Re: [gentoo-user] NVidia setup instructions?

[Mark Knecht]

On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann
<volkerarmin@××××××××××.com> wrote:
> On Dienstag 05 Mai 2009, Mark Knecht wrote:
>> On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 2:58 PM, Brandon Vargo <brandon.vargo@×××××.com>
> wrote:
>> > On Mon, 2009-05-04 at 14:25 -0700, Mark Knecht wrote:
>> >> Hi,
>> >>    Is this the right page to follow for up-to-date installation
>> >> instructions for a 6200-based card?
>> >>
>> >> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/nvidia-guide.xml
>> >>
>> >>    If it is then is it at all out of date in terms of xorg.conf setup
>> >> for the newer xorg-server/hald setup, or is it OK?
>> >
>> > I have the PCI version of the 6200, and I can confirm that 180.29
>> > (stable for my arch) work great as well as the vesa framebuffer. I had
>> > problems with the uvesa framebuffer a few kernels back, and never got it
>> > to work, though I haven't tried since.
>> >
>> > The rest of the nvidia guide looks good, though I do not use the same
>> > options as the guide for my xorg.conf configuration. For example, I've
>> > never had to set the VideoRam option in the device section, and set
>> > things such as NoLogo, RenderAccel, etc in the screen section. Take a
>> > look at [1] for all the options. That's the amd64 version, though it
>> > should be similar if not the same for other architectures.
>> >
>> > I don't use hal, so I cannot comment on that.
>> >
>> > I would recommend using the nvidia-xconfig utility to configure another
>> > xorg.conf once you get a basic X display running. It works pretty well,
>> > particularly regarding 3D settings and multiple monitors, so it's a good
>> > starting point from which to customize.
>> >
>> > [1]:
>> > http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/180.29/README/appendix
>> >-b.html
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Brandon Vargo
>>
>> Thanks Brandon. I'm up in X now on the 6200 AGP so it's functional.
>> glxgears seems sort of slow at about 230FPS but I probably don't have
>> things set up right yet.
>>
>> I had questions about the setup instructions as I went through it.
>>
>> 1) Do you completely drop out DRI support in the kernel? Seems this
>> document says not to load the dri driver in xconf and it wasn't shown
>> in the kernel options so I took it out. Maybe that should be enabled?
>
> no. Nvidia uses its own stuff. No need for dri in kernel.

Without DRI in the kernel I got an error message when running glxinfo
| grep direct.

Once I put nvidia in xorg.conf it loaded automatically. That seems
inconsistent with this new push to use hald and no xorg.conf.

>
>>
>> 2) I used to have /dev/agpgart and framebuffer suppport as modular but
>> this setup doc seemed to go with built-in so I switched to that. I do
>> have the Intel chipset AGP GART support as modular and it does load
>> OK. Not sure if I should use that or NVidia's?
>
> no, you should use the kernel agpgart. Nvagp is a remnant from former times
> when there were bugs with certain chipsets and agpgart versions. Times long
> gone. Even nvidia devs tell you on nvnews to use agpgart and only switch to
> nvagp if that really does not work.
>
>>
>> No problems getting the card up and running. Now it's a matter of
>> figuring out how to do it right. I am using hald but it wouldn't load
>> the nvidia driver automatically, opting for the nv driver. Do you have
>> that problem? Should I put it in modules.autoload?
>
> no. Just put the nvidia module in xorg.conf. Also make sure you set the right
> opengl version with eselect. At the end don't forget that the 6200 is a very
> slow card.

Very slow? Compared to a 9600? Yes. Compared to a Riva? No.

It's all relative. I just require it to work and play MythTV for my
wife. Nothing more.

>
> glxinfo and nvidia-settings can help you detect problems.
>

emerge word going on now. I'll try out nvidia-settings soon.

Thanks,
Mark