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NVIDIA Releases Optimus Linux Driver With New Features

Posted by Soulskill on from the baby-steps dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Nearly one year after Linux creator Linux Torvalds publicly bashed NVIDIA and several years after their multi-GPU mobile technology premiered, the graphics vendor has finally delivered an Optimus-supported Linux driver. NVIDIA released the 319.12 Beta Linux driver that brings support for 'RandR 1.4 GPU provider objects' that basically allows for Optimus-like functionality when using the latest X Server, Linux kernel, and XRandR. The 319.12 beta also has many other features including better UEFI support, installer improvements, new pages on their settings panel, and new GPU support."

5 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Will the bumblebee project still be necessary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I can't get it working with the 3.8 kernel in the new ubuntu beta... wonder if this will make that project unnecessary..?

    1. Re:Will the bumblebee project still be necessary? by marcansoft · · Score: 5, Interesting

      As far as I can tell, this only adds support for using the nvidia card for everything (rendering the whole desktop) while sending its final framebuffer to the Intel for scanout. This is a strictly different use case from what bumblebee enables (rendering *specific apps* on the nvidia card while using the Intel for everything else).

      Personally, since I only need the performance of the nvidia card one in a blue moon, the bumblebee approach is much more useful to me. Otherwise, I'd have to deal with tearing on everything (the current version of the nvidia RandR output provider does not support vsync) and increased power consumption.

      I think what nvidia calls "render offload" in their README (which is currently not supported) is what would in fact replace bumblebee, if/when implemented. I'm curious as to how it would interact with power management, though. One of the very nice things about Bumblebee is that it doesn't even power up the nvidia card (via ACPI) until required, and that's easy because it starts up a background X server on demand to do the rendering. It's probably trickier to puil this off if you have to load the nvidia driver into your primary X server to take advantage of the direct integration.

  2. Parity? by steelfood · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So does this release bring the Linux drivers into parity with the Windows drivers? I'm sure this is a large step in the right direction, but if the Windows driver is still more capable or efficient, then Linux will still suffer on the gaming front.

    --
    "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  3. nVidia have been jerking Linux around by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 4, Interesting

    for as long as I can remember, and that is long
    (Linuxer since 1991).

    Never bought anything else for a display card though.
    Explain that.

  4. don't care: no sell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    haven't purchased anything (for myself or clients) with an nvidia chip in it for at least the last year. nvidia had time to design their way out of old third party impediments to open sourcing the driver code and they haven't even started. i don't care what their reasons are. I'm not installing their closed source (security and stability issues) code into a perfectly good linux machine and i don't appreciate their cavalier attitude towards me and mine as a market. The open source radeon driver (http://www.x.org/wiki/radeon) works really well these days on supported cards and i hope the rest of the community will vote with their wallet and send a message. AMD needs to double down while they have the chance. @nvidia: you think this whole linux thang is going away? You'll get yours...