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Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an option?
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 4:55 pm
by newkansan
I have played with MX-14 in a virtual environment and am really happy with it. I'd like to try it on an older laptop with an nvidia Geforce 8200M graphics chip. This laptop currently has Xubuntu 14.04 installed. Xubuntu defaulted to the latest nvidia driver when I first installed the OS, which is not compatible with the 8200M (at least on this laptop). I had to manually select the 304.x driver, which is the latest that works well with this graphics chip. I'm just wondering (never having run MX-14's nvidia installer) if I'll be presented with the option to install the 304.x driver revision.
Thanks!
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:09 pm
by kmathern
MX-14's nvidia installer ('Nvidia_Install' in the Whiskermenu) doesn't have any options.
It uses nvidia-detect to determine which version of the nvidia driver to install.
For your Geforce 8200M it will probably install the 319.82 version nvidia driver.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:22 pm
by newkansan
Thanks for the quick response. I will give the install a shot on a spare hdd then. That way if the nvidia driver it chooses does not play nice, I can just swap the original hdd back in and go back to previous OS. Here's hoping it works!
Regards.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:27 pm
by kmathern
You can test the nvidia install in a Live session (LiveCD, LiveDVD, LiveUSB) if you boot it with the nouveau driver disabled (though I forget what option that is right now).
Run Nvidia_Install, logout of Xfce4, and then log back into Xfce4.
If it installed correctly you'll be using the nvidia driver when you log back into Xfce4.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:50 pm
by BitJam
kmathern wrote:You can test the nvidia install in a Live session (LiveCD, LiveDVD, LiveUSB) if you boot it with the nouveau driver disabled (though I forget what option that is right now).
Use either "F5 Video Mode" --> "safe" or "F5 Video Mode" --> "vesa". The first should prevent nouveau from grabbing the consoles but it can still be used for the X-server. The 2nd uses the vesa driver for the X-server in addition to keeping nouveau off the consoles so it should keep nouveau from being used at all.
I think either one will serve your purpose but I'm not 100% certain of the first. If you try it, let us know if it works or not.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 6:42 pm
by joany
FWIW, the NVidia web site states that the 340.24 driver is compatible with the 8200M GPU, so the NVidia installer may very well select that version for you. You may have to manually override the selection.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 6:55 pm
by kmathern
joany wrote:FWIW, the NVidia web site states that the 340.24 driver is compatible with the 8200M GPU, so the NVidia installer may very well select that version for you. You may have to manually override the selection.
For a Geforce 8200M card, MX-14's Nvidia_Install script installs the nvidia-driver package from the wheezy-backports repo. Currently that package is at the
319.82-1~bpo70+2 version.
Code: Select all
$ apt-cache policy nvidia-driver
nvidia-driver:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 319.82-1~bpo70+2
Version table:
319.82-1~bpo70+2 0
500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports/non-free i386 Packages
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 4:31 pm
by newkansan
Thanks for the help, friends. It did install 319.82 and it worked just fine. I don't believe *buntu had that version as an option at the time I tested...it was 176 (legacy), 304, and 331. 331 seemed not to work with the 8200M well...the adaptive performance setting was not ramping down to lower clock speeds, causing overheating and eventual lockup. 304 did not have this issue, so I was reluctant to try anything >304. But, looks like 319 performs even better, as Minecraft FPS is noticeably better under MX-14 than under Xubuntu 14.04. Overall, the laptop is running faster and cooler. Great distro! The only other issue was with initial wifi detection, but I got that sorted out and it works fine now as well. The other thing I like about MX-14 is the more conservative package updates. I'm tired of the kernel upgrade hell that *buntu has become.
Thx guys.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:24 pm
by lucky9
They do seem to put out a new kernel every time they put out an upgrade package.
Re: Does the nvidia installer offer version 304.x as an opti
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:53 pm
by kmathern
newkansan wrote:Thanks for the help, friends. It did install 319.82 and it worked just fine. I don't believe *buntu had that version as an option at the time I tested...it was 176 (legacy), 304, and 331. 331 seemed not to work with the 8200M well...the adaptive performance setting was not ramping down to lower clock speeds, causing overheating and eventual lockup. 304 did not have this issue, so I was reluctant to try anything >304. But, looks like 319 performs even better, as Minecraft FPS is noticeably better under MX-14 than under Xubuntu 14.04. Overall, the laptop is running faster and cooler. Great distro! The only other issue was with initial wifi detection, but I got that sorted out and it works fine now as well. The other thing I like about MX-14 is the more conservative package updates. I'm tired of the kernel upgrade hell that *buntu has become.
Thx guys.
Actually the 340.xx version nvidia driver that Joany mentioned should work with a Geforce 8200M card, because it's going to be the next nvidia legacy driver for 8xxx & 9xxx GeForce cards.
https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topi ... t2xx-gpus/