Edit Info Other
Login

xorg-x11-drv-nvidia"

Differences between revisions 10 and 11
Revision 10 as of 2012-10-06 16:16:10
Size: 5672
Comment: Fixed some typos; wrote NVIDIA consistently; added comment about livna package being obsolete (this needs cleanup)
Revision 11 as of 2013-01-18 18:24:42
Size: 6740
Editor: xaho
Comment:
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 39: Line 39:
This happens when a new kernel has been released and a matching kmod from RPM Fusion hasn't synced across all the mirrors, or vice-versa. Try giving it a few hours and if the problems persist, you can also try refreshing yum's cache:
This happens when a new kernel has been released, and a matching kmod from RPM Fusion hasn't -- or, vice-versa. Yes it happens, since the cross-repository release sync process is truly powered by VFHB (Very Friendly® Human Beings™). Once both teams have pushed their releases, it may still happen until packages are fully synced across all respective mirrors.

First, try giving it a f
ew hours and if the problems persist, you can also try refreshing yum's cache:
Line 43: Line 46:

Whenever kmod-nvidia is a little earlier than kernel, you may, either :
 * wait a couple of days for the kernel to be pushed to stable
 * or, help it happening: get the new kernel from testing (and give it karma!)
{{{
yum --enablerepo=updates-testing update kernel
yum update kmod-nvidia
}}}
 * or, exclude nvidia packages from updates
{{{
yum --exclude *nvidia* update
}}}

Whenever kmod-nvidia is, to the opposite, a little late (if you don't use akmod-nvidia), you may, either :
 * wait a couple of days for kmod-nvidia to be pushed to stable
 * or, help it happening: get the new kmod-nvidia from testing (and thank the mailing list!)
{{{
yum --enablerepo=rpmfusion-nonfree-updates-testing update kmod-nvidia
}}}
 * or, exclude kernel packages as long as required
{{{
yum --exclude kernel* update
}}}

What is xorg-x11-drv-nvidia?

xorg-x11-drv-nvidia is the package which provides the common files required by the NVIDIA driver. Its subpackage, xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs, provides the binary libraries used by the driver.

Installation Instructions

yum install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia

x86_64 users

If you are running x86_64 and want to have 3D acceleration with 32bit applications, you'll need to install the 32bit version of xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs:

yum install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686

Configuration

After initial driver installation or upon driver upgrades

The NVIDIA driver will be activated after a login / logout cycle, however it is highly recommended that you reboot immediately after initially installing or updating the NVIDIA drivers. Please note that you do not need to run nvidia-xconfig or nvidia-settings to configure your system's xorg.conf after driver installation. xorg.conf and any other applicable files will be edited for you.

Adjusting driver settings

Enabling the driver and basic configuration settings

(This seems decidely out-of-date since livna repository has been fused into rpmfusion; there is no such package; anyone in the know should probably fix or just remove this. See also mention of this in the FAQ)

Run Livna Display Configuration from the System | Administration menu or livna-config-display from the command line.

Detailed driver settings

(On what GUI is this)

Run NVIDIA Display Settings from the Applications | System Tools menu.

Common Problems

Scrolling in Firefox is slow (no 3D)

(This seems decidely out-of-date since livna repository has been fused into rpmfusion)

This often happens when you use nvidia-settings or nvidia-xconfig to configure your xorg.conf without letting livna-config-display do its autoconfiguration first. To fix this, run these two commands:

nvidia-config-display disable
nvidia-config-display enable

Yum gives me a dependency errors about kmod and won't let me update.

This happens when a new kernel has been released, and a matching kmod from RPM Fusion hasn't -- or, vice-versa. Yes it happens, since the cross-repository release sync process is truly powered by VFHB (Very Friendly® Human Beings™). Once both teams have pushed their releases, it may still happen until packages are fully synced across all respective mirrors.

First, try giving it a few hours and if the problems persist, you can also try refreshing yum's cache:

yum clean metadata

Whenever kmod-nvidia is a little earlier than kernel, you may, either :

  • wait a couple of days for the kernel to be pushed to stable
  • or, help it happening: get the new kernel from testing (and give it karma!)

yum --enablerepo=updates-testing update kernel
yum update kmod-nvidia
  • or, exclude nvidia packages from updates

yum --exclude *nvidia* update

Whenever kmod-nvidia is, to the opposite, a little late (if you don't use akmod-nvidia), you may, either :

  • wait a couple of days for kmod-nvidia to be pushed to stable
  • or, help it happening: get the new kmod-nvidia from testing (and thank the mailing list!)

yum --enablerepo=rpmfusion-nonfree-updates-testing update kmod-nvidia
  • or, exclude kernel packages as long as required

yum --exclude kernel* update

If after this you still experience problems, please report a bug.

FAQ

Why should I use this package rather than the ones from nvidia.com?

The packages from nvidia.com have been known to replace libGL, which isn't a problem until you decide to use another X driver or uninstall the NVIDIA driver. The RPM Fusion packages will never overwrite files like this. As well, the drivers packaged at RPM Fusion will make your life a bit easier by letting you grab new kmod through yum or the Software Update tool. A few extra utilities, to ensure that the drivers 'just work' with minimal user interaction (the initscripts, livna-config-display), are also included.

How come my xorg.conf is always getting edited for me ?

This is a known problem, it will be fixed with the introduction of rpmfusion-config-display. In the mean time, if you'd really like to stop the drivers from making changes to your xorg.conf, run the livna-config-display GUI interface and you'll find a checkbutton to disable editing. Alternatively, you can run this command in a terminal:

livna-config-display --active off

How can I tell if I am actually running the RPM Fusion packaged NVIDIA driver ?

  • Be sure you are using the 'nvidia' Xorg driver and that the kernel module is loaded:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep Driver
lsmod | grep nvidia

You should see something similar to this (numbers will vary):

Driver     "nvidia"
nvidia 3923388 14
  • Check if OpenGL 3D acceleration is working:

glxinfo | grep direct

You should see:

direct rendering: Yes
  • Check using glxgears:

glxgears

A small window will open up showing a rotating cogs animation. Meanwhile, after every 5 seconds, the program displays the number of frames per second, for example (FX5600):

15377 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3075.217 FPS
15400 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3079.943 FPS
15395 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3078.872 FPS
<ctrl+c>

If the animation is choppy or if FPS values are less than 800 FPS, 3D rendering is possibly being done in software. Please remember that glxgears ''is not a benchmark'', and should not be used to evaluate GPU performance.

  • Check correct hardware 3D acceleration using applications (as suggested by above link)

yum install mesa-demos extremetuxracer xscreensaver-gl-extras
  • mesa-demos: Run mesa-rain, or teapot. Look for smooth animations.

  • extremetuxracer: Run etuxracer. If screen updates are in the order of once per second, 3D rendering is being performed in software.

  • xscreensaver-gl-extras: Set the active screensaver to one of the opengl screensavers (sierpinski3d or glblur).

Reporting bugs

If you think you've found a problem and would like to report it, include the following information along with the description of the bug:

  • Attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file
  • Attach your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, if it exists
  • Run dmesg > ~/dmesg.txt and attach the "dmesg.txt" found in your home folder


CategoryPackage