Tom's Hardware > Forum > Linux/Free BSD > Linux/Free BSD General Discussion > New Ubuntu user, hardware drivers?
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Jonny6001   10-06-2009 at 02:14:56 AM

I have just installed Ubuntu today for the first time.

My PC spec is

Asus nf7g-720p motherboard
AMD Athlon64x2 4800+ cpu

The motherboard has built in Nvidia 7050 graphics card.

On XP, my monitor displays 1920x1080 but I can't get anywhere near this resolution in Ubuntu. Do I need to install graphics card drivers or anything else? Is there a simple way to go about checking this stuff?
Can I scan all devices for any suitable drivers that are available?
How do i go about installing the drivers if i can download them from say, the Nvidia web-site?

Thanks a lot,

I am a complete begginer with Ubuntu.

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Bronze Linux badge linux_0   10-06-2009 at 06:54:17 AM
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Linux includes 99% of the drivers you will ever need in the kernel so you don't have to go searching for drivers, except for proprietary VGA drivers and sometimes 802.11a, b, g, n wireless drivers.

You can try the proprietary VGA driver from nvidia if you want, but it may break your Ubuntu GUI and may force you to re-install. Try to backup your xorg.conf file and find out how to disable or uninstall the driver manually on the console and via ssh before you start.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html

They have installation instructions on their site.

http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFre [...] index.html

Good luck :)

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yang925   10-22-2009 at 08:27:55 AM
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Im not particularly advanced in this area but :

The are generic nvida drivers for X11 but nvidia also offers its own that you may get better out of :
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
Select Linux as the OS.

Reply to yang925
mitch074   10-22-2009 at 10:47:41 AM
- 0 +

Oy! You're being hard on the guy, he's new! And Jonny6001, don't go and download external packages/driver installers, you're in for a far too rough ride!

In Ubuntu, you have a 'restricted drivers' applet in the System>Administration menu; in here, it'll propose you to make use of a tested Nvidia proprietary driver, which will work much better than the Free driver you're currently using (also proposed by Nvidia, but which is extremely limited). Select it, wait for it to download and install, and reboot when prompted.

There, it's done, your screen size should be correctly detected, you'll have accelerated 3D for desktop effects, and the driver will be correctly configured on future system updates.

Now, guys: the ONLY reason one would want to manually install a driver for Nvidia hardware on an Ubuntu system would be to install the latest Nouveau git extract, NOTHING ELSE! Due to the dpkg packaging system, current lack of dkms support and quirks of the Nvidia text-mode-only installer, there's one thing to do about Nvidia-provided drivers on Ubuntu:

Don't. Touch.

On other distributions like Fedora or Gentoo, ok. Not 'buntu.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to mitch074
nss000   11-18-2009 at 05:01:21 AM
- 0 +

mitch074 wrote :

Oy! You're being hard on the guy, he's new! And Jonny6001, don't go and download external packages/driver installers, you're in for a far too rough ride!

In Ubuntu, you have a 'restricted drivers' applet in the System>Administration menu; in here, it'll propose you to make use of a tested Nvidia proprietary driver, which will work much better than the Free driver you're currently using (also proposed by Nvidia, but which is extremely limited). Select it, wait for it to download and install, and reboot when prompted.

There, it's done, your screen size should be correctly detected, you'll have accelerated 3D for desktop effects, and the driver will be correctly configured on future system updates.

Now, guys: the ONLY reason one would want to manually install a driver for Nvidia hardware on an Ubuntu system would be to install the latest Nouveau git extract, NOTHING ELSE! Due to the dpkg packaging system, current lack of dkms support and quirks of the Nvidia text-mode-only installer, there's one thing to do about Nvidia-provided drivers on Ubuntu:

Don't. Touch.

On other distributions like Fedora or Gentoo, ok. Not 'buntu.




Yes, you're certainly telling the truth about attempted "direct install" of native NV-drivers. I did it on U_9.04 and survived ONLY by updating to KK-9.1 ... my xserver / GDM got so hosed. For **one day** I had the fastest BFG_9800-gtx+ in town ... then came the TEXT SCREENS !!

FYI: The current KK_9.1 update DOES automagically install up-to-date NV_190.xx drivers for those with modern vidcards.

Reply to nss000
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