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NVIDIA Drivers for 2.6 Kernel
fmileto writes "Kerneltrap.org is reporting that Nvidia has released drivers for the 2.6 series kernel. The driver and install directions can be found on Nvidia's website."
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Release Highlights
* Support for Linux 2.6 kernels.
* Fixed AGP failures on some VIA motherboards.
* Fixed a problem that prevented X from running on Samsung X10 laptops.
is here, courtesy of Andy Mecham, NVIDIA's Linux driver guru.
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nV News
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-53 36/README
/usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/).
From the README:
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 driver
package (it gets installed in
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' or 'vesa' driver), then all you need to do is find
the relevant Device section and replace the line:
Driver "nv"
(or Driver "vesa")
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.
The nvidia kernel driver has been easy to get working with 2.6 since the 2.5.x days. Problem is, they still haven't fixed the nasty mangled console bug that has been in the last three versions. It is always great to exit X windows and have to reboot before I can go back into X windows or else it will lock up my box. But...even if I exit X windows my console is so mangled I can barely use it any how...this sure has promoted my use of X and only X :)
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
Until now they had to use a third party patch, found here
GNU/Linux PowerPC users -- such as in Power Macs -- are still out of luck.
Leandro Guimarães Faria Corcete DUTRA
DA, DBA, SysAdmin, Data Modeller
GNU Project, Debian GNU/Lin
Whenever you start talking about hardware drivers, especially bleeding-edge hardware in a highly competitive market like video cards, you run into the following problems:
1) There is a natural desire to keep technical details (both in the hardware and in the driver implimentation) secret from one's competitors, so as to build a competitive advantage.
2) You may not own all the technology in the hardware or the drivers, and your licencing agreement with the 3rd-party technology providers may include terms of non-disclosure.
This tends to disincline one from open-sourcing the drivers.
The advantages of having them opened up everybody here is well aware of. But realizing those advantages takes time to sink in at the hardware company - especially when their Linux market is very small (so the perceived risks outweigh the rewards)
As time goes on, and especially as the Linux market grows (to the point where it is providing a signifigant fraction of a company's revenue) I believe the value of opening up the drivers will become more compelling to the driver authors (and more importantly, their management)
Baby steps. Rome wasn't built in a day.
In the meantime, there is value in supporting companies who provide closed-source drivers for products where there is no other alternative. Help them build the Linux experience - both on the technical and social aspects - that will eventually lead them along the path to opening their drivers up.
Would I prefer to see fully open-and-GPLed NVIDIA drivers? You bet your ass. But for whatever reason, they aren't ready to jump off that particular cliff, so I'll support them anyway in anticipation of the day when they DO open the drivers up.
We're fighting 20 years of a culture of secrecy and code-hording here. It'll take time to work through that.
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
Tried installing drivers for a dlink nic on 9.2 and got a message that the binary only drivers would "pollute" the operating system or some such. Refused to install them at all - there was no do it anyways option.
/sbin/lsmod command as a user to see for yourself.
First RPM doesn't give such error messages, nor does RPM prevent you from installing the RPM you desire (Remember: Unix assumes that root knows everything, and never limits root from doing anything either)
Secondly, you are possibly confusing the above error with something not done by mandrake, but the kernel. The kernel automatically complains about non GPL/BSD modules being loaded, however this DOES NOT prevent the modules from being loaded. Issue the
Lastly, as another poster already pointed. Mandrake sells a commercial version of their distro that automatically uses such binary only drivers. (Their 100% FLOSS distro does not ship with them but like *any* other distro, can use them.)
Sunny Dubey