usr/share/doc/nvidia-drivers-*/README.gz</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Kernel module parameters</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>The <c>nvidia</c> kernel module accepts a number of parameters (options) which
>you can use to tweak the behaviour of the driver. Most of these are mentioned in
>the documentation. To add or change the values of these parameters, edit the
>file <c>/etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf</c>. Remember to run <c>update-modules</c> after
>modifying this file, and bear in mind that you will need to reload the
><c>nvidia</c> module before the new settings take effect.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adjusting nvidia options">
><comment>(Edit /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf in your favourite editor)</comment>
># <i>nano -w /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf</i>
><comment>(Update module information)</comment>
># <i>update-modules</i>
><comment>(Unload the nvidia module...)</comment>
># <i>modprobe -r nvidia</i>
><comment>(...and load it once again)</comment>
># <i>modprobe nvidia</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Advanced X configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>The GLX layer also has a plethora of options which can be configured. These
>control the configuration of TV out, dual displays, monitor frequency detection,
>etc. Again, all of the available options are detailed in the documentation.
></p>
>
><p>
>If you wish to use any of these options, you need to list them in the relevant
>Device section of your X config file (usually <c>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</c>). For
>example, suppose I wanted to disable the splash logo:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Advanced nvidia configuration in the X configuration">
>Section "Device"
>  Identifier "nVidia Inc. GeForce2"
>  Driver     "nvidia"
>  <i>Option     "NoLogo" "true"</i>
>  VideoRam   65536
>EndSection
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
></guide>

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