[Cialug] graphics accelerator

[David Champion]

If you use a distribution that includes the nVidia drivers, you should 
be able to do a kernel update without any problems. I can do this with 
Mandriva (I think this may only be in the Powerpack edition, not in the 
Discovery edition that's free to everyone), and I'm sure others (maybe 
Suse?) do this as well.

Ideally it would be nice if nVidia would release their driver as OSS, 
but they're not going to for business reasons. They do offer very good 
support for Linux drivers. If you use the version you download from 
nVidia's web site, you just run a script - it will go download the 
latest version, build the modules and you're good to go.

BTW - the latest nVidia driver supports up to the GeForce 7900 cards. 
I'm just going to guess that Dan isn't in the market for a $500+ extreme 
gaming card, so anything in the "reasonable" price range should be 
supported.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-8756.html

-dc

Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:
> I'm using the nvidia driver on an old mx400 card with redhat enterprise
> workstation 3.x without issue. I've never had a lockup or any other
> problems.
> 
> The only pita is that when I do a kernel update, I need to do a driver
> update/reinstall too. 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2006-05-08 at 08:52, Jerry Heiselman wrote:
> 
>>I agree with the nVidia assessment.  They may be closed-source for
>>their drivers, but they seem to be willing to at least help out the
>>open-source community.  I have never had any issues with nVidia in
>>Linux, just make sure you get a bit older of a card. 
>>
>>Jerry
>>
>>On 5/8/06, Nathan C. Smith <smith at ipmvs.com> wrote:
>>        Don't be afraid of nVidia even if it is proprietary.  It works
>>        well. (I
>>        suppose that is what is on your Dell machine at work no that's
>>        I've said
>>        something nice about it)
>>        
>>        Also, Matrox is still available - although they might be more
>>        in the 2D 
>>        high-performance area.
>>        
>>        Probably the best thing to do is find a card that is not too
>>        new and has
>>        good OpenG/L support?
>>        
>>        -Nate
>>        
>>        > -----Original Message-----
>>        > From: Daniel A. Ramaley [mailto: daniel.ramaley at DRAKE.EDU]
>>        > Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 10:30 PM
>>        > To: cialug at cialug.org
>>        > Subject: [Cialug] graphics accelerator 
>>        >
>>        >
>>        > My current primary computer at home is about 8 years old.
>>        > I've decided
>>        > it is time to build a new one. Since i last built a machine
>>        > it appears
>>        > the graphics card industry has gone through quite a 
>>        > shakedown, leaving
>>        > just ATI and nVidia. And as far as i can tell so far, both
>>        companies
>>        > are opposed to open source. Are there any modern graphics
>>        > cards with 3D
>>        > acceleration that have open source drivers? 
>>        >
>>        > After the experience of running an ATI closed-source driver
>>        > on my Dell
>>        > computer at work, i do not want any proprietary garbage on
>>        my home
>>        > machine. When using the proprietary driver on my work
>>        machine 
>>        > it is the
>>        > most unstable Linux box i've seen in years; about once a
>>        week
>>        > i have to
>>        > SSH in and reboot it because the graphics card decides to
>>        > wedge. There
>>        > is an open source driver that i also use. When using the
>>        open-source 
>>        > drive i give up 3D acceleration and some 2D performance in
>>        > exchange for
>>        > the usual rock-solid stability that open source offers. I'm
>>        just
>>        > wondering if there are any cards out there where such 
>>        > sacrifices do not
>>        > have to be made. It looks like there is a group trying to
>>        > design a card
>>        > to work wonderfully with open source (Google "open-graphics"
>>        > for info),
>>        > but it looks like they are a few years from production
>>        hardware, if 
>>        > they ever get there.
>>        >
>>        >
>>        --------------------------------------------------------------
>>        > ----------
>>        > Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118,
>>        Drake
>>        > University
>>        > Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave 
>>        > +1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311
>>        USA
>>        > _______________________________________________
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>>        > Cialug at cialug.org
>>        > http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
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