[opensuse] How to change video driver?
Hi, I'm still getting frequent, intermittent hangs which I believe is due to a conflict between the kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop and the nvidia video driver 256.53-16.1. I'd like to try switching to the opensource nv/nouveau driver, but I'm not sure how to go about it. The xorg-x11-driver-video-nouveau 0.0.15 is installed, according to yast. Any suggestions, please? Bob -- Registered Linux User #463880 FSFE Member #1300 GPG-FP: A6C1 457C 6DBA B13E 5524 F703 D12A FB79 926B 994E openSUSE 11.3 64-bit, Kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop, KDE 4.5.2 Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz, 8GB DDR RAM, nVidia GeForce 9600GT -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 10/07/2010 11:14 AM, Bob Williams wrote:
Hi,
I'm still getting frequent, intermittent hangs which I believe is due to a conflict between the kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop and the nvidia video driver 256.53-16.1.
I'd like to try switching to the opensource nv/nouveau driver, but I'm not sure how to go about it. The xorg-x11-driver-video-nouveau 0.0.15 is installed, according to yast.
Any suggestions, please?
Bob
Bob, It's simple. I just keep 2 xorg.conf file (xorg.conf.nv and xorg.conf.nvidia). They are basically identical except for the following: (nvidia driver) Section "Device" Driver "nvidia" <snip> Option "Coolbits" "1" (nv driver) Driver "nv" <snip> #Option "Coolbits" "1" (just comment or remove this option) Easy way: su cd /etc/X11 cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.nvidia vi (or your favorite editor) xorg.conf change: Driver "nvidia" to Driver "nv" and remove the Coolbits option (then exit editor) cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.nv logout (if in kde/gnome/whatever) ctrl+alt+F1 (to get a terminal) login (as root or su) rcxdm restart logout of terminal ctrl+alt+F7 (to get back to login) Note: in some circumstances pieces of the display driver can be left in memory even after restarting the display manager that can cause problem with the new driver (more of an ATI issue). If this happens, just reboot with the new xorg.conf in place Done -- Good Luck :p -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 10/07/2010 11:37 AM, David C. Rankin wrote:
On 10/07/2010 11:14 AM, Bob Williams wrote:
Hi,
I'm still getting frequent, intermittent hangs which I believe is due to a conflict between the kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop and the nvidia video driver 256.53-16.1.
I'd like to try switching to the opensource nv/nouveau driver, but I'm not sure how to go about it. The xorg-x11-driver-video-nouveau 0.0.15 is installed, according to yast.
Any suggestions, please?
Bob
Bob,
It's simple.
P.S. - yes you can simply edit the xorg.conf by hand despite all the warning garbage at the top of the file -- it is just a simple text file. Also, you can often get better performance from you card by googling the card name with xorg.conf option -- to get a list and description of options available for your gpu and the driver you are using (nv/nvidia). Also, I had terrible problems with the 2.6.34x kernels. I'm currently running the 2.6.35 kernel from the kernel/HEAD repo and I have had no issues with it. However, the current 2.6.26rc kernels in HEAD have been hit or miss. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Hi David On Thursday 07 October 2010 17:37:45 David C. Rankin wrote:
On 10/07/2010 11:14 AM, Bob Williams wrote:
Hi,
I'm still getting frequent, intermittent hangs which I believe is due to a conflict between the kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop and the nvidia video driver 256.53-16.1.
I'd like to try switching to the opensource nv/nouveau driver, but I'm not sure how to go about it. The xorg-x11-driver-video-nouveau 0.0.15 is installed, according to yast.
Any suggestions, please?
Bob
Bob,
It's simple. I just keep 2 xorg.conf file (xorg.conf.nv and xorg.conf.nvidia). They are basically identical except for the following:
(nvidia driver) Section "Device" Driver "nvidia" <snip> Option "Coolbits" "1"
(nv driver) Driver "nv" <snip> #Option "Coolbits" "1" (just comment or remove this option)
Easy way:
su cd /etc/X11 cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.nvidia vi (or your favorite editor) xorg.conf change: Driver "nvidia" to Driver "nv" and remove the Coolbits option (then exit editor) cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.nv logout (if in kde/gnome/whatever) ctrl+alt+F1 (to get a terminal) login (as root or su) rcxdm restart logout of terminal ctrl+alt+F7 (to get back to login)
Note: in some circumstances pieces of the display driver can be left in memory even after restarting the display manager that can cause problem with the new driver (more of an ATI issue). If this happens, just reboot with the new xorg.conf in place
Done -- Good Luck :p
Many thanks. That worked well, and I can now change back to the nvidia driver after the next upgrade of kernel or nvidia driver :) Bob -- Registered Linux User #463880 FSFE Member #1300 GPG-FP: A6C1 457C 6DBA B13E 5524 F703 D12A FB79 926B 994E openSUSE 11.3 64-bit, Kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop, KDE 4.5.1 Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz, 8GB DDR RAM, nVidia GeForce 9600GT -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Many thanks. That worked well, and I can now change back to the nvidia driver after the next upgrade of kernel or nvidia driver :)
Bob
Just fyi, while using xorg.conf to switch to nv works without any further steps, that won't be true with nouveau. Because it conflicts with the nvidia driver, nouveau must be blacklisted; consequently, if you decide to switch to nouveau instead, you'll need to remove the blacklisting (which is probably in the file /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf). -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 10/07/2010 01:06 PM, dwgallien wrote:
Many thanks. That worked well, and I can now change back to the nvidia driver after the next upgrade of kernel or nvidia driver :)
Bob
Just fyi, while using xorg.conf to switch to nv works without any further steps, that won't be true with nouveau. Because it conflicts with the nvidia driver, nouveau must be blacklisted; consequently, if you decide to switch to nouveau instead, you'll need to remove the blacklisting (which is probably in the file /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf).
Good point, I also forgot the manual unload of the nvidia driver (rmmod nvidia) and load of the nv driver (modprobe nv) prior to xdm restart, but the unload might not be advisable if your sound/sata/etc. is also nvidia. X (since 7.2) is smart enough to choose reasonable defaults and load the needed modules even *without* an xorg.conf. So if you ever get stuck with a hosed xorg.conf, you can mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.sav and restart X as well. (but you do need the xorg to specify/change the driver to a particular one) Glad it worked for you Bob. It also works the same way for radeon, radeonhd, and fglrx drivers on the ATI side :p -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thursday 07 October 2010 19:06:20 dwgallien wrote:
Many thanks. That worked well, and I can now change back to the nvidia driver after the next upgrade of kernel or nvidia driver :)
Bob
Just fyi, while using xorg.conf to switch to nv works without any further steps, that won't be true with nouveau. Because it conflicts with the nvidia driver, nouveau must be blacklisted; consequently, if you decide to switch to nouveau instead, you'll need to remove the blacklisting (which is probably in the file /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf).
Sorry for the delay in getting back. I got called away at short notice to go sailing for the weekend on Friday morning. Great way to blow away the cobwebs :) /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf just contains that one line, blacklist nouveau. Should I comment out that line (presumably by preceding it with #) or rename/delete the whole file? Or will either method work? I'm just thinking of the back out route being clear if I want to go back to the nvidia drivers. Thanks, Bob -- Registered Linux User #463880 FSFE Member #1300 GPG-FP: A6C1 457C 6DBA B13E 5524 F703 D12A FB79 926B 994E openSUSE 11.3 64-bit, Kernel 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop, KDE 4.5.1 Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz, 8GB DDR RAM, nVidia GeForce 9600GT -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thursday 07 October 2010 19:06:20 dwgallien wrote:
Many thanks. That worked well, and I can now change back to the nvidia driver after the next upgrade of kernel or nvidia driver :)
Bob
Just fyi, while using xorg.conf to switch to nv works without any further steps, that won't be true with nouveau. Because it conflicts with the nvidia driver, nouveau must be blacklisted; consequently, if you decide to switch to nouveau instead, you'll need to remove the blacklisting (which is probably in the file /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf).
Sorry for the delay in getting back. I got called away at short notice to go sailing for the weekend on Friday morning. Great way to blow away the cobwebs :)
/etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf just contains that one line, blacklist nouveau. Should I comment out that line (presumably by preceding it with #) or rename/delete the whole file? Or will either method work? I'm just thinking of the back out route being clear if I want to go back to the nvidia drivers.
Thanks,
You can do it either way. Just keep in mind that the kernel reads all files in that directory with a .conf suffix. The file nvidia.conf was created by the rpm package which installed the nvidia driver (installing from the compilation script on the nvidia site, does not). -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (3)
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Bob Williams -
David C. Rankin -
dwgallien