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It seems that this driver's OpenGL headers are a little buggy, but the solution was given by NVIDIA employee in this thread at nvnews.net forum.

2D is quite slow at my machine, i've tryied everything and find no solution(the only one is using the "nv" driver, but them i lost 3D grafics and won't be able to play enemy-territory, and i don't like to shut X down everytime i want to see a 3D grafics), if you go to NVIDIA Linux Foruns you will see many people with the same problem.

Making a comparison: xmame in .x11 mode runs as a piece of crap, unplayable, in .xgl it runs everygame i play(mostly cps1 and 2 games) at full speed.

To me and to people with the same problem i'm quite sure it will run fast, of course that if you don't use many apps doesn't make much sense, but if are always using > 10 apps will make many diference to have a 3D desktop runing almost nice to a 2D desktop running crap.

Apparently, the closed-source nvidia driver is incompatible with the kernel released with FC2. Not having 3D acceleration is a real pain.

Is there a good 3D card for linux where accelerated drivers are not a problem?

If you are interested in the whole nvidia driver thing, check out the Linux and NVIDIA graphics forums

FC2 apparently does some wackyish things with the kernel, such as 4K stacks which breaks nvidia driver compatibility, and VMWare 4.5 breakage.

There are many forums out there that will explain in great details. For example, see here.

The fast version: the Nvidia driver will NOT work with FC2's kernel because of the 4KSTACKS problem. Unfortunately, FC2's kernel no longer has the config option to disable this new "feature", so you will need to :

- recompile a new kernel (i.e. a stock kernel). For example, 2.6.5-bk2, or 2.6.6-bk4

- make sure to use Fedora's own config files (from /usr/src/linux-2.6.5-1.358/configs), and turn off the options CONFIG_4KSTACKS and CONFIG_REGPARM

-DZM

I was able to use the nVidia drivers under 32-bit Fedora by compiling a plain 2.6.6rc2 kernel (using /usr/src/lin*/configs/kernel*.config copied to .config as a starting point) and using the minion.de patches (hmm, might not have been necessary for 32-bit...). For 64-bit FC2T3, no kernel recompilation is required but the minion.de patch definitely is. UT2004 ran under both (UT needs patching to keep it from segfaulting at random but that's a separate issue that I haven't tackled yet). More here.

FC2 Test 2 had problems, but Test 3 appears to be pretty solid.

I'd like to see nVidia release updated drivers regardless. They'll have to soon, what with the GeForce 6800 series launch.

According to this post it looks like 2.6.6-rc2 & 1.0-5341 on FC2-t2 is working.

The nVidia problem has to do with a 4G memory patch (either apply a patch to fix it, or remove a patch that RH added). There's a thread on nvnews.net that tells how to do it, this isn't a link to that thread, but the thread should be listed in the search results that the link goes to.

This article gives a nice overview of how Single Image Random Dot Stereograms (SIRDS) work and their history.

Also, check out this Java applet here which can generate stereograms, with source code.

Perhaps because it uses a video card which nVidia can't be bothered to support on PPC?
Cf.

• (lack of) linux support
• requests to nVidia
• (lack of) response from nVidia

Well maybe, if you consider Mac OS X a game ;-)

Seriously, I think you're way off. On ATI-equipped Macs, Mac-on-Linux is a great way to have both OS X and Linux available, so you can run those not so few applications that haven't yet been compiled natively -- without rebooting, and not so incidentally, get good access to HFS+ from ext2 and vice versa. But no dice on the 12" Powerbook, thanks to nVidia not compiling their drivers for the PowerPC.

Why?

Until they do, or until the tables are turned with Linux-on-Mac, we can't do this because essential laptop functions like sleep, video acceleration and dual display are poorly supported... I encourage people to bring up the issue at every opportunity with Apple, with nVidia, and maybe here.

is here, courtesy of Andy Mecham, NVIDIA's Linux driver guru.

Before we get into the hack itself, we need to look at the chips and BIOSes involved. The 5900 cards use the NV35 chipset, and the 5950 uses the NV38 chipset. The two chips are very similar, but they are not exactly the same. This is not the Radeon 9500 to 9700 hack. In that situation, you had an R300 in both cards--here, you have to very similar chips. The differences between the NV35 and the NV38 are slight, at best, and as far as anyone knows, they have more to do with the cost of manufacturing than anything else (I've heard that 5900 cards are so cheap now simply because they are being dumped in lieux of 5950s).

So, where does that leave us? The BIOS hack. Essentially, it does three things to the best of anyone's knowledge:

• Increases the voltage to the core slightly.
• Loosens the memory timings on the DDR (yes, video cards have memory timings just like motherboards and system RAM).
  
• Sets the default clocks to 5950 levels (no RivaTuner or Coolbits necessary).

So, the decrease in performance at the same clock speeds is due to the relaxed memory timings, but just like with anything else, you can get a higher overclock as a result.

HOWEVER--there is one potentially serious problem. Most people have reported that the 5950 BIOS flash has caused no change in the reported temperatures. Given what we know about the new BIOS and increased voltage, this makes no sense. I am, then, forced to wonder if the temperature diode becomes less accurate after the BIOS is flashed with the 5950 BIOS. No one has confirmed this, and since I don't have a 5900 to try it on, I can't either. However, it's something to keep in mind.

Finally, this is not newsworthy in the least. It's the same as people changing 9800 non-Pro BIOSes to those of 9800 Pros and getting better memory overclocks. It's nothing special or magical; you're not doubling the number of pipelines and the memory bus like you were with the 9500 to 9700 hack. However, it works (or seems to, at least), and it's pretty cool.

On my system, the older drivers always locked up the system or caused it to randomly reboot.

Did you read the manual? Or ask anyone at NVidia? This may be non-obvious, but bad behavior like that from NVidia cards can be the result of using the wrong AGP drivers.

NVidia includes their own AGP interface, which can be optionally used instead of that provided by the Linux kernel. Or you can just use neither can go through a PCI interface (slower).

Try changing Option "NvAgp" "3" in your XF86Config to other small integers. 0 is likely to stop it from crashing, but be slower. 1 or 2 might allow it to work, retaining speed.

First thing you do is look through the nvidia message boards . It's more than likely that you can find an answer there. If that fails then post a message there with proper details about your problem (machine specs, Xfree86 conf file et al.), the above description (and bless you for trying) is not adequate.

If they fail to give you an answer, which is unlikely, then I'll even take a look at things for you (I've had far more than my fair share of problems with an Nvidia card so I've had many hours of white hair enducing troubleshooting experience).

I'm with you. Recently, as a complete 'nix beginner, I downloaded Fedora and set it up on an FX5600 with 4496 drivers.

They broke Enemy Territory and some other OGL apps, but 15 minutes, google and the Unofficial Fedora FAQ got things working perfectly.

Now I've got sideband addressing and fast writes working too, performance is a more than a match for Windows. I get no lockups at all and I don't consider 15 minutes of my time too much to ask.

I'm just wondering if most of these people with stability problems have looked into all the FAQs and message boards, like this one linked from nVidia's own driver page.

Funny, I can play Neverwinter Nights just fine with my Ti4600 and 5328 drivers. Heck, I'm even using kernel 2.6 with the Minion.de driver patch.

Yes, I've seen a lot of complaints about the drivers on the nVnews.net forums, but I really wish Slashdot editors would refrain from making blanket statements.

There is a nice summary of reviews at nvnews.net

Over the last 24 hours, there has been quite a bit of controversy over comments made by Gabe Newell of Valve at ATIs Shader Day.

During the entire development of Half Life 2, NVIDIA has had close technical contact with Valve regarding the game. However, Valve has not made us aware of the issues Gabe discussed.

We're confused as to why Valve chose to use Release. 45 (Rel. 45) - because up to two weeks prior to the Shader Day we had been working closely with Valve to ensure that Release 50 (Rel. 50) provides the best experience possible on NVIDIA hardware.

Regarding the Half Life2 performance numbers that were published on the web, we believe these performance numbers are invalid because they do not use our Rel. 50 drivers. Engineering efforts on our Rel. 45 drivers stopped months ago in anticipation of Rel. 50. NVIDIA's optimizations for Half Life 2 and other new games are included in our Rel.50 drivers - which reviewers currently have a beta version of today. Rel. 50 is the best driver we've ever built - it includes significant optimizations for the highly-programmable GeForce FX architecture and includes feature and performance benefits for over 100 million NVIDIA GPU customers.

Pending detailed information from Valve, we are only aware one bug with Rel. 50 and the version of Half Life 2 that we currently have - this is the fog issue that Gabe refered to in his presentation. It is not a cheat or an over optimization. Our current drop of Half Life 2 is more than 2 weeks old. NVIDIA's Rel. 50 driver will be public before the game is available. Since we know that obtaining the best pixel shader performance from the GeForce FX GPUs currently requires some specialized work, our developer technology team works very closely with game developers.

Part of this is understanding that in many cases promoting PS 1.4 (DirectX 8) to PS 2.0 (DirectX 9) provides no image quality benefit. Sometimes this involves converting 32-bit floating point precision shader operations into 16-bit floating point precision shaders in order to obtain the performance benefit of this mode with no image quality degradation. Our goal is to provide our consumers the best experience possible, and that means games must both look and run great.

The optimal code path for ATI and NVIDIA GPUs is different - so trying to test them with the same code path will always disadvantage one or the other. The default settings for each game have been chosen by both the developers and NVIDIA in order to produce the best results for our consumers.

In addition to the developer efforts, our driver team has developed a next-generation automatic shader optimizer that vastly improves GeForce FX pixel shader performance across the board. The fruits of these efforts will be seen in our Rel.50 driver release. Many other improvements have also been included in Rel.50, and these were all created either in response to, or in anticipation of the first wave of shipping DirectX 9 titles, such as Half Life 2.

We are committed to working with Gabe to fully understand his concerns and with Valve to ensure that 100+ million NVIDIA consumers get the best possible experience with Half Life 2 on NVIDIA hardware.

• In case you don't know, nVidia provides official (but woefully non-GPL) drivers. They also have a message board which I found to be quite informative at times.
• Compile your kernel with MTRR support. It will speed things up a great deal.
• Compile your kernel without AGPGART support. The nVidia driver(s) are faster.
• If you want to try the nVidia driver with a 2.5 kernel, you'll need a patch.
• If you have an nForce chipset, make sure to add "mem=nopentium" to your kernel boot parameters, or else your system will be incredibly unstable. Better yet, ditch your nForce chipset (I did) since the Linux support totally blows, at least for now. Give your old nForce chipset to your wife, girlfriend, mother, Windows box, or whatever.

You see... This is why I support Nvidia with my linux box.
I know Nvidia only releases binary drivers they are doing a good job supporting linux users.

Check out the forums at http://www.nvnews.net and see the linux support going on.

Who really cares which card is faster when you cant run it on your linux box? --- slackr

Well for you sickies looking for the nude patch, no need. Just change the fairy.exe file name to one of two things. Quake3.exe will make her nude, and 3dmark03.exe will make her nude and wingless.

In the extremetech review, the version of the drivers used were not specified.
What kind of review is that?
ohh, wait, is this some of those comercial /. posts?
ahh, now I understand why anandtech.com or tomshardware.com links were not in the original post. ;-)

Click and learn:
Tomshardware review
Anandtech Review
Nvnews review/news
Review links

NVidia's official Geforce FX site

NVNews has a large group of links to previews(scroll down to the "Geforce FX Preview" article)

Some impressive images from the release demos

TV-out worked beautifully on my Asus V8200 Deluxe (GF3) as well as my Leadtek A250 ultra TD. You just have to edit your X config file correctly.

In monitors:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "TV"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"

HorizSync 30-50
VertRefresh 60

EndSection

in driver options:
Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
# Option "Connectedmonitor" "TV"

(Remove the hash if you want X output to the TV)

and finally, screen:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen2"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce4 (generic)"
Monitor "TV"
DefaultColorDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
EndSection

You can view my entire working XF86Config-4 file here.

Hope that helps. Otherwise you can try the official support forum here.

Over at NVNews it says.. There are similar APIs in the works from Microsoft and 3DLabs and a new version of OpenGL that all work similarly, and according to Carmack there "isn't much difference" between them.

nV News has a story about this too...

What they mention is that ...

This has already claimed one of VT's suppliers, when VT failed to make payments, the supplier folded. This may also affect TotalEMS, a manufacturing company that was a supplier for VisionTek, and is owned by the "owners" of VisionTek, as TotalEMS was picked up in bankruptcy proceedings to begin with.

And considering the size of the company, this very well may cause problems with more companies.

The other thing is ...

The company doing rebates has stopped honoring them because of non payment.

On a side note, they also mention that they were informed that all content on Hard OCP is copyrighted...

Anyhow, I own a GF3 TI200 VisionTek card...I just had to replace the fan on it last week (not spinning)...I called their tech support # (800) and was on hold for over 3 hours until I decided there must be something going on...I figured it involved their move, but I musta been wrong :) ... I ended up buying a Blue Orb :)

Anyhow, VisionTek made some good cards...all of the cards they made were Reference cards (except the extremely new Xtasy Everything). So, VisionTek cards should work well into the future.

NvNews

I couldn't find them either, but you can go here to see some.

SharkyExtreme is loading fine for me (Midday Shanghai, China time) but here is a link to a earlier story by nvmax.com (including a couple of screenshots).

NVIDIA NV30 Sneak Preview

Some Beyond3d forum discussion as well as screenshots and more info on the NV30.

NV30 Screenshots

One more link.... to nV News with further NV30 details

nV News

- HeXa

"NVIDIA is touting the NV30 as a Cinematic Shading GPU".

Bjorn3D's Cg Article - Programmer's Perspective

Hot Hardware - nVIDIA's "Cg" Language
(Excellent! Includes interview with David Kirk, Chief Scientist - NVIDIA Corp)

ExtremeTech - New Language Revolutionizes 3D Graphics
(includes interview with graphics guru Kurt Akeley)

3DPGU - NVIDIA Cg High-Level Language Preview
(includes short Q&A With Dan Vivoli - Vice President Of Marketing)

nV News - NVIDIA Cg Toolkit Overview
(makes comparisons using COBOL and FOCUS)