NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set README & Installation Guide Last Updated: $Date: 2002/03/22 $ Most Recent Driver: 1.0-2880 The NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set brings both accelerated 2D functionality and high performance OpenGL support to Linux x86 with the use of NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs). These drivers provide optimized hardware acceleration of OpenGL applications via a direct-rendering X Server and support nearly all NVIDIA graphics chips (please see APPENDIX A for a complete list of supported chips). TwinView, TV-Out and flat panel displays are also supported. This README describes how to install, configure, and use the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set. This file is posted on NVIDIA's web site (www.nvidia.com), and is installed in /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/ when the NVIDIA_GLX package is installed. __________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS: (sec-01) CHOOSING THE NVIDIA PACKAGES APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR SYSTEM (sec-02) INSTALLING THE NVIDIA_KERNEL AND NVIDIA_GLX PACKAGES (sec-03) EDITING YOUR XF86CONFIG FILE (sec-04) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (sec-05) CONTACTING US (sec-06) FURTHER RESOURCES (app-a) APPENDIX A: SUPPORTED NVIDIA GRAPHICS CHIPS (app-b) APPENDIX B: MINIMUM SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS (app-c) APPENDIX C: INSTALLED COMPONENTS (app-d) APPENDIX D: XF86CONFIG OPTIONS (app-e) APPENDIX E: OPENGL ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE SETTINGS (app-f) APPENDIX F: CONFIGURING AGP (app-g) APPENDIX G: ALI SPECIFIC ISSUES (app-h) APPENDIX H: TNT SPECIFIC ISSUES (app-i) APPENDIX I: CONFIGURING TWINVIEW (app-j) APPENDIX J: CONFIGURING TV-OUT (app-k) APPENDIX K: CONFIGURING A LAPTOP (app-l) APPENDIX L: PROGRAMMING MODES (app-m) APPENDIX M: PAGE FLIPPING, WINDOW FLIPPING, AND UBB (app-n) APPENDIX N: KNOWN ISSUES (app-o) APPENDIX O: PROC INTERFACE (app-p) APPENDIX P: XVMC SUPPORT (app-q) APPENDIX Q: GLX SUPPORT Please note that, in order to keep the instructions more concise, most caveats and frequently encountered problems are not detailed in the installation instructions, but rather in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section. Therefore, it is recommended that you read this entire README before proceeding to perform any of the steps described. __________________________________________________________________________ (sec-01) CHOOSING THE NVIDIA PACKAGES APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR SYSTEM __________________________________________________________________________ NVIDIA has a unified driver architecture model; this means that one driver set can be used with all supported NVIDIA hardware. Please see Appendix A for a list of the NVIDIA hardware supported by the current drivers. The NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set consists of two packages which you will need to download and install: the NVIDIA_GLX package which contains the OpenGL libraries and the XFree86 driver, and the NVIDIA_kernel package which contains the NVdriver kernel module needed by the X driver and OpenGL libraries in the NVIDIA_GLX package (for more details on the components of each package, please see Appendix C). You will need to install both packages, with matching version numbers (eg NVIDIA_GLX-0.9-6 should only be used with NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-6 and not NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-3). The packages are available in several formats: rpm, srpm, and tar file. Installation of each package type is described below. The package type is largely a matter of personal preference, though please note that the binary rpms are for use only with the kernel shipped with a particular distribution (eg NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-6.rh62.i386.rpm should only be used with the uni-processor kernel shipped with RedHat 6.2). Where appropriate, NVIDIA has provided separate rpms for the distinct SMP and uni-processor kernels of each distribution. If you have upgraded your kernel (either manually, or through a distribution upgrade), or a specific NVIDIA_kernel rpm is not available for your distribution, then use either the NVIDIA_kernel srpm or tar file. In the case where distributors ship multiple kernels (as is often the case with uni-processor and SMP machines), there will be multiple rpms available, ie: NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-7.rh62.i386.rpm and NVIDIA_kernel-0.9-7.rh62.smp.i386.rpm. The NVIDIA_GLX rpm, however, is not dependent upon the kernel version, and therefore an srpm is not needed. Install the NVIDIA_GLX package either by rpm or tar file. __________________________________________________________________________ (sec-02) INSTALLING THE NVIDIA_KERNEL AND NVIDIA_GLX PACKAGES __________________________________________________________________________ BEFORE YOU BEGIN DRIVER INSTALLATION Before beginning the driver installation, you should exit the X server. In addition you should set your default run level so you will boot to console and not start up X (please consult the documentation that came with your Linux distribution if you are unsure how to do this). This will make it easier to recover if there is a problem during the installation. Please note that package revision numbers have been omitted in the following directions to make them as general as possible. While the directions might say "NVIDIA_kernel.tar.gz" you should replace that with the name of the driver version you are installing; eg: "NVIDIA_kernel.0.9-6.tar.gz". INSTALLING BY RPM Instructions for the Impatient: $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX.i386.rpm Instructions: Before installing from rpm, make sure that you have downloaded the NVIDIA_kernel rpm appropriate for your kernel. Once you have verified that you do indeed have the correct rpm, install NVIDIA_kernel by doing: $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm Next, install the NVIDIA_GLX rpm by doing: $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX.i386.rpm UPGRADING BY RPM Instructions for the Impatient: $ rpm -Uvh NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm $ rpm -e NVIDIA_GLX $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX.i386.rpm Instructions: Before upgrading from rpm, make sure that you have downloaded the NVIDIA_kernel rpm appropriate for your kernel. Once you have verified that you do indeed have the correct rpm, upgrade the NVIDIA_kernel package by doing: $ rpm -Uvh NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm You should not use the '-U' option to rpm to upgrade the NVIDIA_GLX rpm because a bug in the uninstall section of older NVIDIA rpms will cause some files to be removed that shouldn't be. Instead, use '-e' to remove the old NVIDIA_GLX rpm, and then install the new one: $ rpm -e NVIDIA_GLX $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX.i386.rpm INSTALLING/UPGRADING BY SRPM Instructions for the Impatient: $ rpm --rebuild NVIDIA_kernel.src.rpm $ rpm -ivh /path/to/rpms/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm $ rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX.i386.rpm Instructions: To build a custom NVIDIA_kernel rpm for your system, pass rpm the '--rebuild' flag: $ rpm --rebuild NVIDIA_kernel.src.rpm Watch for the line that looks something like (the path may be different): Wrote: /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm and use that as input to rpm to install: $ rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm or upgrade: $ rpm -Uvh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel.i386.rpm To install the NVIDIA_GLX package, follow the instructions above for either installing or upgrading NVIDIA_GLX from rpm. INSTALLING/UPGRADING BY TAR FILE Instructions for the Impatient: $ tar xvzf NVIDIA_kernel.tar.gz $ tar xvzf NVIDIA_GLX.tar.gz $ cd NVIDIA_kernel $ make install $ cd ../NVIDIA_GLX $ make install Instructions: To install from tar file, unpack each file: $ tar xvzf NVIDIA_kernel.tar.gz $ tar xvzf NVIDIA_GLX.tar.gz cd into the NVIDIA_kernel directory. Type 'make install'. This will compile the kernel interface to the NVdriver, link the NVdriver, copy the NVdriver into place, and attempt to insert the NVdriver into the running kernel: $ cd NVIDIA_kernel $ make install Next, move into the NVIDIA_GLX directory. Type 'make install' -- this will copy the needed OpenGL and XFree86 files into place: $ cd ../NVIDIA_GLX $ make install Note that the "make install" for each package will remove any previously installed NVIDIA drivers. __________________________________________________________________________ (sec-03) EDITING YOUR XF86CONFIG FILE __________________________________________________________________________ When XFree86 4.0 was released, it used a slightly different XF86Config file syntax than the 3.x series did, and so to allow both 3.x and 4.x versions of XFree86 to co-exist on the same system, it was decided that XFree86 4.x was to use the configuration file "/etc/X11/XF86Config-4" if it existed, and only if that file did not exist would the file "/etc/X11/XF86Config" be used (actually, that is an over-simplification of the search criteria; please see the XF86Config man page for a complete description of the search path). Please make sure you know what configuration file XFree86 is using. If you are in doubt, look for a line beginning with "(==) Using config file:" in your XFree86 log file ("/var/log/XFree86.0.log"). This README will use "XF68Config" to refer to your configuration file, whatever it is named. If you do not have a working XF86Config file, there are several ways to start: there is a sample config file that comes with XFree86, and there is a sample config file included with the NVIDIA_GLX package (it gets installed in /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/). You could also use a program like 'xf86config'; some distributions provide their own tool for generating an XF86Config file. For more on XF86Config file syntax, please refer to the man page. If you already have an XF86Config file working with a different driver (such as the 'nv' driver), then all you need to do is find the relevant Device section and replace the line: Driver "nv" with Driver "nvidia" In the Module section, make sure you have: Load "glx" You should also remove the following lines: Load "dri" Load "GLcore" if they exist. There are also numerous options that can be added to the XF86Config file to fine-tune the NVIDIA XFree86 driver. Please see Appendix D for a complete list of these options. Once you have configured your XF86Config file, you are ready to restart X and begin using the accelerated OpenGL libraries. After you restart X, you should be able to run any OpenGL application and it will automatically use the new NVIDIA libraries. If you encounter any problems, please see the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section below. __________________________________________________________________________ (sec-04) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS __________________________________________________________________________ Q: Where should I start when diagnosing display problems? A: One of the most useful tools for diagnosing problems is the XFree86 log file in /var/log (the file is named: "/var/log/XFree86.<#>.log", where "<#>" is the server number -- usually 0). Lines that begin with "(II)" are information, "(WW)" are warnings, and "(EE)" are errors. You should make sure that the correct config file (ie the config file you are editing) is being used; look for the line that begins with: "(==) Using config file:". Also check that the NVIDIA driver is being used, rather than the 'nv' driver; you can look for: "(II) LoadModule: "nvidia"", and lines from the driver should begin with: "(II) NVIDIA(0)". Q: How can I increase the amount of data printed in the XFree86 log file? A: By default, the NVIDIA X driver prints relatively few messages to stderr and the XFree86 log file. If you need to troubleshoot, then it may be helpful to enable more verbose output by using the XFree86 command line options "-verbose" and "-logverbose" which can be used to set the verbosity level for the stderr and log file messages, respectively. The NVIDIA X driver will output more messages when the verbosity level is at or above 5 (XFree86 defaults to verbosity level 1 for stderr and level 3 for the log file). So, to enable verbose messaging from the NVIDIA X driver to both the log file and stderr, you could start X by doing the following: 'startx -- -verbose 5 -logverbose 5'. Q: My X server fails to start, and my XFree86 log file contains the error: "(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVdriver kernel module!" A: Nothing will work if the NVdriver kernel module doesn't function properly. If you see anything in the X log file like "(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVdriver kernel module!" then there is most likely a problem with the NVdriver kernel module. First, you should verify that if you installed from rpm that the rpm was built specifically for the kernel you are using. You should also check that the module is loaded ('/sbin/lsmod'); if it is not loaded try loading it explicitly with 'insmod' or 'modprobe' (be sure to exit the X server before installing a new kernel module). If you receive errors about unresolved symbols, then the kernel module has most likely been built using header files for a different kernel revision than what you are running. You can explicitly control what kernel header files are used by building NVdriver from the NVIDIA_kernel tar file with: 'make install SYSINCLUDE=/path/to/kernel/headers'. Please note that the convention for the location of kernel header files is in a state of transition, as is the location of kernel modules. If the kernel module fails to load properly, modprobe/insmod may be trying to load an older kernel module (assuming you've upgraded). cd'ing into the directory with the new kernel module and doing 'insmod ./NVdriver' may help. Finally, the NVdriver may print error messages indicating a problem -- to view these messages please check /var/log/messages, or wherever syslog is directed to place kernel messages. Q: X starts for me, but OpenGL applications terminate immediately. A: If X starts, but OpenGL causes problems, you most likely have a problem with other libraries in the way, or there are stale symlinks. See Appendix C for details. Sometimes, all it takes is to rerun 'ldconfig'. You should also check that the correct extensions are present; 'xdpyinfo' should show the "GLX", "NV-GLX" and "NVIDIA-GLX" extensions present. If these three extensions are not present, then there is most likely a problem with the glx module getting loaded or it is unable to implicitly load GLcore. Check your XF86Config file and make sure that you are loading glx (see "Editing Your XF86Config File" above). If your XF86Config file is correct, then check the XFree86 log file for warnings/errors pertaining to GLX. Also check that all of the necessary symlinks are in place (refer to Appendix C). Q: When installing/upgrading by srpm, the command: `rpm --rebuild NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2880.src.rpm` only prints out a list of rpm command line options. A: You most likely don't have the rpm development packages installed. In most situations you can fix this problem by installing the rpm-devel package for your distribution. Alternatively, you can install/upgrade by tar file as the tar files don't require rpm. Q: When installing/upgrading by srpm, the command: `rpm --rebuild NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2880.src.rpm` reports the error: NVIDIA_kernel-.src.rpm:no such file or directory A: You need to install the rpm-build package for your distribution. Alternatively, you can install/upgrade by tar file as the tar files don't require rpm. Q: Installing the NVIDIA_kernel module gives an error message like: #error Modules should never use kernel-headers system headers #error but headers from an appropriate kernel-source A: You need to install the source for the Linux kernel. In most situations you can fix this problem by installing the kernel-source package for your distribution Q: OpenGL applications exit with the following error message: Error: Could not open /dev/nvidiactl because the permissions are too restrictive. Please see the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section of /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/README for steps to correct. A: It is likely that a security module for the PAM system may be changing the permissions on the NVIDIA device files. In most cases this security system works, but it can get confused. To correct this problem it is recommended that you disable this security feature. Different Linux distributions have different files to control this; if your system has the file /etc/security/console.perms then you want to edit the file and remove the line that starts with "". If instead your system has the file /etc/logindevperms then you want to edit the file and remove the line that lists /dev/nvidiactl. The above steps will prevent the PAM security system from modifying the permissions on the NVIDIA device files. Next, you will need to reset the permissions on the device files back to their original permissions and owner. You can do that with the following commands: chmod 0666 /dev/nvidia* chown root /dev/nvidia* Q: OpenGL applications crash and print out the following warning: WARNING: Your system is running with a buggy dynamic loader. This may cause crashes in certain applications. If you experience crashes you can try setting the environment variable __GL_SINGLE_THREADED. For more information please consult the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section in the file /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/README. A: The dynamic loader on your system has a bug which will cause applications linked with pthreads, and that dlopen() libGL multiple times, to crash. This bug is present in older versions of the dynamic loader. Distributions that shipped with this loader include but are not limited to RedHat Linux 6.2 and Mandrake Linux 7.1. Version 2.2 and later of the dynamic loader are known to work properly. If the crashing application is single threaded then setting the environment variable __GL_SINGLE_THREADED to any value will prevent the crash. In the bash shell you would enter export __GL_SINGLE_THREADED and in csh and derivatives use setenv __GL_SINGLE_THREADED Previous releases of the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set attempted to work around this problem, however the workaround caused problems with other applications and was removed after version 1.0-1541. Q: When I run Quake3, it crashes when changing video modes; what's wrong? A: You are probably experiencing the problem described above. Please check the text output for the "WARNING" message describe in the previous hint. Setting __GL_SINGLE_THREADED as described above, before running Quake3 will fix the problem. Q: When I start X it fails and my XFree86 log file contains: (II) LoadModule: "nvidia" (II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.o No symbols found in this module (EE) Failed to load /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.o (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia" (EE) Failed to load module "nvidia" (loader failed, 256) ... (EE) No drivers available. A: The nvidia_drv.o X driver has been stripped of needed symbols; some versions of rpm (wrongly) strip object files while installing. You should probably upgrade your version of rpm. Or, you can install the NVIDIA_GLX package from tar file. Q: My system runs, but seems unstable. What's wrong? A: Your stability problems may be AGP-related. See Appendix F for details. Q: The kernel module doesn't get loaded dynamically when X starts; I always have to do 'modprobe NVdriver' first. What's wrong? A: Make sure the line "alias char-major-195 NVdriver" appears in your module configuration file, generally one of "/etc/conf.modules", "/etc/modules.conf" or "/etc/modutils/alias"; consult the documentation that came with your distribution for details. Q: I can't build the NVdriver kernel module, or I can build the NVdriver kernel module, but modprobe/insmod fails to load the module into my kernel. What's wrong? A: These problems are generally caused by the build using the wrong kernel header files (ie header files for a different kernel version than the one you are running). The convention used to be that kernel header files should be stored in "/usr/include/linux/", but that is being deprecated in favor of "/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build/include". The NVIDIA_kernel Makefile should be able to determine the location on your system; however, if you encounter a problem you can force the build to use certain header files by doing: 'make SYSINCLUDE=/path/to/kernel/headers'. Obviously, for any of this to work, you need the appropriate kernel header files installed on your system. Consult the documentation that came with your distribution; some distributions don't install the kernel header files by default, or they install headers that don't coincide properly with the kernel you are running. Q: Why do OpenGL applications run so slow? A: The application is probably using a different library still on your system, rather than the NVIDIA supplied OpenGL library. Please see APPENDIX C for details. Q: There are problems running Quake2. A: Quake2 requires some minor setup to get it going. First, in the Quake2 directory, the install creates a symlink called libGL.so that points at libMesaGL.so. This symlink should be removed or renamed. Then, to run Quake2 in OpenGL mode, you would type: 'quake2 +set vid_ref glx +set gl_driver libGL.so'. Quake2 does not seem to support any kind of full-screen mode, but you can run your X server at whatever resolution Quake2 runs at to emulate full-screen mode. Q: There are problems running Heretic II. A: Heretic II also installs, by default, a symlink called libGL.so in the application directory. You can remove or rename this symlink, since the system will then find the default libGL.so (which our drivers install in /usr/lib). From within Heretic II you can then set your render mode to OpenGL in the video menu. There is also a patch available to Heretic II from lokigames at: http://www.lokigames.com/products/heretic2/updates.php3 Q: Where can I get gl.h or glx.h so I can compile OpenGL programs? A: Most systems come with these headers preinstalled. However, NVIDIA has provided our own gl.h and glx.h file in case your system did not come with them or in case you want to develop OpenGL apps that use the new NVIDIA OpenGL extensions. These files have been installed in /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/include/GL to avoid conflicting with the system installed versions. To use these headers copy them into /usr/include/GL. Q: Can I receive email notification of new NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set releases? A: Yes. Fill out the form at: http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?FO=driver_update Q: My system hangs when vt-switching if I have rivafb enabled. A: Using both rivafb and the NVdriver kernel module at the same time is currently broken. In general, using two independent software drivers to drive the same piece of hardware is a bad idea. Q: Compiling the NVdriver kernel module gives this error: You appear to be compiling the NVdriver kernel module with a compiler different from the one that was used to compile the running kernel. This may be perfectly fine, but there are cases where this can lead to unexpected behaviour and system crashes. If you know what you are doing and want to override this check, you can do so by setting IGNORE_CC_MISMATCH. In any other case, set the CC environment variable to the name of the compiler that was used to compile the kernel. A: You should compile the NVdriver kernel module with the same compiler version that was used to compile your kernel. Some Linux kernel data structures are dependent on the version of gcc used to compile it; for example, in include/linux/spinlock.h: ... * Most gcc versions have a nasty bug with empty initializers. */ #if (__GNUC__ > 2) typedef struct { } rwlock_t; #define RW_LOCK_UNLOCKED (rwlock_t) { } #else typedef struct { int gcc_is_buggy; } rwlock_t; #define RW_LOCK_UNLOCKED (rwlock_t) { 0 } #endif If the kernel is compiled with gcc 2.x, but gcc 3.x is used when the open files in NVdriver are built (or vice versa), the size of rwlock_t will vary, and things like ioremap will fail. To check what version of gcc was used to compile your kernel, you can examine the output of: cat /proc/version To check what version of gcc is currently in your $PATH, you can examine the output of: gcc -v Q: X fails with error "Failed to allocate LUT context DMA" A: This is one of the possible consequences of compiling NVdriver with a different gcc version than used to compile the Linux kernel (see above). Q: There aren't NVIDIA_kernel RPMs available for release N from . I tried installing the RPM for version N-1, but that didn't work. What should I do? A: Like it says in (sec-01) CHOOSING THE NVIDIA PACKAGES APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR SYSTEM, if "a specific NVIDIA_kernel rpm is not available for your distribution, then use either the NVIDIA_kernel srpm or tar file." Q: When I install the NVIDIA_GLX package it says: --- The above file(s) possibly belong to a conflicting MESA rpm. --- They have been renamed to xxx..RPMSAVE to --- avoid conflicting with the files contained within this --- package. --- Please see the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section of --- /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/README for more details. What's wrong? A: Like the message says conflicting files have been moved aside to insure that your applications find the newly installed OpenGL libraries. There is no need for alarm, the message is purely informational. If you uninstall the NVIDIA_GLX package then the original files will be restored automatically. Q: What is NVIDIA's policy towards development series Linux kernels? A: NVIDIA does not officially support development series kernels. However, all the kernel module source code that interfaces with the Linux kernel is available in the NVIDIA_kernel package, and NVIDIA encourages members of the Linux community to develop patches to these source files to support development series kernels. A google search will most likely yield several community supported patches. Q: I recently updated various libraries on my system using my Linux distributor's update utility, and the NVIDIA graphics driver no longer works. What's wrong? A: Conflicting libraries may have been installed by your distribution's update utility; please see APPENDIX C: INSTALLED COMPONENTS for details on how to diagnose this. __________________________________________________________________________ (sec-05) CONTACTING US __________________________________________________________________________ There is a new web forum for NVIDIA Linux driver issues! The URL is: http://www.nvnews.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=29 This is the preferable tool for seeking help; users can post questions, answer other users' questions, and search the archives of previous postings. If, all else fails, you can contact NVIDIA for support at: linux-bugs@nvidia.com. But please, only send email to this address after you've followed the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section in this README and asked for help on the nvnew.net web forum. __________________________________________________________________________ (sec-06) FURTHER RESOURCES __________________________________________________________________________ Linux OpenGL ABI http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/ABI/ NVIDIA Linux HowTo http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Nvidia-OpenGL-Configuration/index.html OpenGL www.opengl.org The XFree86 Project www.xfree86.org #nvidia (irc.openprojects.net) __________________________________________________________________________ (app-a) APPENDIX A: SUPPORTED NVIDIA GRAPHICS CHIPS __________________________________________________________________________ NVIDIA CHIP NAME DEVICE PCI ID o RIVA TNT 0x0020 o RIVA TNT2 0x0028 o RIVA TNT2 Ultra 0x0029 o Vanta 0x002C o RIVA TNT2 Model 64 0x002D o Aladdin TNT2 0x00A0 o GeForce 256 0x0100 o GeForce DDR 0x0101 o Quadro 0x0103 o GeForce2 MX/MX 400 0x0110 o GeForce2 MX 100/200 0x0111 o GeForce2 Go 0x0112 o Quadro2 MXR/EX/Go 0x0113 o GeForce2 GTS 0x0150 o GeForce2 Ti 0x0151 o GeForce2 Ultra 0x0152 o Quadro2 Pro 0x0153 o GeForce4 MX 460 0x0170 o GeForce4 MX 440 0x0171 o GeForce4 MX 420 0x0172 o GeForce4 440 Go 0x0174 o GeForce4 420 Go 0x0175 o GeForce4 420 Go 32M 0x0176 o Quadro4 500XGL 0x0178 o GeForce4 440 Go 64M 0x0179 o Quadro4 200/400NVS 0x017A o Quadro4 550XGL 0x017B o Quadro4 500 GoGL 0x017C o GeForce2 Integrated GPU 0x01A0 o GeForce3 0x0200 o GeForce3 Ti 200 0x0201 o GeForce3 Ti 500 0x0202 o Quadro DCC 0x0203 o GeForce4 Ti 4600 0x0250 o GeForce4 Ti 4400 0x0251 o GeForce4 Ti 4200 0x0253 o Quadro4 900XGL 0x0258 o Quadro4 750XGL 0x0259 o Quadro4 700XGL 0x025B Please note that the RIVA 128/128ZX chips are supported by the open source 'nv' driver for XFree86, but not by the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set. If you want to check your Device PCI IDs for comparison with the table above, you can use either `cat /proc/pci` or `lspci -n`; in the later case, look for the devide with vendor id "10de", eg: 02:00.0 Class 0300:10de:0100 (rev 10) __________________________________________________________________________ (app-b) APPENDIX B: MINIMUM SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS __________________________________________________________________________ o linux kernel 2.2.12 # cat /proc/version o XFree86 4.0.1 # XFree86 -version o Kernel modutils 2.1.121 # insmod -V If you need to build the NVdriver kernel module: o binutils 2.9.5 # size --version o GNU make 3.77 # make --version o gcc 2.91.66 # gcc --version If you build from source rpms: o spec-helper rpm # rpm -qi spec-helper All official stable kernel releases from 2.2.12 and up are supported; "prerelease" versions such as "2.4.3-pre2" are not supported, nor are development series kernels such as 2.3.x or 2.5.x. The linux kernel can be gotten from www.kernel.org or one of its mirrors. binutils and gcc are required only if you install the NVIDIA_kernel package by srpm or tar file and can be retrieved from www.gnu.org or one of its mirrors. Note: binutils and gcc are not required by binary RPM installations. If you are using XFree86, but do not have a file /var/log/XFree86.0.log, then you probably have a 3.x version of XFree86 and must upgrade. If you are setting up XFree86 4.x for the first time, it is often easier to begin with one of the open source drivers that ships with XFree86 (either 'nv', 'vga' or 'vesa'). Once XFree86 is operating properly with the open source driver, then it is easier to switch to the nvidia driver. Note that newer NVIDIA GPUs may not work with older versions of the "nv" driver shipped with XFree86. For example, the "nv" driver that shipped with XFree86 version 4.0.1 did not recognize the GeForce2 family and the Quadro2 MXR GPUs. However, this was fixed in XFree86 version 4.0.2 (XFree86 can be retrieved from www.xfree86.org). These software packages may also be available through your linux distributor. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-c) APPENDIX C: INSTALLED COMPONENTS __________________________________________________________________________ The NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set consists of the following components (the file in parenthesis is the full name of the component after installation; "x.y.z" denotes the current version -- in these cases appropriate symlinks are created during installation): o An XFree86 driver (/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.o); this driver is needed by XFree86 to use your NVIDIA hardware. The nvidia_drv.o driver is binary compatible with XFree86 4.0.1 and greater. o A GLX extension module for XFree86 (/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so.x.y.z); this module is used by XFree86 to provide server-side glx support. o An OpenGL library (/usr/lib/libGL.so.x.y.z); this library provides the API entry points for all OpenGL and GLX function calls. It is linked to at run-time by OpenGL applications. o An OpenGL core library (/usr/lib/libGLcore.so.x.y.z); this library is implicitly used by libGL and by libglx. It contains the core accelerated 3D functionality. You should not explicitly load it in your XF86Config file -- that is taken care of by libglx. o A kernel module (/lib/modules/`uname -r`/video/NVdriver or /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/video/NVdriver). This kernel module provides low-level access to your NVIDIA hardware for all of the above components. It is generally loaded into the kernel when the X server is started, and is used by the XFree86 driver and OpenGL. NVdriver consists of two pieces: the binary-only core, and a kernel interface that must be compiled specifically for your kernel version. Note that the linux kernel does not have a consistent binary interface like XFree86, so it is important that this kernel interface be matched with the version of the kernel that you are using. This can either be accomplished by compiling yourself, or using precompiled binaries provided for the kernels shipped with some of the more common linux distributions. o OpenGL and GLX header files (/usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/include/GL/gl.h, /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/include/GL/glx.h). In most circumstances the system provided headers in /usr/include/GL should suffice for OpenGL development. But NVIDIA has provided these headers as they contain the most up to date versions of NVIDIA's OpenGL extensions. If you wish to make use of these headers it is recommended that you copy them to /usr/include/GL/. The first four components listed above (XFree86 driver, GLX module, libGL, and libGLcore) are included in the NVIDIA_GLX package. The NVdriver kernel module is included in the NVIDIA_kernel package. Documentation and the OpenGL and GLX header files are also part of the NVIDIA_GLX package and get installed in /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0. Problems will arise if applications use the wrong version of a library. This can be the case if there are either old libGL libraries or stale symlinks left lying around. If you think there may be something awry in your installation, check that the following files are in place (these are all the files of the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set, plus their symlinks): /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.o /usr/X11/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so.x.y.z /usr/X11/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so -> libglx.so.x.y.z /usr/lib/libGL.so.x.y.z /usr/lib/libGL.so.x -> libGL.so.x.y.z /usr/lib/libGL.so -> libGL.so.x /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.x.y.z /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.x -> libGLcore.so.x.y.z /lib/modules/`uname -r`/video/NVdriver, or /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/video/NVdriver Installation of the NVIDIA_kernel package will also create the /dev files: crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 195, 0 Feb 15 17:21 nvidia0 crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 195, 1 Feb 15 17:21 nvidia1 crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 195, 2 Feb 15 17:21 nvidia2 crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 195, 3 Feb 15 17:21 nvidia3 crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 195, 255 Feb 15 17:21 nvidiactl If there are other libraries whose "soname" conflicts with that of the NVIDIA libraries, ldconfig may create the wrong symlinks. It is recommended that you manually remove or rename conflicting libraries (be sure to rename clashing libraries to something that ldconfig won't look at -- we've found that prepending "XXX" to a library name generally does the trick), rerun 'ldconfig', and check that the correct symlinks were made. Some libraries that often create conflicts are "/usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.so*" and "/usr/X11R6/lib/libGLcore.so*". If the libraries checks out, then verify that the application is using the correct libraries. For example, to check that the application /usr/X11R6/bin/gears is using the NVIDIA libraries, you would do: $ ldd /usr/X11R6/bin/gears libglut.so.3 => /usr/lib/libglut.so.3 (0x40014000) libGLU.so.1 => /usr/lib/libGLU.so.1 (0x40046000) libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 (0x40062000) libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4009f000) libSM.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libSM.so.6 (0x4018d000) libICE.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libICE.so.6 (0x40196000) libXmu.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXmu.so.6 (0x401ac000) libXext.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x401c0000) libXi.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXi.so.6 (0x401cd000) libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x401d6000) libGLcore.so.1 => /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.1 (0x402ab000) libm.so.6 => /lib/libm.so.6 (0x4048d000) libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x404a9000) /lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000) libXt.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXt.so.6 (0x404ac000) Note the files being used for libGL and libGLcore -- if they are something other than the NVIDIA libraries, then you will need to either remove the libraries that are getting in the way, or adjust your ld search path. If any of this seems foreign to you, then you may want to read the man pages for "ldconfig" and "ldd" for pointers. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-d) APPENDIX D: XF86CONFIG OPTIONS __________________________________________________________________________ The following driver options are supported by the NVIDIA XFree86 driver: Option "NvAGP" "integer" Configure AGP support. Integer argument can be one of: 0 : disable agp 1 : use NVIDIA's internal AGP support, if possible 2 : use AGPGART, if possible 3 : use any agp support (try AGPGART, then NVIDIA's AGP) Please note that NVIDIA's internal AGP support cannot work if AGPGART is either statically compiled into your kernel or is built as a module, but loaded into your kernel (some distributions load AGPGART into the kernel at boot up). Default: 3 (the default was 1 until after 1.0-1251). Option "NoLogo" "boolean" Disable drawing of the NVIDIA logo splash screen at X startup. Default: the logo is drawn. Option "NoRenderAccel" "boolean" Enable or disable hardware acceleration of the RENDER extension. Default: RENDER is accelerated when possible. Option "UBB" "boolean" Enable or disable Unified Back Buffer on any Quadro based GPUs (Quadro4 200/400NVS excluded); please see Appendix M for a description of UBB. This option has no affect on non-Quadro chipsets. Default: UBB is on for Quadro chipsets. Option "WindowFlip" "boolean" Enable or disable window flipping when UBB is enabled; please see Appendix M for a description. This has no affect when UBB is off. This may improve performance for 3D applications. Default: Window flipping is off by default even when UBB is enabled. Option "PageFlip" "boolean" Enable or disable page flipping; please see Appendix M for a description. Default: page flipping is enabled. Option "DigitalVibrance" "integer" Enables Digital Vibrance Control. There are 4 levels: 3, 2, 1 and off (0). This feature is only supported on GeForce2 MX (and 200/400), GeForce2 Go, Quadro2 MXR/EX, Quadro2 Go, nForce, GeForce3 and Ti variants, Quadro DDC, and all GeForce4 and Quadro4 variants. Default: off. Option "Overlay" "boolean" Enables RGB workstation overlay visuals. This is only supported on Quadro4 chips (Quadro4 200/400NVS excluded) in depth 24. This option causes the server to advertise the SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS root window property and GLX will report single and double buffered, Z-buffered 16 bit overlay visuals. The transparency key is pixel 0x0000 (hex). There is no gamma correction support in the overlay plane. This feature requires XFree86 version 4.1.0 or newer, and is not supported in TwinView mode. The overlay can only be used with virtual desktops smaller or equal to 2046x2047 (eg. it will not work in 2048x1536 modes). Default: off. Option "SWCursor" "boolean" Enable or disable software rendering of the X cursor. Default: off. Option "HWCursor" "boolean" Enable or disable hardware rendering of the X cursor. Default: on. Option "CursorShadow" "boolean" Enable or disable use of a shadow with the hardware accelerated cursor; this is a black translucent replica of your cursor shape at a given offset from the real cursor. This option is only available on GeForce2 or better hardware (ie everything but TNT/TNT2, GeForce 256, GeForce DDR and Quadro). Default: no cursor shadow. Option "CursorShadowAlpha" "integer" The alpha value to use for the cursor shadow; only applicable if CursorShadow is enabled. This value must be in the range [0, 255] -- 0 is completely transparent; 255 is completely opaque. Default: 64. Option "CursorShadowXOffset" "integer" The offset, in pixels, that the shadow image will be shifted to the right from the real cursor image; only applicable if CursorShadow is enabled. This value must be in the range [0, 32]. Default: 4. Option "CursorShadowYOffset" "integer" The offset, in pixels, that the shadow image will be shifted down from the real cursor image; only applicable if CursorShadow is enabled. This value must be in the range [0, 32]. Default: 2. Option "ConnectedMonitor" "string" Allows you to override what the NVIDIA kernel module detects is connected to your video card. This may be useful, for example, if you use a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch and you are switched away when X is started. In such a situation, the NVIDIA kernel module can't detect what display devices are connected, and the NVIDIA X driver assumes you have a single CRT connected. If, however, you use a digital flat panel instead of a CRT, use this option to explicitly tell the NVIDIA X driver what is connected. Valid values for this option are "CRT" (cathode ray tube), "DFP" (digital flat panel), or "TV" (television); if using TwinView, this option may be a comma-separated list of display devices; e.g.: "CRT, CRT" or "CRT, DFP". Default: string is NULL. Option "UseEdidFreqs" "boolean" This option causes the X server to use the HorizSync and VertRefresh ranges given in a display device's EDID, if any. EDID provided range information will override the HorizSync and VertRefresh ranges specified in the Monitor section. If a display device does not provide an EDID, or the EDID doesn't specify an hsync or vrefresh range, then the X server will default to the HorizSync and VertRefresh ranges specified in the Monitor section. Option "IgnoreEDID" "boolean" Disable probing of EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) from your monitor. Requested modes are compared against values gotten from your monitor EDIDs (if any) during mode validation. Some monitors are known to lie about their own capabilities. Ignoring the values that the monitor gives may help get a certain mode validated. On the other hand, this may be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Default: Use EDIDs. Option "NoDDC" "boolean" Synonym for "IgnoreEDID" Option "FlatPanelProperties" "string" Requests particular properties of any connected flat panels as a comma-separated list of property=value pairs. Currently, the only two available properties are 'Scaling' and 'Dithering'. The possible values for 'Scaling' are: 'default' (the driver will use whatever scaling state is current), 'native' (the driver will use the flat panel's scaler, if it has one), 'scaled' (the driver will use the NVIDIA scaler, if possible), 'centered' (the driver will center the image, if possible), and 'aspect-scaled' (the driver will scale with the NVIDIA scaler, but keep the aspect ratio correct). The possible values for 'Dithering' are: 'default' (the driver will decide when to dither), 'enabled' (the driver will always dither when possible), and 'disabled' (the driver will never dither). If any property is not specified, it's value shall be 'default'. An example properties string might look like: "Scaling = centered, Dithering = enabled" Option "UseInt10Module" "boolean" Enable use of the XFree86 Int10 module to soft-boot all secondary cards, rather than POSTing the cards through the NVdriver kernel module. Default: off (POSTing is done through the NVdriver kernel module). Option "TwinView" "boolean" Enable or disable TwinView. Please see APPENDIX I for details. Default: TwinView is disabled. Option "TwinViewOrientation" "string" Controls the relationship between the two display devices when using TwinView. Takes one of the following values: "RightOf" "LeftOf" "Above" "Below" "Clone". Please see APPENDIX I for details. Default: string is NULL. Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "range(s)" This option is like the HorizSync entry in the Monitor section, but is for the second monitor when using TwinView. Please see APPENDIX I for details. Default: none. Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "range(s)" This option is like the VertRefresh entry in the Monitor section, but is for the second monitor when using TwinView. Please see APPENDIX I for details. Default: none. Option "MetaModes" "string" This option describes the combination of modes to use on each monitor when using TwinView. Please see APPENDIX I for details. Default: string is NULL. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-e) APPENDIX E: OPENGL ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE SETTINGS __________________________________________________________________________ FULL SCENE ANTI-ALIASING Anti-aliasing is a technique used to smooth the edges of objects in a scene to reduce the jagged "stairstep" effect that sometimes appears. Full scene anti-aliasing is supported on GeForce or newer hardware. By setting the appropriate environment variable, you can enable full scene anti-aliasing in any OpenGL application on these GPUs. Several anti-aliasing methods are available and you can select between them by setting the __GL_FSAA_MODE environment variable appropriately. Note that increasing the number of samples taken during FSAA rendering may decrease performance. The following tables describe the possible values for __GL_FSAA_MODE and their effect on various NVIDIA GPUs. __GL_FSAA_MODE GeForce/GeForce2/Quadro Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 FSAA disabled 1 FSAA disabled 2 FSAA disabled 3 1.5 x 1.5 oversampling 4 2 x 2 oversampling with no texture LOD bias 5 FSAA disabled __GL_FSAA_MODE GeForce4 MX Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 FSAA disabled 1 2 x 2 oversampling with texture LOD bias 2 2 x 2 Quincunx 3 1.5 x 1.5 oversampling 4 2 x 2 oversampling with no texture LOD bias 5 FSAA disabled __GL_FSAA_MODE GeForce3/GeForce4 Ti Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 FSAA disabled 1 2 x 2 oversampling with texture LOD bias 2 2 x 2 Quincunx 3 FSAA disabled 4 4 x 4 Bilinear no texture LOD bias 5 4 x 4 Guassian ANISOTROPIC TEXTURE FILTERING Automatic anisotropic texture filtering can be enabled by setting the environment variable __GL_DEFAULT_LOG_ANISO, The useful values are: __GL_DEFAULT_LOG_ANISO GeForce/GeForce2/GeForce4 MX Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 No anisotropic filtering 1 Enable automatic anisotropic filtering __GL_DEFAULT_LOG_ANISO GeForce3/GeForce4 Ti Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 No anisotropic filtering 1 Low anisotropic filtering 2 Medium anisotropic filtering 3 Maximum anisotropic filtering VBLANK SYNCING Setting the environment variable __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK to a non-zero value will force glXSwapBuffers to sync to your monitor's vertical refresh rate (perform a swap only during the vertical blanking period) on GeForce or newer hardware (ie: everything but TNT/TNT2 products). __________________________________________________________________________ (app-f) APPENDIX F: CONFIGURING AGP __________________________________________________________________________ There are several choices for configuring the NVdriver kernel module's use of AGP: you can choose to either use NVIDIA's AGP module (NVAGP), or the AGP module that comes with the linux kernel (AGPGART). This is controlled through the "NvAGP" option in your XF86Config file: Option "NvAgp" "0" ... disables AGP support Option "NvAgp" "1" ... use NVAGP, if possible Option "NvAgp" "2" ... use AGPGART, if possible Option "NvAGP" "3" ... try AGPGART; if that fails, try NVAGP The default is 3 (the default was 1 until after 1.0-1251). You should use the AGP module that works best with your AGP chip set. If you are experiencing problems with stability, you may want to start by disabling AGP and observing if that solves the problems. Then you can experiment with either of the other AGP modules. You can query the current AGP status at any time via the /proc filesystem interface (see APPENDIX O: PROC INTERFACE). To use the Linux AGPGART module, it will need to be compiled with your kernel, either statically linked in, or built as a module. NVIDIA AGP support cannot be used if AGPGART is loaded in the kernel. It's recommended that you compile AGPGART as a module and make sure that it is not loaded when trying to use NVIDIA AGP. Please also note that changing AGP drivers generally requires a reboot before the changes actually take effect. The following AGP chipsets are supported by NVIDIA's AGP; for all other chipsets it's recommended that you use the AGPGART module. o Intel 440LX o Intel 440BX o Intel 440GX o Intel 815 ("Solano") o Intel 820 ("Camino") o Intel 840 ("Carmel") o Intel 845 ("Brookdale") o Intel 850 ("Tehama") o Intel 860 ("Colusa") o AMD 751 ("Irongate") o AMD 761 ("IGD4") o AMD 762 ("IGD4 MP") o VIA 8371 o VIA 82C694X o VIA KT133 o VIA KT266 o RCC 6585HE o Micron SAMDDR ("Samurai") o Micron SCIDDR ("Scimitar") o nForce AGP o ALi 1621 o ALi 1631 o ALi 1647 o ALi 1651 o ALi 1671 o SiS 630 o SiS 633 o SiS 635 o SiS 645 o SiS 730 o SiS 733 o SiS 735 o SiS 745 If you are experiencing AGP stability problems, you should be aware of the following: o Support for the processor's Page Size Extension on Athlon Processors Similar to systems using Windows 2000 based operating systems, your Linux system may stop responding if you use applications that stress AGP (such as ViewPerf). This can often be solved by passing the "mem=nopentium" option to the Linux kernel, which disables support for the processor's Page Size Extension. This may impact performance with some applications. For further details, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q270715. o AGP drive strength BIOS setting (Via based mainboards) Many Via based mainboards allow adjusting the AGP drive strength in the system BIOS. The setting of this option largely affects system stability, the range between 0xEA and 0xEE seems to work best for NVIDIA hardware. Setting either nibble to 0xF generally restults in severe stability problems. If you decide to experiment with this, you need to be aware of the fact that you are doing so at your own risk and that you may render your system unbootable with improper settings until you reset the setting to a working value (w/ a PCI graphics card or by resetting the BIOS to its default values). o System BIOS version Make sure to have the latest system BIOS provided by the board manufacturer. o AGP Fast Writes This AGP feature may cause severe stability problems. It can be en/disabled in many system BIOSes. If your BIOS does not offer this option, you can force support for AGP Fast Writes off with the NVreg_EnableAGPFW NVdriver module parameter. If you are inserting the module manually: insmod NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPFW=0 If you are using modprobe (/etc/modules.conf): alias char-major-195 NVdriver options NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPFW=0 o AGP Rate You may want to decrease the AGP rate setting if you are seeing lockups with the value you are currently using. You can do so with the NVreg_ReqAGPRate NVdriver module parameter. If you are inserting the module manually: insmod NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=2 # force AGP Rate to 2x insmod NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=1 # force AGP Rate to 1x If you are using modprobe (/etc/modules.conf): alias char-major-195 NVdriver options NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=2 # force AGP Rate to 2x options NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=1 # force AGP Rate to 1x On Athlon motherboards with the VIA KX133 or 694X chip set, such as the ASUS K7V motherboard, NVIDIA drivers default to AGP 2x mode to work around insufficient drive strength on one of the signals. You can force AGP 4x by setting NVreg_EnableVia4x to 1. Note that this may cause the system to become unstable. On ALi1541 and ALi1647 chipsets, NVIDIA drivers disable AGP to work around timing issues and signal integrity issues. You can force AGP to be enabled on these chipsets by setting NVreg_EnableALiAGP to 1. Note that this may cause the system to become unstable. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-g) APPENDIX G: ALI SPECIFIC ISSUES __________________________________________________________________________ The following tips may help stabilize problematic ALI systems: o Disable TURBO AGP MODE in the BIOS. o When using a P5A upgrade to BIOS Revision 1002 BETA 2. o When using 1007, 1007A or 1009 adjust the IO Recovery Time to 4 cycles. o AGP is disabled by default on some ALi chipsets (ALi1541, ALi1647) to work around severe system stability problems with these chipsets. See the comments for NVreg_EnableALiAGP in os-registry.c to force AGP on anyway. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-h) APPENDIX H: TNT SPECIFIC ISSUES __________________________________________________________________________ Most issues pertaining to SGRAM/SDRAM TNT cards should be resolved. There is the rare chance, however, that your video card has the wrong BIOS installed, and that this driver will continue to fail for you. If this driver fails for you, do the following: o watch your monitor as the system boots. The very first, brief screen will identify the type of video memory your card has. This will be either SGRAM or SDRAM. o get the most recent NVIDIA_kernel tar file o edit the file "os-registry.c" from the kernel module sources. Look for the variable "NVreg_VideoMemoryTypeOverride". Set the value of the variable to the type of memory you have (numerically, see the line just above it). o since we don't normally use this variable, change the "#if 0" that is about 10 lines above the variable to "#if 1". o rebuild and reinstall the new driver ("make") __________________________________________________________________________ (app-i) APPENDIX I: CONFIGURING TWINVIEW __________________________________________________________________________ The TwinView feature is only supported on NVIDIA GPUs that support dual-display functionality, such as the GeForce2 MX, GeForce2 Go, Quadro2 MXR, Quadro2 Go, and any of the GeForce4 GPUs. Please consult with your video card vendor to confirm that TwinView is supported on your card. TwinView is a mode of operation where two display devices (digital flat panels, CRTs, and TVs) can display the contents of a single X screen in any arbitrary configuration. This method of multiple monitor use has several distinct advantages over other techniques (such as Xinerama): o A single X screen is used. The NVIDIA driver conceals all information about multiple display devices from the X server; as far as X is concerned, there is only one screen. o Both display devices share one frame buffer. Thus, all the the functionality present on a single display (e.g. accelerated OpenGL) is available on TwinView. o No additional overhead is needed to emulate having a single desktop. XF86CONFIG TWINVIEW OPTIONS To enable TwinView, you must specify the following options in the Screen section of your XF86Config file: Option "TwinView" Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "" Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "" Option "MetaModes" "" You may also use any of the following options, though they are not required: Option "TwinViewOrientation" "" Option "ConnectedMonitor" "" Please see the detailed descriptions of each option below: o TwinView This option is required to enable TwinView; without it, all other TwinView related options are ignored. o SecondMonitorHorizSync, SecondMonitorVertRefresh You specify the constraints of the second monitor through these options. The values given should follow the same convention as the "HorizSync" and "VertRefresh" entries in the Monitor section. As the XF86Config man page explains it: the ranges may be a comma separated list of distinct values and/or ranges of values, where a range is given by two distinct values separated by a dash. The HorizSync is given in kHz, and the VertRefresh is given in Hz. You may, if you trust your display devices' EDIDs, use the "UseEdidFreqs" option instead of these options (see APPENDIX D for a description of the "UseEdidFreqs" option). o MetaModes A single MetaMode describes what mode should be used on each display device at a given time. Multiple MetaModes list the combinations of modes and the sequence in which they should be used. When the NVIDIA driver tells X what modes are available, it is really the minimal bounding box of the MetaMode that is communicated to X, while the "per display device" mode is kept internal to the NVIDIA driver. In MetaMode syntax, modes within a MetaMode are comma separated, and multiple MetaModes are separated by semicolons. For example: ", ; , " Where is the name of the mode to be used on display device 0 concurrently with used on display device 1. A mode switch will then cause to be used on display device 0 and to be used on display device 1. Here is a real MetaMode entry from the XF86Config sample config file: Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1280x1024; 1024x768,1024x768" If you want a display device to not be active for a certain MetaMode, you can use the mode name "NULL", or simply omit the mode name entirely: "1600x1200, NULL; NULL, 1024x768" or "1600x1200; , 1024x768" Optionally, mode names can be followed by offset information to control the positioning of the display devices within the virtual screen space; e.g.: "1600x1200 +0+0, 1024x768 +1600+0; ..." Offset descriptions follow the conventions used in the X "-geometry" command line option; i.e. both positive and negative offsets are valid, though negative offsets are only allowed when a virtual screen size is explicitly given in the XF86Config file. When no offsets are given for a MetaMode, the offsets will be computed following the value of the TwinViewOrientation option (see below). Note that if offsets are given for any one of the modes in a single MetaMode, then offsets will be expected for all modes within that single MetaMode; in such a case offsets will be assumed to be +0+0 when not given. When not explicitly given, the virtual screen size will be computed as the the bounding box of all MetaMode bounding boxes. MetaModes with a bounding box larger than an explicitly given virtual screen size will be discarded. A MetaMode string can be further modified with a "Panning Domain" specification; eg: "1024x768 @1600x1200, 800x600 @1600x1200" A panning domain is the area in which a display device's viewport will be panned to follow the mouse. Panning actually happens on two levels with TwinView: first, an individual display device's viewport will be panned within its panning domain, as long as the viewport is contained by the bounding box of the MetaMode. Once the mouse leaves the bounding box of the MetaMode, the entire MetaMode (ie all display devices) will be panned to follow the mouse within the virtual screen. Note that individual display devices' panning domains default to being clamped to the position of the display devices' viewports, thus the default behavior is just that viewports remain "locked" together and only perform the second type of panning. The most beneficial use of panning domains is probably to eliminate dead areas -- regions of the virtual screen that are inaccessible due to display devices with different resolutions. For example: "1600x1200, 1024x768" produces an inaccessible region below the 1024x768 display. Specifying a panning domain for the second display device: "1600x1200, 1024x768 @1024x1200" provides access to that dead area by allowing you to pan the 1024x768 viewport up and down in the 1024x1200 panning domain. Offsets can be used in conjunction with panning domains to position the panning domains in the virtual screen space (note that the offset describes the panning domain, and only affects the viewport in that the viewport must be contained within the panning domain). For example, the following describes two modes, each with a panning domain width of 1900 pixels, and the second display is positioned below the first: "1600x1200 @1900x1200 +0+0, 1024x768 @1900x768 +0+1200" If no MetaMode string is specified, then the X driver uses the modes listed in the relevant "Display" subsection, attempting to place matching modes on each display device. o TwinViewOrientation This option controls the positioning of the second display device relative to the first within the virtual X screen, when offsets are not explicitly given in the MetaModes. The possible values are: "RightOf" (the default) "LeftOf" "Above" "Below" "Clone" When "Clone" is specified, both display devices will be assigned an offset of 0,0. o ConnectedMonitor This option allows you to override what the NVIDIA kernel module detects is connected to your video card. This may be useful, for example, if any of your display devices do not support detection using Display Data Channel (DDC) protocols. Valid values for this option are "CRT" (cathode ray tube), "DFP" (digital flat panel), or "TV" (television); when using TwinView, this option may be a comma-separated list of display devices; e.g.: "CRT, CRT" or "CRT, DFP". Just as in all XF86Config entries, spaces are ignored and all entries are case insensitive. FREQUENTLY ASKED TWINVIEW QUESTIONS: Q: Nothing gets displayed on my second monitor; what's wrong? A: Monitors that do not support monitor detection using Display Data Channel (DDC) protocols (this includes most older monitors) aren't detectable by your NVIDIA card. You need to explicitly tell the NVIDIA XFree86 driver what you have connected using the "ConnectedMonitor" option; e.g.: Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, CRT" Q: Will window managers be able to appropriately place windows (e.g. avoiding placing windows across both display devices, or in inaccessible regions of the virtual desktop)? A: Yes. The NVIDIA X driver provides a Xinerama extension that allows X clients (such as window managers) to call XineramaQueryScreens() to discover the current TwinView configuration. Note that the Xinerama protocol provides no way to inform clients of when a configuration change occurs. So, if you modeswitch to a different MetaMode, your window manager will still think you have the previous configuration. Using the Xinerama extension, in conjunction with the XF86VidMode extension to get modeswitch events, window managers should be able to determine the TwinView configuration at any given time. Another solution is to use panning domains to eliminate inaccessible regions of the virtual screen (see the MetaMode description above). Q: Why can I not get a resolution of 1600x1200 on the second display device when using a GeForce2 MX? A: Because the second display device on the GeForce2 MX was designed to be a digital flat panel, the Pixel Clock for the second display device is only 150 MHz. This effectively limits the resolution on the second display device to somewhere around 1280x1024 (for a description of how Pixel Clock frequencies limit the programmable modes, see the XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO). This constraint is not present on GeForce4 chips -- the maximum pixel clock is the same on both heads. Q: Do video overlays work across both display devices? A: Hardware video overlays only work on the first display device. The current solution is that blitted video is used instead on TwinView. Q: How are virtual screen dimensions determined in TwinView? A: After all requested modes have been validated, and the offsets for each MetaMode's viewports have been computed, the NVIDIA driver computes the bounding box of the panning domains for each MetaMode. The maximum bounding box width and height is then found. Note that one side effect of this is that the virtual width and virtual height may come from different MetaModes. Given the following MetaMode string: "1600x1200,NULL; 1024x768+0+0, 1024x768+0+768" the resulting virtual screen size will be 1600 x 1536. Q: Can I play full screen games across both display devices? A: Yes. While the details of configuration will vary from game to game, the basic idea is that a MetaMode presents X with a mode whose resolution is the bounding box of the viewports for that MetaMode. For example, the following: Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,1024x768; 800x600,800x600" Option "TwinViewOrientation" "RightOf" produce two modes: one whose resolution is 2048x768, and another whose resolution is 1600x600. Games such as Quake 3 Arena use the VidMode extension to discover the resolutions of the modes currently available. To configure Quake 3 Arena to use the above MetaMode string, add the following to your q3config.cfg file: seta r_customaspect "1" seta r_customheight "600" seta r_customwidth "1600" seta r_fullscreen "1" seta r_mode "-1" Note that, given the above configuration, there is no mode with a resolution of 800x600 (remember that the MetaMode "800x600, 800x600" has a resolution of 1600x600"), so if you change Quake 3 Arena to use a resolution of 800x600, it will display in the lower left corner of your screen, with the rest of the screen grayed out. To have single head modes available as well, an appropriate MetaMode string might be something like: "800x600,800x600; 1024x768,NULL; 800x600,NULL; 640x480,NULL" More precise configuration information for specific games is beyond the scope of this document, but the above examples coupled with numerous online sources should be enough to point you in the right direction. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-j) APPENDIX J: CONFIGURING TV-OUT __________________________________________________________________________ NVIDIA GPU-based video cards with a TV-Out (S-Video) connector can be employed to use a television as another display device, just like a CRT or digital flat panel. The TV can be used by itself, or (on appropriate video cards) in conjunction with another display device in a TwinView configuration. If a TV is the only display device connected to your video card, it will be used as the primary display when you boot your system (ie the console will come up on the TV just as if it were a CRT). To use your TV with X, there are a few parameters that you should pay special attention to in your XF86Config file: o The VertRefresh and HorizSync values in your monitor section; please make sure these are appropriate for your television. Values are generally: HorizSync 30-50 VertRefresh 60 o The Modes in your screen section; the only valid modes for TV are 640x480 and 800x600, and possibly 1024x768 if the TV encoder on your video card is a BrookTree 871 -- your XFree86 log file should tell you what encoder you have (look for the line: "(--) NVIDIA(0): TV Encoder detected as"). o The "TVStandard" option should be added to your screen section; valid values are: "PAL-B" : used in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Guinea, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland "PAL-D" : used in China and North Korea "PAL-G" : used in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland "PAL-H" : used in Belgium "PAL-I" : used in Hong Kong and The United Kingdom "PAL-K1" : used in Guinea "PAL-M" : used in Brazil "PAL-N" : used in France, Paraguay, and Uruguay "PAL-NC" : used in Argentina "NTSC-J" : used in Japan "NTSC-M" : used in Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Taiwan, United States of America, and Venezuela The line in your XF86Config file should be something like: Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M" If you don't specify a TVStandard, or you specify an invalid value, the default "NTSC-M" will be used. Note: if your country is not in the above list, select the country closest to your location. o The "ConnectedMonitor" option can be used to tell X to use the TV for display. This should only be needed if your TV is not detected by the video card, or you use a CRT (or digital flat panel) as your boot display, but want to redirect X to use the TV. The line in your config file should be: Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV" o The "TVOutFormat" option can be used to force SVIDEO or COMPOSITE output. Without this option the driver autodetects the output format. Unfortunately, it doesn't always do this correctly. The output format can be forced with the options: Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO" or Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE" __________________________________________________________________________ (app-k) APPENDIX K: CONFIGURING A LAPTOP __________________________________________________________________________ INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION Installation and configuration of the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set on a laptop is the same as for any desktop environment, with a few minor exceptions, listed below. Starting in the 1.0-2802 release, information about the internal flatpanel for use in initializing the display is by default generated on the fly from data stored in the video BIOS. This can be disabled by setting the "SoftEDIDs" kernel option to 0. If "SoftEDIDs" is turned off, then hardcoded data will be chosen from a table, based on the value of the "Mobile" kernel option. The "Mobile" kernel option can be set to any of the following values: 0xFFFFFFFF : let the kernel module auto detect the correct value 1 : Dell laptops 2 : non-Compal Toshiba laptops 3 : all other laptops 4 : Compal Toshiba laptops 5 : Gateway laptops Again, the "Mobile" kernel option is only needed if SoftEDIDs is disabled; when it is used, it's usually safest to let the kernel module auto detect the correct value (this is the default behavior). Should you need to alter either of these options, this can be done by doing any of the following: o editing os-registry.c in the NVIDIA_kernel package o setting the value on the modprobe command line (eg: `modprobe NVdriver NVreg_SoftEDIDs=0 NVreg_Mobile=3`) o adding an "options" line to your module configuration file, usually /etc/modules.conf (eg: "options NVdriver NVreg_Mobile=5") ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY TWINVIEW All mobile NVIDIA chips support TwinView. TwinView on a laptop can be configured in the same way as on a desktop machine (please refer to APPENDIX I above); note that in a TwinView configuration using the laptop's internal flat panel and an external CRT, the CRT is the primary display device (specify it's HorizSync and VertRefresh in the Monitor section of your XF86Config file) and the flat panel is the secondary display device (specify it's HorizSync and VertRefresh through the SecondMonitorHorizSync and SecondMonitorVertRefresh options). You can also employ the UseEdidFreqs option to acquire the HorizSync and VertRefresh from the EDID of each display devices, and not worry about setting them in your XF86Config file (this should only be done if you trust your display device's reported EDIDs -- please see the description of the UseEdidFreqs option in APPENDIX D for details). HOTKEY SWITCHING OF DISPLAY DEVICES Besides TwinView, mobile NVIDIA chips also have the capacity to react to an LCD/CRT hotkey event, toggling between each of the connected display devices and each possible combination of the connected display devices (note that only 2 display devices may be active at a time). TwinView as configured in your XF86Config file and hotkey functionality are mutually exclusive -- if you enable TwinView in your XF86Config file, then the NVIDIA X driver will ignore LCD/CRT hotkey events. Another important aspect of hotkey functionality is that you can dynamically connect and remove display devices to/from your laptop and hotkey to them without restarting X. A concern with all of this is how to validate and determine what modes should be programmed on each display device. First, it is immensely helpful to use the UseEdidFreqs so that the hsync and vrefresh for each display device can be retrieved from the display devices' EDID -- otherwise, the semantics of what the contents of the monitor section mean constantly changes with each hotkey event. When X is started, or when a change is detected in the list of connected display devices, a new hotkey sequence list is constructed -- this lists what display devices will be used with each hotkey event. When a hotkey event occurs, then the next hotkey state in the sequence is chosen. Each mode requested in the XF86Config file is validated against each display device's constraints, and the resulting modes are made available for that display device. If multiple display devices are to be active at once, then the modes from each display device are paired together; if an exact match (same resolution) can't be found, then the closest fit is found, and the display device with the smaller resolution is panned within the resolution of the other display device. When vt-switching away from X, the vga console will always be restored on the display device on which it was present when X was started. Similarly, when vt-switching back into X, the same display device configuration will be used as when you vt-switched away from X, regardless of what LCD/CRT hotkey activity occurred while vt-switched away. NON-STANDARD MODES ON LCD DISPLAYS Some users have had difficulty programming a 1400x1050 mode (the native resolution of some laptop LCDs). In version 4.0.3, XFree86 added several 1400x1050 modes to its database of default modes, but if you're using an older version of XFree86, here is a modeline that you can use: # -- 1400x1050 -- # 1400x1050 @ 60Hz, 65.8 kHz hsync Modeline "1400x1050" 129 1400 1464 1656 1960 1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync KNOWN LAPTOP ISSUES o Power Management is not currently supported. o LCD/CRT hotkey switching is not currently functioning on any Toshiba laptop, with the exception of the Toshiba Satellite 3000 series. o TwinView on Satellite 2800 series Toshbia laptops is not currently functioning. o The video overlay only works on the first display device on which you started X. For example, if you start X on the internal LCD, run a video application that uses the video overlay (uses the "Video Overlay" adaptor advertised through the XV extension), and then hotkey switch to add a second display device, the video will not appear on the second display device. To work around this, you can either configure the video application to use the "Video Blitter" adaptor advertised through the XV extension (this is always available), or hotkey switch to the display device on which you want to use the video overlay *before* starting X. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-l) APPENDIX L: PROGRAMMING MODES __________________________________________________________________________ The NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set supports all standard VGA and VESA modes, as well as most user-written custom mode lines; double-scan modes are supported on all hardware, and interlaced modes are supported on: GeForce 256, GeForce DDR, Quadro, GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro, GeForce2 Ti, GeForce2 Ultra, Quadro2 Pro, and all TNT products. In general, your display device (monitor/flat panel/television) will be a greater constraint on what modes you can use than either your NVIDIA GPU-based video board or the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set. To request one or more standard modes for use in X, you can simply add a "Modes" line such as: Modes "1600x1200" "1024x768" "640x480" in the appropriate Display subsection of your XF86Config file (please see the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details). The following documentation is primarily of interest if you compose your own custom mode lines, experiment with xvidtune(1), or are just interested in learning more. Please note that this is neither an explanation nor a guide to the fine art of crafting custom mode lines for XFree86. We leave that, rather, to documents such as the XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO (which can be found at www.linuxdoc.org). DEPTH, BITS PER PIXEL, AND PITCH While not directly a concern when programming modes, the bits used per pixel is an issue when considering the maximum programmable resolution; for this reason, it is worthwhile to address the confusion surrounding the terms "depth" and "bits per pixel". Depth is how many bits of data are stored per pixel. Supported depths are 8, 15, 16, and 24. Most video hardware, however, stores pixel data in sizes of 8, 16, or 32 bits; this is the amount of memory allocated per pixel. When you specify your depth, X selects the bits per pixel (bpp) size in which to store the data. Below is a table of what bpp is used for each possible depth: depth bpp ===== ===== 8 8 15 16 16 16 24 32 Lastly, the "pitch" is how many bytes in the linear frame buffer there are between one pixel's data, and the data of the pixel immediately below. You can think of this as the horizontal resolution multiplied by the bytes per pixel (bits per pixel divided by 8). In practice, the pitch may be more than this product because video hardware often has requirements that the pitch be a multiple of some value. MAXIMUM RESOLUTIONS The NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set and NVIDIA GPU-based video boards support resolutions up to 2048x1536, though the maximum resolution your system can support is also limited by the amount of video memory (see USEFUL FORMULAS for details) and the maximum supported resolution of your display device (monitor/flat panel/television). Also note that while use of a video overlay does not limit the maximum resolution or refresh rate, video memory bandwidth used by a programmed mode does effect the overlay quality. USEFUL FORMULAS The maximum resolution is a function both of the amount of video memory and the bits per pixel you elect to use: HR * VR * (bpp/8) = Video Memory Used In other words, the amount of video memory used is equal to the horizontal resolution (HR) multiplied by the vertical resolution (VR) multiplied by the bytes per pixel (bits per pixel divided by eight). Technically, the video memory used is actually the pitch times the vertical resolution, and the pitch may be slightly greater than (HR * (bpp/8)) to accommodate hardware requirements that the pitch be a multiple of some value. Please note that this is just memory usage for the frame buffer; video memory is also used by other things such as OpenGL or pixmap caching. Another important relationship is that between the resolution, the pixel clock (aka dot clock) and the vertical refresh rate: RR = PCLK / (HFL * VFL) In other words, the refresh rate (RR) is equal to the pixel clock (PCLK) divided by the total number of pixels: the horizontal frame length (HFL) multiplied by the vertical frame length (VFL) (note that these are the frame lengths, and not just the visible resolutions). As described in the XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO, the above formula can be rewritten as: PCLK = RR * HFL * VFL Given a maximum pixel clock, you can adjust the RR, HFL and VFL as desired, as long as the product of the three is consistent. The pixel clock is reported in the log file when you run X with verbose logging: `startx -- -logverbose 5`. Your XFree86.0.log should contain several lines like: (--) NVIDIA(0): Display Device 0: maximum pixel clock at 8 bpp: 350 MHz (--) NVIDIA(0): Display Device 0: maximum pixel clock at 16 bpp: 350 MHz (--) NVIDIA(0): Display Device 0: maximum pixel clock at 32 bpp: 300 MHz which indicate the maximum pixel clock at each bit per pixel size. HOW MODES ARE VALIDATED During the PreInit phase of the X server, the NVIDIA X driver validates all requested modes by doing the following: o Take the intersection of the HorizSync and VertRefresh ranges given by the user in the XF86Config with the ranges reported by the monitor in the EDID (Extended Display Identification Data); this behavior can be disabled by using the "IgnoreEDID" option in which case the X driver will blindly accept the HorizSync and VertRefresh ranges given by the user. o Call the xf86ValidateModes() helper function, which finds modes with the names the user specified in the XF86Config file, pruning out modes with invalid horizontal sync frequencies or vertical refresh rates, pixel clocks larger than the maximum pixel clock for the video card, or resolutions larger than the virtual screen size (if a virtual screen size was specified in the XF86Config file). Several other constraints are applied; see xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Mode.c:xf86ValidateModes(). o All modes returned from xf86ValidateModes() are then examined to make sure their resolutions are not larger than the largest mode reported by the monitor's EDID (this can be disabled with the "IgnoreEDID" option. If the display is a TV, each mode is checked to make sure it has a resolution that is supported by the TV encoder (usually only 800x600 and 640x480 are supported by the encoder). o All remaining modes are then checked to make sure they pass the constraints described below in ADDITIONAL MODE CONSTRAINTS. The last two steps are also done when each mode is programmed, to catch potentially invalid modes submitted by the XF86VidModeExtension (eg xvidtune(1)). For TwinView, the above validation is done for the modes requested for each display device. ADDITIONAL MODE CONSTRAINTS Below is a list of additional constraints on a mode's parameters that must be met. o The horizontal resolution (HR) must be a multiple of 4 and be less than or equal to 2048. o The horizontal blanking width (the maximum of the horizontal frame length and the horizontal sync end minus the minimum of the horizontal resolution and the horizontal sync start (max(HFL,HSE) - min(HR,HSS)) must be a multiple of 4 and be less than or equal to 1024. o The horizontal sync start (HSS) must be a multiple of 4 and be less than or equal to 4088. o The horizontal sync width (the horizontal sync end minus the horizontal sync start (HSE - HSS)) must be a multiple of 4 and be less than or equal to 256. o The horizontal frame length (HFL) must be a multiple of 4 and be less than or equal to 4128 and be greater than or equal to 40. o The vertical resolution (VR) must be less than or equal to 2048. o The vertical blanking width (the maximum of the vertical frame length and the vertical sync end minus the minimum of the vertical resolution and the vertical sync start (max(VFL,VSE) - min(VR,VSS)) must be less than or equal to 128. o The vertical sync start (VSS) must be less than or equal to 2047. o The vertical sync width (the vertical sync end minus the vertical sync start (VSE - VSS)) must be less than or equal to 16. o The vertical frame length (VFL) must be less than or equal to 2049 and be greater than or equal to 2. Here is an example mode line demonstrating the use of each abbreviation used above: # Custom Mode line for the SGI 1600SW Flatpanel # name PCLK HR HSS HSE HFL VR VSS VSE VFL Modeline "sgi1600x1024" 106.9 1600 1632 1656 1672 1024 1027 1030 1067 SEE ALSO: An XFree86 modeline generator, conforming to the GTF Standard has been posted to the XFree86 Xpert mailing list: http://www.xfree86.org/pipermail/xpert/2001-October/012070.html For additional modeline generators, try searching for "modeline" on freshmeat.net. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-m) APPENDIX M: PAGE FLIPPING, WINDOW FLIPPING, AND UBB __________________________________________________________________________ Starting with the 1.0-2313 driver release, the NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set supports Unified Back Buffer (UBB), Page Flipping, and Window Flipping. These features can provide performance gains in certain situtations. Here is a discription of each: o Page Flipping: This feature is available on all GeForce or newer hardware (ie: not TNT/TNT2 products), and is enabled in the case of a single full screen unobscured OpenGL application when syncing to vblank. Buffer swapping is done by changing which buffer the DAC scans out rather than copying the back buffer contents to the front buffer; this is generally a much higher performance mechanism and allows tearless swapping during the retrace (when __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK is set). This feature can be disabled with the PageFlip XF86Config option. o Unified Back Buffer (UBB): UBB is available only on the Quadro family of GPUs (Quadro4 200/400NVS excluded) and is enabled by default when there is sufficient video memory available. This can be disabled with the UBB XF86Config option described in Appendix D. When UBB is enabled, all windows share the same back, stencil and depth buffer. When there are many windows, the back, stencil and depth usage will never exceed the size of that used by a full screen window. However, even for a single small window the back, stencil and depth usage are that of a full screen window so in that case video ram may be used less efficiently than in the non-UBB case. o Window Flipping: This feature requires UBB, and thus is only available on Quadro parts. When there is a single OpenGL window this window's buffers can be swapped by changing which buffer the DAC scans out rather than blitting the back buffer contents to the front buffer. This is similar to Page Flipping but removes the restriction that the window be unobscured and be full screen. This only works when there is a single OpenGL window. Window Flipping is disabled by default and can be enabled with the "WindowFlip" XF86Config option described in Appendix D. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-n) APPENDIX N: KNOWN ISSUES __________________________________________________________________________ The following problems still exist in this release and are in the process of being resolved. o OpenGL + Xinerama Currently, OpenGL is not functional with Xinerama. o OpenGL and dlopen() There are some issues with older versions of the glibc dynamic loader (e.g., the version that shipped with RedHat 7.2) and applications such as Quake3 and Radiant, that use dlopen(). See the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section for more details. o DPMS and TwinView DPMS Modes "suspend" and "standby" do not work correctly on a second CRT when using TwinView. The screen becomes blank instead of the monitor being set to the requested DPMS state. o DPMS and Flat Panel DPMS modes "suspend" and "standby" do not work correctly on a flat panel display. The screen becomes blank instead of the flat panel being set to the requested DPMS state. o Multicard, Multimonitor In some cases, the secondary card is not initialized correctly by the NVdriver kernel module. You can work around this by enabling the XFree86 Int10 module to soft-boot all secondary cards. See "APPENDIX D: XF86CONFIG OPTIONS" for details. o Laptop If you are using a laptop please see the "Known Laptop Issues" in APPENDIX D. o FSAA When FSAA is enabled (the __GL_FSAA_MODE environment variable is set to a value that enables FSAA and a multisample visual is chosen), the rendering may be corrupted when resizing the window. HARDWARE ISSUES This section describes problems that will not be fixed. Usually, the source of the problem is beyond the control of NVIDIA. Following is the list of problems: o Gigabyte GA-6BX Motherboard This motherboard uses a LinFinity regulator on the 3.3-V rail that is rated to only 5 A -- less than the AGP specification, which requires 6 A. When diagnostics or applications are running, the temperature of the regulator rises, causing the voltage to the NVIDIA chip to drop as low as 2.2 V. Under these circumstances, the regulator cannot supply the current on the 3.3-V rail that the NVIDIA chip requires. This problem does not occur when the graphics board has a switching regulator or when an external power supply is connected to the 3.3-V rail. o VIA KX133 and 694X Chip sets with AGP 2x On Athlon motherboards with the VIA KX133 or 694X chip set, such as the ASUS K7V motherboard, NVIDIA drivers default to AGP 2x mode to work around insufficient drive strength on one of the signals. o Irongate Chip sets with AGP 1x AGP 1x transfers are used on Athlon motherboards with the Irongate chip set to work around a problem with the signal integrity of the chip set. o ALi chipsets, ALi1541 and ALi1647 On ALi1541 and ALi1647 chipsets, NVIDIA drivers disable AGP to work around timing issues and signal integrity issues. See "APPENDIX G: ALI SPECIFIC ISSUES" for more information on ALi chipsets. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-o) APPENDIX O: PROC INTERFACE __________________________________________________________________________ The /proc filesystem interface allows you to obtain run-time information about the driver, any installed NVIDIA graphics cards and the AGP status. This information is held by several files in /proc/driver/nvidia. This is a brief description for each one of these files: o version Lists the installed driver revision and the version of the GNU C compiler used to build the Linux kernel module. o cards/0...3 Provides information about each of the installed NVIDIA graphics adapters (model name, IRQ, BIOS version, Bus Type). Please note that the BIOS version is only available while X is running. o agp/card Information about the installed AGP card's AGP capabilities. o agp/host-bridge Information about the host bridge (model and AGP capabilities). o agp/status The current AGP status. If AGP support has been enabled on your system, the AGP driver being used, the AGP rate and information about the status of AGP Fast Writes and Side Band Addressing is shown. The AGP driver is either one of NVIDIA (NVIDIA's built-in AGP driver) or AGPGART (the Linux kernel's agpgart.o driver). If you see "inactive" next to AGPGART, then this means that the AGP chipset was programmed by AGPGART, but is not currently in use. SBA and Fast Writes indicate whether either one of the features is currently in use. Please note that several factors decide if support for either will be enabled. First of all, both the AGP card and the host bridge must support the feature. Even if both do support it, the driver may decide not to use it in favor of system stability. This is particularly true of AGP Fast Writes. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-p) APPENDIX P: XVMC SUPPORT __________________________________________________________________________ This release includes a libXvMCNVIDIA.a which exports the XvMC (X-Video Motion Compensation) version 1.0 API. This library allows applications using XvMC to accelerate MPEG2 video at either XvMC's "motion-compensation" or "IDCT" levels. AI44 and IA44 subpicture support is provided. 4:2:0 Surfaces up to 2032x2032 are supported. This is only supported for NV17 products (GeForce4 MX). libXvMCNVIDIA.a observes the XVMC_DEBUG environment variable and will provide some debug output to stderr when set to an appropriate integer value. '0' disables debug output. '1' enables debug output for failure conditions. '2' or higher enables output of warning messages. __________________________________________________________________________ (app-q) APPENDIX Q: GLX SUPPORT __________________________________________________________________________ This release supports GLX 1.2 with the following extensions GLX_EXT_visual_info GLX_EXT_visual_rating GLX_SGIX_fbconfig GLX_SGIX_pbuffer GLX_ARB_get_proc_address For a description of these extensions, please see the OpenGL extension registry at http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/registry/index.html GLX 1.3 is not yet supported.