Introduction

Introduction @@ -42,22 +42,29 @@ to the card. The drivers consist of two parts, a kernel module, and an X11 driver. Both parts are included in a single package. Due to the way nVidia has been packaging their drivers, you will need to make some choices before you -install the drivers. Currently, there are two driver packages in the tree. The -first, nvidia-drivers, is the latest drivers from nVidia and includes -support for the latest cards. The second, nvidia-legacy-drivers, supports -older cards, from the original TNT through the GeForce 6800. However, this -driver does not support the latest features of the newer cards. You should only -use nvidia-legacy-drivers if your cards is not supported in the -nvidia-drivers package. +install the drivers. +

+ +

+Currently, there are two driver packages in the tree, though this will be +reduced to just one package in the near future. The first, +nvidia-drivers, contains the latest drivers from nVidia with support for +all cards, with several versions available depending on how old your +card is. It uses an eclass to detect what kind of card you're running so that it +installs the proper version. The second package, nvidia-legacy-drivers, +supports older cards. It is deprecated in favor of the all-inclusive +nvidia-drivers package, which contains the same driver version(s). Do +not install nvidia-legacy-drivers; it's only kept in the tree to give +its current users time to switch over to the new package. You should only use +nvidia-drivers, as explained in the next chapter.

Previously, Gentoo provided separate ebuilds for the nVidia kernel module (nvidia-kernel) and the X11 GLX libraries (nvidia-glx). These ebuilds have since been removed from the Portage tree in favor of -nvidia-drivers and nvidia-legacy-drivers. If you use -nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx, then you should migrate to the -newer packages. +nvidia-drivers. If you use nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx, +then you should migrate to the newer packages. @@ -67,37 +74,47 @@ Driver compatibility

-nvidia-legacy-drivers +Which version?

-The nvidia-legacy-drivers branch supports older nVidia cards which are no -longer supported in the latest driver releases. This branch is based on an older -code base of the nVidia drivers, and supports the latest kernels and X.Org -versions. You should use this driver if you have a TNT, TNT2, GeForce, or -GeForce 2 series card. The driver compatibility information can be found in -Appendix A of -http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-7184/README/readme.txt. +The nvidia-drivers package supports the full range of available nVidia +cards. Multiple versions are available for installation, depending on the +card(s) you have.

- -

-nvidia-drivers - +

+Newer cards such as the GeForce 8, 7, 6, and FX 5 series should use the newer +drivers from the 100.x series. +

-The nvidia-drivers branch supports the features in newer nVidia cards. -The latest version of these drivers has dropped support for the NV2x based -cards. If you have a GeForce 3 or GeForce 4 series card, you should mask +Older cards such as the GeForce 3 or GeForce 4 +series require the 96xx drivers. For these cards, you should mask >=x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-1.0.9700 in your /etc/portage/package.mask file. This will prevent newer versions of -the driver which are incompatible with your card from being installed. You can -check for driver compatibility for your card at to determine if it is supported -on the newer drivers at -http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-9746/README/appendix-a.html. +the driver which are incompatible with your card from being installed. +

+ +

+Old NV2x-based cards (such as TNT, TNT2, GeForce, and GeForce 2) require the +older 71xx drivers (such as nvidia-drivers-1.0.7185). For these cards, +you should mask >=nvidia-drivers-1.0.8700 in +/etc/portage/package.mask.

+You can check for driver compatibility for your card at to determine which +driver supports it at +http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/100.14.11/README/appendix-a.html. +

+ + +The nvidia-legacy-drivers package is deprecated and should not be +installed on a fresh system. Although it is a 71xx driver, the corresponding +71xx driver version found in nvidia-drivers should be used instead. + +

@@ -203,91 +220,48 @@

-The nvidia-drivers and nvidia-legacy-drivers ebuilds automatically -discover your kernel version based on the /usr/src/linux symlink. -Please ensure that you have this symlink pointing to the correct sources and -that your kernel is correctly configured. Please refer to the "Configuring the -Kernel" section of the Installation Handbook -for details on configuring your kernel. +The nvidia-drivers ebuild automatically discovers your kernel version +based on the /usr/src/linux symlink. Please ensure that you have +this symlink pointing to the correct sources and that your kernel is correctly +configured. Please refer to the "Configuring the Kernel" section of the Installation Handbook for details on configuring +your kernel.

-If you are using gentoo-sources-2.6.11-r6, your /usr/src directory -might look something like this: +First, you'll need to emerge eselect (if you don't already have it). If +you are using gentoo-sources-2.6.18-r4, your kernel listing might look +something like this:

-# cd /usr/src
-# ls -l
-(Check that linux points to the right directory)
-lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root   22 Apr 23 18:33 linux -> linux-2.6.11-gentoo-r6
-drwxr-xr-x   4 root root  120 Apr  8 18:56 linux-2.4.26-gentoo-r4
-drwxr-xr-x  18 root root  664 Dec 31 16:09 linux-2.6.10
-drwxr-xr-x  18 root root  632 Mar  3 12:27 linux-2.6.11
-drwxr-xr-x  19 root root 4096 Mar 16 22:00 linux-2.6.11-gentoo-r6
+# eselect kernel list
+Available kernel symlink targets:
+  [1]   linux-2.6.18-gentoo-r4 *
+  [2]   linux-2.6.20-gentoo-r7
+  [3]   linux-2.6.20-gentoo-r8
+(Verify that the right kernel is marked with an asterisk

-In the above output, you'll notice that the linux symlink is pointing -to the linux-2.6.11-gentoo-r6 kernel. +In the above output, you'll notice that the linux-2.6.18-gentoo-r4 kernel +is marked with an asterisk (*) to show that it is the symlinked kernel.

If the symlink is not pointing to the correct sources, you must update the link -like this: +by selecting the number of your desired kernel sources, as in the example +above.

-# cd /usr/src
-# ln -snf linux-2.6.11-gentoo-r6 linux
+(Select the correct kernel)
+# eselect kernel set 1

-Optional: Check for Legacy Card Support - - - -Unfortunately, certain legacy video cards are not supported by the newer -versions of nvidia-drivers. -nVidia provides a list -of supported cards. Please check the list before installing the drivers. - - -

-The following is a list of unsupported legacy video cards: -

- -

-TNT
-TNT2
-TNT2 Pro
-TNT2 Ultra
-TNT2 Model 64 (M64)
-TNT2 Model 64 (M64) Pro
-Vanta
-Vanta LT
-GeForce 256
-GeForce DDR
-GeForce2 GTS
-GeForce2 Pro
-GeForce2 Ti
-GeForce2 Ultra
-GeForce2 MX Integrated graphics
-Quadro
-Quadro2 Pro
-Quadro2 EX
-

- -

-If your card is listed in the legacy list, then you will be required to install -the nvidia-legacy-drivers package to get 3D support. -

- - -

Installing the Appropriate Drivers @@ -296,17 +270,24 @@

-(If you have a card not listed in the legacy list above)
 # emerge nvidia-drivers
-(If your card is listed in the legacy list)
-# emerge nvidia-legacy-drivers

+ +The newer 100.x drivers can be installed with the gtk USE flag set. This +will install media-video/nvidia-settings, a handy graphical tool for +monitoring and configuring several aspects of your nVidia card. + + -Every time you compile a new -kernel or recompile the current one, you will need to run emerge -nvidia-drivers or emerge nvidia-legacy-drivers to reinstall the -nVidia modules. +Every time you compile a new kernel +or recompile the current one, you will need to run emerge nvidia-drivers +to reinstall the nVidia modules. An easier way to keep track of modules +installed by ebuilds (such as nvidia-drivers) is to install +sys-kernel/module-rebuild. Once you've installed it, simply run +module-rebuild populate to populate its database with a list of packages +to be rebuilt. Once you've finished compiling or recompiling a kernel, just run +module-rebuild rebuild to rebuild the drivers for your new kernel.

@@ -323,15 +304,13 @@

To prevent you having to manually load the module on every bootup, you probably want to have this done automatically each time you boot your system, so edit -/etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6 (or kernel-2.4, -depending on which kernel version you use) and add nvidia to it. Don't -forget to run update-modules afterwards. +/etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6 and add nvidia to it. +Don't forget to run update-modules afterwards.

If you compiled agpgart as a module, you will need to add it to -/etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6 (or kernel-2.4 -depending on your kernel version). +/etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6.

@@ -409,7 +388,7 @@
 
 
 You have to add your user to the video group so he has access to the
-nvidia device files:
+nVidia device files:
 
 
 @@ -449,13 +428,18 @@
 
 
 Some tools, such as mplayer and xine-lib, use a local USE flag
-called "nvidia" which enables XvMCNVIDIA support, useful when watching high
-resolution movies. Add in "nvidia" in your USE variable in
+called xvmc which enables XvMCNVIDIA support, useful when watching high
+resolution movies. Add in xvmc in your USE variable in
 /etc/make.conf or add it as USE flag to media-video/mplayer
 and/or media-libs/xine-lib in /etc/portage/package.use.
 
 
 
+There are also some applications that use the nvidia USE flag, so you
+may want to add it to /etc/make.conf.
+
+
+
 Then, run emerge -uD --newuse world to rebuild the applications that
 benefit from the USE flag change.
 
@@ -467,10 +451,12 @@
 
 
 
-Since nVidia released version 1.0.6106 it also provides you with a settings
-tool. This tool allows you to change graphical settings without restarting the
-X server and is available through Portage as
-media-video/nvidia-settings.
+nVidia also provides you with a settings tool. This tool allows you to monitor
+and change graphical settings without restarting the X server and is available
+through Portage as media-video/nvidia-settings. As mentioned earlier, it
+will be pulled in automatically if you install
+>=media-video/nvidia-drivers-100.14.09 with the gtk USE flag set
+in /etc/make.conf or in /etc/portage/package.use.
 
 
 
@@ -541,10 +527,7 @@
 
 
 -(for nvidia-drivers)
 $ less /usr/share/doc/nvidia-drivers-*/README.gz
-(for nvidia-legacy-drivers)
-$ less /usr/share/doc/nvidia-legacy-drivers-*/README.gz
 
 
 
@@ -603,5 +586,4 @@