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howtos:hardware:proprietary_graphics_drivers [2012/09/26 01:55 (UTC)] – moved from the general howtos namespace mfillpothowtos:hardware:proprietary_graphics_drivers [2016/12/09 04:52 (UTC)] (current) reedych
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 +<!-- Reviewed 20130119 by Hazel -->
 ====== Proprietary Graphics Drivers ====== ====== Proprietary Graphics Drivers ======
  
-Although the X.org X11 graphical system provides many drivers, supplying at least 2D video acceleration for most video cards, if a system is equipped with a GPU from AMD (ATI) or nVIDIA, then proprietary binary drivers can be downloaded from the web sites of both these vendors and installed.+The X.Org X11 graphical system provides many drivers, supplying at least 2D video acceleration for most video cards; however, if a system is equipped with a GPU from AMD (ATI) or nVIDIA, proprietary binary drivers can be downloaded from the web sites of both these vendors and installed.
  
 The aim of this article is to outline the various methods of installation and configuration of these proprietary drivers in Slackware. The aim of this article is to outline the various methods of installation and configuration of these proprietary drivers in Slackware.
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 ===== AMD (ATI) Catalyst Driver Installation and Configuration ===== ===== AMD (ATI) Catalyst Driver Installation and Configuration =====
  
-AMD are dropping support to older cards (4xxx and downwards) in the current (12.6) and next releases of the proprietary drivers so please make sure that your card is supported. If it is not, then the open source ''xf86-video-ati'' driver should be suffice, albeit a bit slower than the proprietary.+AMD are dropping support for older cards (4xxx and downwards) in the current (12.6) and future releases of the proprietary driversso please make sure that your card is still supported. If it is not, then the open source ''xf86-video-ati'' driver should be sufficient, albeit a bit slower than the proprietary version. 
 + 
 +**Note:** the driver will not work on 14.2 because Catalyst supports only Xorg 1.17 and 3.19 (or no?).
  
 === Download ==== === Download ====
  
-Note that the installer will compile a driver (fglrx) and it needs the kernel modules and source packages to be installed. The following steps are valid for both the UI and the [[howtos:cli_manual:introduction|CLI]] version of the installer.+Note that the installer will compile a driver (fglrx) and it needs the ''kernel-modules'' and ''kernel-source'' packages to be installed. The following steps are valid for both the UI and the [[howtos:cli_manual:introduction|CLI]] version of the installer.
  
 === Installation ==== === Installation ====
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 After downloading, unzip the file with: After downloading, unzip the file with:
  
-  unzip amd-driver-installer-VERSION-x86.x86_64.zip+  unzip amd-driver-installer-VERSION-x86.x86_64.zip
  
  
 Next, switch to root with:  Next, switch to root with: 
  
-  su - root+  su -
  
 CD to the folder which contains the 'run' file and run the installer with: CD to the folder which contains the 'run' file and run the installer with:
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   # sh amd-driver-installer-VERSION-x86.x86_64.run   # sh amd-driver-installer-VERSION-x86.x86_64.run
      
-The installer will collect data about your system and will prompt for either an automatic installation or to create a distribution specific package. Select distribution specific package here as it can be managed by Slackware's packaging tools later.+The installer will collect data about your system and will prompt for either an automatic installation or to create a distribution-specific package. Select distribution-specific package hereas it can then be managed by Slackware's packaging tools later.
  
 When prompted to select a distribution, please Select "Detected OS: Slackware/Slackware" When prompted to select a distribution, please Select "Detected OS: Slackware/Slackware"
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 === Configuration ==== === Configuration ====
  
-You will need to reboot the system for it to make use of the new drivers but before doing so you do we need to edit ''/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf'' or to create a new file: ''/etc/modprobe.d/radeon_blacklist.conf'' and add these lines:+You will need to reboot the system for it to make use of the new drivers. Before doing so you need to edit ''/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf'' (or create a new file: ''/etc/modprobe.d/radeon_blacklist.conf''and add the following lines to the file:
      
   blacklist radeon   blacklist radeon
   blacklist radeonhd   blacklist radeonhd
  
-Next you can create a new Xorg configuration file by running:+Next you can create a new X.Org configuration file by running:
  
   # aticonfig --initial -f   # aticonfig --initial -f
  
-Xorgs does not usually require ''/etc/X11/xorg.conf'' but in some cases (usually older cards) is is required to add under the fglrx 'Device' section this line:+X.Org does not usually require an ''/etc/X11/xorg.conf'' file, but in some cases (usually older cards) it is necessary to add the following line in the fglrx 'Device' section:
  
   Option "SWCursor" "true"   Option "SWCursor" "true"
  
-If there were no errors and the driver was installed successfully, you should probably want to reboot now for the drivers to be used.+If there were no errors and the driver was installed successfully, you should reboot now for the drivers to be used.
  
 === Testing ==== === Testing ====
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 After rebooting, you can test the drivers by running: After rebooting, you can test the drivers by running:
  
-  fgl_glxgears+  fgl_glxgears
  
 This should display rotating gears that run smoothly without glitches. This should display rotating gears that run smoothly without glitches.
  
-=== Automatic un/install ====+You can also run:
  
-If you chose to install the package automatically and you need to uninstall the drivers, you can run the installer with this argument:+  $ glxinfo 
 +   
 +Have a look at the first few lines of output to see if DRI is enabled. If it is not, then you need to do a bit more work, because the package creation built into the ati installer is quite old (pre official 64bit Slackware) and some files need to be moved around to make it work on the 14.1 version of Slackware. A package for slackbuilds.org that fixes the problem is being worked on, but in the meantime you can try a manual solution posted [[http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/warzone2100-sbo-on-14-1-with-ati-r7-graphics-not-working-4175540818/page2.html#post5356236|here (linuxquestions post)]] ,or if all else fails, the automatic installation option should work. 
 + 
 +=== Automatic un-install ==== 
 + 
 +If you chose to install the package automatically and you need to uninstall the drivers, you can run the installer with an additional ''uninstall'' argument, like this:
   # sh amd-driver-installer-VERSION-x86.x86_64.run --uninstall   # sh amd-driver-installer-VERSION-x86.x86_64.run --uninstall
  
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   #/usr/share/ati/amd-uninstall.sh   #/usr/share/ati/amd-uninstall.sh
      
-<note important>No matter how it was installed, uninstalling can break mesa as some files get moved around and you might need to re install it.</note>+<note important>No matter how it was installed, uninstalling the fglrx driver will "breakmesa as some files get moved around. It is advised that you re-install mesa. Also, if you want to revert to the kernel's own radeon/radeonhd drivers, you will have to remove the //blacklist// lines which you added earlier.</note>
  
  
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 ==== Installation via SlackBuilds.org ==== ==== Installation via SlackBuilds.org ====
  
-Edward Koenig maintains the libvdpau, nvidia-driver and nvidia-kernel packages at [[http://slackbuils.org|SlackBuilds.org]]+Edward Koenig maintains the libvdpau, nvidia-driver and nvidia-kernel packages at [[http://slackbuilds.org/|SlackBuilds.org]]
  
-All three packages are required to have a functioning nVIDIA driver. The nvidia-kernel package builds the kernel module, the nvidia-driver package builds the X.org driver and contains the OpenGL implementation as well as the COMPAT32 libraries for use on a [[slackware:multilib|multilib]] Slackware64 system. The libvdpau package is a requirement of the nvidia-driver package.+All three packages are required to have a functioning nVIDIA driver. The nvidia-kernel package builds the kernel module, the nvidia-driver package builds the X.Org driver and contains the OpenGL implementation as well as the COMPAT32 libraries for use on a [[slackware:multilib|multilib]] Slackware64 system. The libvdpau package is a requirement of the nvidia-driver package.
  
 === ''nouveau'' Module Removal === === ''nouveau'' Module Removal ===
  
-The first step in the driver installation is to blacklist the ''nouveau'' driver. This is done by installing the ''xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist'' package from the "''extra''" directory of the Slackware version. This can be accomplished by using the install CD or DVD, obtaining the file from a Slackware mirror, or using the ''slackpkg'' utility.+The first step in the driver installation is to blacklist the ''nouveau'' driver. Failure to do so may result in a startx error of "ERROR: could not insert 'nvidia': No such device"
 + 
 +Blacklisting the nouveau driver is done by installing the ''xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist'' package from the "''extra''" directory of the Slackware version. This can be accomplished by using the install CD or DVD, obtaining the file from a Slackware mirror, or using the ''slackpkg'' utility.
  
 === Package Installation === === Package Installation ===
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 === Downloading the Appropriate nVIDIA Driver Binary Installer === === Downloading the Appropriate nVIDIA Driver Binary Installer ===
  
-The first step is to download the appropriate driver from the [[ http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html | nVIDIA Unix Drivers website ]]. For 64-bit Slackware (including [[slackware:multilib|multilib]] systems) you should download the "**Linux x86_64/AMD64/EM64T**" driver package, while 32-bit Slackware needs the "**Linux x86/IA32**" driver. Your safest bet for picking the correct version is to use the "//Latest Long Lived Branch version//" but in some cases (very new graphics card, or display issues which you are trying to resolve) you might want to choose "//Latest Short Lived Branch version//" instead. \\ Olderlegacy drivers are available as well for graphics cards which are no longer current. By selecting a driver, a list of compatible GPUs will be displayed. Once it is determined to be the correct driver, the license will need to be accepted and the file saved in an accessible location. Before running the installer, there are some other actions that must be taken.+The first step is to download the appropriate driver from the [[http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html|nVIDIA Unix Drivers website ]]. For 64-bit Slackware (including [[slackware:multilib|multilib]] systems) you should download the "**Linux x86_64/AMD64/EM64T**" driver package, while 32-bit Slackware needs the "**Linux x86/IA32**" driver. Your safest bet for picking the correct version is to use the "//Latest Long Lived Branch version//" but in some cases (very new graphics card, or display issues which you are trying to resolve) you might want to choose "//Latest Short Lived Branch version//" instead. \\ Older legacy drivers are available as well for graphics cards which are no longer current. When you select a driver, a list of compatible GPUs will be displayed. Once you have determined the correct driver, the license will need to be accepted and the file saved in an accessible location. Before running the installer, there are some other actions that must be taken.
  
 === Disabling the nouveau Module === === Disabling the nouveau Module ===
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   * After building the module on x86_64 systems, the installer will prompt about installing nVIDIA's 32-bit compatibility OpenGL libraries. You will only need the 32-bit compatibility libraries if your Slackware is 64-bit //[[slackware:multilib|multilib]]//.   * After building the module on x86_64 systems, the installer will prompt about installing nVIDIA's 32-bit compatibility OpenGL libraries. You will only need the 32-bit compatibility libraries if your Slackware is 64-bit //[[slackware:multilib|multilib]]//.
   * Next, in the case of a previous version, the installer will uninstall the module.   * Next, in the case of a previous version, the installer will uninstall the module.
-  * Once no conflicting X andshould this option be chosenOpenGL files are found, the module will be installed.+  * Once no conflicting X and (should this option be chosenOpenGL files are found, the module will be installed.
   * The program will then offer to use the nvidia-xconfig utility to modify the xorg.conf file to reflect the change in video drivers. This utility often  works, but could possibly change other values in xorg.conf. It does, however, back-up the original file to "''/etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original''"   * The program will then offer to use the nvidia-xconfig utility to modify the xorg.conf file to reflect the change in video drivers. This utility often  works, but could possibly change other values in xorg.conf. It does, however, back-up the original file to "''/etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original''"
   * A prompt confirms that the driver installation is complete and was a success, at which point the program exits to the console.   * A prompt confirms that the driver installation is complete and was a success, at which point the program exits to the console.
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   * ''%%--%%update'' : check for an updated driver on the nVIDIA website; if it exists, automatically download and install the new version.   * ''%%--%%update'' : check for an updated driver on the nVIDIA website; if it exists, automatically download and install the new version.
   * ''%%--%%uninstall'' : removes the nVIDIA driver and other files installed previously.   * ''%%--%%uninstall'' : removes the nVIDIA driver and other files installed previously.
-  * ''-q, %%--%%no-questions'' : assumes default answers to all questions. Note: does not automaitcally accept the license.+  * ''-q, %%--%%no-questions'' : assumes default answers to all questions. Note: does not automatically accept the license.
   * ''-s, %%--%%silent'' : runs the binary installer without a curses UI, automatically accepts the license and uses the default answers for all questions.   * ''-s, %%--%%silent'' : runs the binary installer without a curses UI, automatically accepts the license and uses the default answers for all questions.
  
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 ===== Sources ====== ===== Sources ======
  
-  * Originally written by [[wiki:user:rinias|rinias]]+  * nVidia section originally written by [[wiki:user:rinias|rinias]]
  
 <!-- Do not remove this line and the text below. Thanks! slackdocs@--> <!-- Do not remove this line and the text below. Thanks! slackdocs@-->
 {{tag>howtos software nvidia author_rinias}} {{tag>howtos software nvidia author_rinias}}
 howtos:hardware:proprietary_graphics_drivers ()