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| #TITLE Restricted Drivers |
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| Some graphics hardware (aka video cards) may need restricted (non-Free) drivers, even though these drivers are not part of the open source community and cannot be fixed by open source software developers. If you encounter bugs with these closed-source drivers, developers '''will not be able or even willing''' to assist you in resolving your issues. Use at your own risk. | Some graphics hardware (aka video cards) may need restricted (non-Free) drivers, even though these drivers are not part of the open source community and cannot be fixed by open source software developers. If you encounter bugs with these closed-source drivers, developers won't be able to help you out due to the closed nature of the code that makes the drivers work. You may be able to gain support from the manufacturer itself if it has published the driver itself. = Installing Restricted Drivers = Most of the time, Ubuntu will detect the need to install a restricted driver automatically. You'll see a notification on the system tray asking you to review what drivers are to be installed, and Ubuntu will take care of downloading and installing them. |
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| From this output, you should be able to discern your video card brand and model to choose the proper section below. | |
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| (!) The following sections refer to video drivers first by their package name, then by the identifier in parentheses. The identifier is how the driver is named in the xorg.conf and when reconfiguring X, and is how the driver is referred to afterward whenever possible. = Manufacturers = |
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| If you have an intel video chip, you do not need a restricted video driver. Intel's official driver is Free Software (open source) and is bundled with Ubuntu (and most other distributions). There are two intel drivers available: * xserver-xorg-video-i810 (identifier: i810) - This is the intel driver included in all ubuntu versions up to 7.04 (Feisty). * xserver-xorg-video-intel (identifier: intel) - This is a newer version of that driver which adds better resolution-setting support. It is available in Feisty's Universe component for those who wish to try it and will be default in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy). |
If you have an Intel video chip, you do not need a restricted video driver. Intel's official driver is Free Software (open source) and is bundled with Ubuntu (and most other distributions). There are two Intel drivers available: * xserver-xorg-video-i810 (identifier: i810) - This is the Intel driver included in all Ubuntu versions up to Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn). * xserver-xorg-video-intel (identifier: intel) - This is a newer version of that driver which adds better resolution-setting support. It is available in Feisty's Universe component for those who wish to try it and will be default in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy gibbon). |
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| Ubuntu ships with the open source xserver-xorg-video-nv driver (xorg.conf name: nv). This driver does not provide 3d acceleration, and lacks support for other aspects of NVIDIA hardware. As of Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty), there are three versions of the restricted NVIDIA driver available: * nvidia-glx-legacy (identifier: nvidia) - This is version 7184 of NVIDIA driver, required for some Geforce 2 cards and older * nvidia-glx (identifier: nvidia) - This is version 9631 of the NVIDIA driver, which supports some Geforce 2, through the Geforce 7 series * nvidia-glx-new (identifier: nvidia) - This is version 9755 of the NVIDIA driver, which supports the Geforce 5 (FX) series and above. (!) For a complete list of NVIDIA cards to choose which driver to use: [http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-9755/README/appendix-a.html NVIDIA: Appendix A]. |
Ubuntu ships with the open source xserver-xorg-video-nv driver (identifier: nv). This driver does not provide 3d acceleration, and lacks support for other aspects of NVIDIA hardware. |
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| * Pre-radeon - Cards older than the original Radeon 7000 (such as the Rage cards) have no 3d acceleration available. * Radeon R100 to R200 - Cards in this range (Radeon 7000 to Radeon 9250) should use the open source ati driver which is the default on Ubuntu. This driver provides full 3d acceleration and is fully capable of running a [:"CompositeManager":composite manager]. Older versions of fglrx (in 6.10 and older) supported the r200 series (Radeon 8500+), but it is practically impossible to use this driver on 7.04 (Feisty), and there is very little reason to do so. * Radeon R300 to R400 - For cards in this range (Radeon 9500 to Radeon X850), you have a choice between the open source ati driver and the ATI restricted driver (fglrx). * Fglrx provides faster and more complete 3d acceleration, better resolution support (particularly for LCD displays), and TV-out support. However, fglrx has a number of serious bugs that may make normal desktop usage unpleasant. * If you wish only to run a [:"CompositeManager":composite manager], the free driver may be a better choice than fglrx because it supports AIGLX, which allows you to use compiz/beryl simply and painlessly. It is important to note that, unlike the free driver for older radeons, the the free driver for this series was written through reverse-engineering without access to hardware specifications (and with no assistance from ATI). This means that the quality of this driver varies greatly by model, and the only sure way to know that it will work well is to ''try'' it. * Radeon Xpress Series (RS480) - For this series you must use fglrx to gain 3d acceleration because of its unique memory architecture. As of feisty, the free ati driver does not yet support it, although significant progress is being made for future releases * Radeon R500 - Radeon X1000+ cards have no support at all (not even 2d) in the free ati driver, so you must either use vesa (a generic driver) or fglrx. |
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| <!> Installing fglrx on a card older than the Radeon 9500 will only break your 3d acceleration with the free ati driver | <!> Installing fglrx on a card older than the Radeon 9500 will only break your 3d acceleration with the free ATI driver |
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| To install the restricted ATI driver (fglrx), see ["RestrictedDrivers/ATI"]. | To install the restricted ATI driver (fglrx) and to determine whether to use it: see ["RestrictedDrivers/ATI"]. |
ContentsBRTableOfContents |
Some graphics hardware (aka video cards) may need restricted (non-Free) drivers, even though these drivers are not part of the open source community and cannot be fixed by open source software developers. If you encounter bugs with these closed-source drivers, developers won't be able to help you out due to the closed nature of the code that makes the drivers work. You may be able to gain support from the manufacturer itself if it has published the driver itself.
Installing Restricted Drivers
Most of the time, Ubuntu will detect the need to install a restricted driver automatically. You'll see a notification on the system tray asking you to review what drivers are to be installed, and Ubuntu will take care of downloading and installing them.
Should I install a restricted video driver?
The answer to this question is dependent on what video card you have, what you want to do with it, and (perhaps most importantly) personal choice. To determine exactly which video card you have, open a Terminal and enter this command:
lspci | grep VGA
That will return something similar to:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
From this output, you should be able to discern your video card brand and model to choose the proper section below.
The following sections refer to video drivers first by their package name, then by the identifier in parentheses. The identifier is how the driver is named in the xorg.conf and when reconfiguring X, and is how the driver is referred to afterward whenever possible.
Manufacturers
Intel
If you have an Intel video chip, you do not need a restricted video driver. Intel's official driver is Free Software (open source) and is bundled with Ubuntu (and most other distributions). There are two Intel drivers available:
- xserver-xorg-video-i810 (identifier: i810) - This is the Intel driver included in all Ubuntu versions up to Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn).
- xserver-xorg-video-intel (identifier: intel) - This is a newer version of that driver which adds better resolution-setting support. It is available in Feisty's Universe component for those who wish to try it and will be default in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy gibbon).
Installing the binary NVIDIA or ATI driver will only break the 3d acceleration provided by the Intel driver.
NVIDIA
Ubuntu ships with the open source xserver-xorg-video-nv driver (identifier: nv). This driver does not provide 3d acceleration, and lacks support for other aspects of NVIDIA hardware.
To install the restricted NVIDIA driver, see ["RestrictedDrivers/NVIDIA"].
ATI
Ubuntu ships with the open source xserver-xorg-video-ati driver (identifier: ati). This driver provides 3d acceleration through the Radeon X850. (R100 to R400 chips). For newer cards, you must use the ATI restricted driver, xorg-driver-fglrx (identifier: fglrx)
Installing fglrx on a card older than the Radeon 9500 will only break your 3d acceleration with the free ATI driver
To install the restricted ATI driver (fglrx) and to determine whether to use it: see ["RestrictedDrivers/ATI"].