Nouveau driver

[iamroot]

Has anyone tried the Nouveau driver in FC7? How does it work out? I'm just curious

[Paul_Vandenberg]

I couldn't start an X session when I last tried it with Test 4. I have GeForce MX 4000 PCI card.

Paul

[lsatenstein]

Paul,

can you use the ctl-alt-f1 key to see a logon screen. If so, as root check out /etc/Xorg.conf
there is a driver statement line. driver "xxxxxx" . Comment out the line and add a line with driver "vesa"

That should work to resolve 99 percent of the problems.

[Paul_Vandenberg]

Sorry, I meant the 'nouveau' driver didn't work. Everything is fine with the 'nv' or 'nvidia' driver.

Thanks....Paul

[iamroot]

Hmm. If the driver doesn't work at all for the end-user, why was it included by default?

[PsychoTrauma]

I was able to start X with the nouveau driver but the gdm login was all white and funky (that is as far as it got). I wonder if it needs certain modules loaded to make it work. I have a nvidia mx4000 128 mb agp card if anyone is wondering.

[Paul_Vandenberg]

Originally Posted by iamroot

Hmm. If the driver doesn't work at all for the end-user, why was it included by default?

It was included, but not activated by default. My guess is that they hope that many people will try it in order to push the development along faster.

Paul

[gamma]

I tried using the driver and I actually got GDM to display which surprised me. When I put my username in and hit enter the screen's colors invert then X crashes. Has anyone gotten farther than that?

[Firewing1]

Last time I tried I couldn't even test the nouveau driver... It would crash X right away - I'll give it a few months and hopefully things will be sorted out.
Firewing1

[PsychoTrauma]

I am thinking there might be some options that need to passed for it to work... I will see what I can find around the nouveau website. It seems to me 2d should work since they used the nv code.

[neighborlee]

Originally Posted by PsychoTrauma

I am thinking there might be some options that need to passed for it to work... I will see what I can find around the nouveau website. It seems to me 2d should work since they used the nv code.

curious...does nvidia actuallly consider this to violate their EULA as it seems clear to me it does, unless of course someone knows exactly what is meant by : 'as allowable under the law' ??

Personally, I find it a bit odd that we are biting nvidia on back like this when its clear that if someone chose nvidia, over mostly open 'intel' then they chose this and its not nvidia's fault.or if someone is that worried about using 'open' drivers why aren't they supporting instead open graphics hardware project instead maybe ?

I just find all this nouveau stuff rather insincere, considering that my linux 3d driver has never failed me using games, 3d apps or whatever so im not so sure what this fuss is all about really ?

cheers
nl

[Ioannis Nousias]

I have an NV28 and nouveau loads fine, I even get 'direct rendering: Yes' reported, but that's where things end The desktop feels like software rendering is used and any 3d app (as simple as glxgears) simply crashes the server. Fun stuff in other words :-P

Few things you'll need to change if you had the nvidia drivers from livna installed previously and you wish to try nouveau.

1. rename '/etc/ld.so.conf.d/nvidia-96xx.conf' into something like '/etc/ld.so.conf.d/nvidia-96xx.conf.disabled' (basically anything else that doesn't have a '.conf' suffix).
2. run /sbin/ldconfig (just to update the cache)
3. in your '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' replace 'ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"' with 'ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions"'

and of course do the usual changes to xorg.conf file, like changing the driver, loading glx and dri and setting the dri permissions. If all set properly and you have one of the 'lucky' cards, glxinfo should report direct rendering enabled. Some cards, primarily N4X, are able to run glxgears apparently. That should give you several hours of fun :-D

As for neighborlee's comment, nVidia stated that they neither support nor wish to stop the project. It's all legal. As for the reasoning behind the existence of the project, there are few that come to mind:
1. binary drivers are in violation with the GPL licence of the kernel (end-user usually doen't care that much)
2. binary drivers are black boxes that introduce an unknown in the kernel space. They can pose stability and security issues or at least uncertainties.
3. nVidia has been known for being extremely slow in dealing with serious bugs. There are several ones that have been known for over a year and there still isn't a plan to fix them (I particularly am affected by the 'black windows in compiz/beryl' one)
4. support for older cards is gradually dropped out.

You also get the problem with the official installation of the drivers messing up with the default setup of your system, but this isn't really a problem if you are using livna packages, for instance.

[neighborlee]

Originally Posted by Ioannis Nousias

I have an NV28 and nouveau loads fine, I even get 'direct rendering: Yes' reported, but that's where things end The desktop feels like software rendering is used and any 3d app (as simple as glxgears) simply crashes the server. Fun stuff in other words :-P

Few things you'll need to change if you had the nvidia drivers from livna installed previously and you wish to try nouveau.

1. rename '/etc/ld.so.conf.d/nvidia-96xx.conf' into something like '/etc/ld.so.conf.d/nvidia-96xx.conf.disabled' (basically anything else that doesn't have a '.conf' suffix).
2. run /sbin/ldconfig (just to update the cache)
3. in your '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' replace 'ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"' with 'ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions"'

and of course do the usual changes to xorg.conf file, like changing the driver, loading glx and dri and setting the dri permissions. If all set properly and you have one of the 'lucky' cards, glxinfo should report direct rendering enabled. Some cards, primarily N4X, are able to run glxgears apparently. That should give you several hours of fun :-D

As for neighborlee's comment, nVidia stated that they neither support nor wish to stop the project. It's all legal. As for the reasoning behind the existence of the project, there are few that come to mind:
1. binary drivers are in violation with the GPL licence of the kernel (end-user usually doen't care that much)
2. binary drivers are black boxes that introduce an unknown in the kernel space. They can pose stability and security issues or at least uncertainties.
3. nVidia has been known for being extremely slow in dealing with serious bugs. There are several ones that have been known for over a year and there still isn't a plan to fix them (I particularly am affected by the 'black windows in compiz/beryl' one)
4. support for older cards is gradually dropped out.

You also get the problem with the official installation of the drivers messing up with the default setup of your system, but this isn't really a problem if you are using livna packages, for instance.

hi there..

Thank you for taking time to explain that all and in such a civilized manner..I am sorry for your grief with your card and hope you can resolve it ,- I have to pause to wonder though about the rest of the issues you stated as while some im sure are valid , im not seeing proof offered for some of the others but I will google best I can to see about it.

I wish I could just forget this issue and just accept it but some part of me ( until I find url stating that nvidia does not support nor do they want to try to stop it ) finds this a bit odd considering they have given us great drivers when honestly based on linux market share they really did not have to

I dont want to be anal about this, if indeed im not seeing the issue clearly so bear with me

cheers
nl

[Ioannis Nousias]

Thanks for the moral support :-) Apparently nVidia are planning to fix that in the following months.

I was referring to an interview that Andy Ritger, the director of Unix software at NVIDIA, gave to ABCLinux.
Andy Ritger interview, check question 5.

You can also see what the nouveau guys say about this issue on their FAQ.
Nouveau - Legal Questions

[neighborlee]

Originally Posted by neighborlee

hi there..

Thank you for taking time to explain that all and in such a civilized manner..I am sorry for your grief with your card and hope you can resolve it ,- I have to pause to wonder though about the rest of the issues you stated as while some im sure are valid , im not seeing proof offered for some of the others but I will google best I can to see about it.

I wish I could just forget this issue and just accept it but some part of me ( until I find url stating that nvidia does not support nor do they want to try to stop it ) finds this a bit odd considering they have given us great drivers when honestly based on linux market share they really did not have to

I dont want to be anal about this, if indeed im not seeing the issue clearly so bear with me

cheers
nl

ah ic ok thx ..I'd done my fair share of googling about this issue and never quite stumbled upon this site so I appreciate you finding that for me.

I dont suppose nvidia is too worried about this issue as from what I"ve seen the free nouveau driver for 3d doesn't seem to be doing very well after all this development time so who knows

cheers
nl