[mythtv-users] Need nvidia driver recommendation

Hika van den Hoven hikavdh at gmail.com
Fri Jul 29 23:15:41 UTC 2016


Hoi John,

Saturday, July 30, 2016, 12:29:09 AM, you wrote:

> On 7/29/2016 5:27 PM, Don Brett wrote:
>> On 7/29/2016 6:08 PM, John Marshall wrote:
>>> On 7/29/2016 4:43 PM, Don Brett wrote:
>>>> I have MythBuntu 14.04 with Mythfronend version: fixes/0.27
>>>> (v0.27.6.27-g378dc8).  The existing nvidia GT710 was freezing up, so I
>>>> temporarily installed a GT220 (with lots of driver challenges). Now I
>>>> need to install a new EVGA-Geforce GT720.
>>>>
>>>> I'm a little confused;  it looks like I could use something called
>>>> Nouveau, or Nvidia proprietary drivers, or use apt-get to install
>>>> drivers (not sure I can get the right driver with apt-get). Does anyone
>>>> have a recommendation for this board?  If I use one method, do I have to
>>>> do a purge or turn others off?
>>>>
>>>> Don
>>>>
>>>> PS - I did all kinds of stuff to get the GT220 to work...maybe have to
>>>> purge something?
>>>
>>> According to the supported products page, it looks like you need at
>>> least v340 for that card: http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html
>>>
>>> Nouveau is an open-source driver, but isn't feature complete,
>>> especially on newer cards.  You'll probably have better luck with the
>>> proprietary drivers.  You should be able to install them with
>>> apt-get/Synaptic. Look for nvidia-graphics-drivers-340-updates (or one
>>> with a higher number).
>>>
>>> You can also install this PPA to get better/newer choices, which is
>>> what I've done on my very similar system.
>>> https://launchpad.net/~graphics-drivers/+archive/ubuntu/ppa
>>>
>>> I've never really had any issues with my NVidia cards (several cards,
>>> all *buntu systems), but here's a good page for reference:
>>>
>> I agree, Nvidia is usually pretty painless.  Apparently, Nouveau is
>> installed and running.  Do I  have to blacklist it before installing
>> proprietary Nvidia drivers?
>>
>> don at andy:~$ lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 vga
>> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GT216
>> [GeForce GT 220] [10de:0a20] (rev a2)
>>         Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device [19da:1132]
>>         Kernel driver in use: nouveau
>> don at andy:~$

> I never have.  According to that wiki page:

> "Nouveau, an open source driver, is installed by default. It's possible
> to remove it completely, but it is not necessary and therefore not 
> recommended."

The 220 is what nvidia calls a legacy card. The newest nvidia drivers
won't work. So when you installed the 220 you probably had to
downgrade the nvidia driver to 340.96. The 720 is supported by all, so
a system configured to work with the nvidia driver for a 220 should
work with a newer card like the 720. Only not all of the newer
features will be supported, so you best upgrade to the latest nvidia
driver, being 364.19 or 367.35.
Nouveau works with all but the very old nvidia cards (pci or even isa
models).

Every now and then Nvidia freezes their driver throwing a bunch of
older cards out off support with the newest drivers. They however do
release bugfixes for those legacy cards. So the driver number after
the dot can increase.


Tot mails,
  Hika                            mailto:hikavdh at gmail.com

"Zonder hoop kun je niet leven
Zonder leven is er geen hoop
Het eeuwige dilemma
Zeker als je hoop moet vernietigen om te kunnen overleven!"

De lerende Mens



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