[SATLUG] Video Drivers

[John Pappas]

On 7/4/07, Jesse Gonzalez <jesse at liberto.org> wrote:
>
> I'm not sure about the ATI card, but for the nvidia along with openSUSE
> you can use ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/10.2/ as a repository
> just add it to whatever package manager you use.
>
> On Wed, 2007-07-04 at 18:52 -0500, Alan L. Lesmerises wrote:
> > I just put together 2 new systems and installed SUSE 10.2 (the 64-bit
> version), and they both seem to work fine except for the video.
> >
> > The video card are both supposed to be able to do 3D graphics, yet SUSE
> reports them as not being 3D-capable.  The cards are as follows:
> >
> > - NVIDIA e-GeForce 7100GS (PCI-e), 256MB on-board memory
> >
> > - ASUS EAX1600Pro (PCI-e, based on the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro), 512MB
> on-board memory
> >
> > There are no Linux-compatible drivers included with either, and I didn't
> even see a way (during the installation process or afterwards) where I could
> have Yast or some other configuration utility change the driver being used.


ATI's SUSE Repo is not maintained like the NV repo.  I recommend following
the opensuse.org help pages (www.opensuse.org/ATI and Nvidia respectively)
for the install ins and outs.  The drivers cannot be distributed with linux
due to the licensing situation (proprietary) associated with them.   I will
say that the NV is WAY easier than the ATI driver installs.  I do recommend
adding several repos (Xorg72, mozilla, and packman) so that you can have
easy access to the "comfort" apps, particularly Firefox/Thunderbird and
MPlayer with w32 codecs.

You will find some gotchas with 64-bit installs, but nothing that should be
a showstopper.

>
> > So my questions are as follows:
> >
> > - Is there someplace I should look for more compatible drivers for these
> cards?


See repos/howtos above.

> - How do I get SUSE to use these other drivers (assuming there is
> something out there)?
>

See repos/howtos above.

> - Did I screw up and pick a couple of video cards that Linux won't fully
> utilize their capabilities (3D or otherwise)?


No you are fine.  You have just run into one of Linux's glaring
shortcommings: Display Management.  You will also find that multi-threaded
sound and WiFi are a couple others.

John