Configuring graphics cards

From openSUSE

Introduction

A driver is one of the most important aspects of communication between hardware peripherals and software. While there are many types of drivers, including those for audio and sound cards, as well as printers, this article focuses on graphics card drivers (sometimes referred to as video drivers). This specific driver is used to send commands and return information between the graphics card located on the motherboard, and OpenSUSE. Because hardware cannot interact on its own with software, the driver acts as a translator. This communication process is a two way process in which information is sent to the graphics cards, and in return, information is sent from the graphics card to the operating system.

The last step of the process is sending the information to a display device, such as a monitor. Improper driver installation or failure to configure a video driver can cause display issues, and in some cases cause the GUI (Graphic User Interface) to not load. This lack of a working driver is one of the common issues that can cause X-Server errors, and may allow users only to use the CLI (Command Line Interface), which acts essentially as a terminal. Fortunately, the two major producers of graphics cards, Nvidia and ATI, both have supported packages for drivers. This process of installing the driver has been made even easier through the creation of 1-Click Installers for both packages. Once the driver has been installed, the last step is to configure the driver to work properly. Below is the walkthrough for the GUI version of the installation and configuration. For more information on configuration settings or on how to install and configure the drivers through the CLI, please refer to Further Information.

Download & Installation

Fortunately, the two most widely used graphics card, Nvidia and ATI, are both supported with 1-Click Installers. This makes the process much smoother and much more simple than compiling the drivers from scratch. The first step to install your drivers is to download the RPM package that corresponds to your graphics card. Below are the Nvidia and ATI Wiki pages, which contain the 1-Click Installers. Note that Nvidia supports 2 installers: one for normal cards and another for legacy card. Be sure to check if your graphics card is on the legacy card list. If you do not know the model of your graphics card, open a terminal window and issue the following command:

su -c 'hwinfo --gfxcard' 

Enter the root password when prompted and then refer to the model output.

• Nvidia
• ATI

Once you download the 1-Click Install that corresponds to your graphics card, the YaST Meta Package Handler will initialize your installation by default. If this process does not automatically start, open a file browser, such as Nautilus or Konqueror, right-click on the package, and then select Open with "YaST Meta Package Handler." With the Package Handler (Software Management menu item) started, YaST will walk you through the process of installing the repositories required and the package itself. This should only take a minute or two to complete, and then you are ready to configure your system with the new driver.

Configuration

Now that the driver is installed, completely reboot your system (logging out will not suffice). Wait for the system to reload and log back in as a normal user. Open a terminal window and issue the su and then your root password when prompted to become gain root permissions. Once you have the required permissions, enter the following command into your terminal window...

init 3

This command will close the X-Server and load the CLI (Command Line Interface). By doing this, all open windows will be closed and all unsaved data will be lost, so be sure you have saved everything you need to before issuing this command. Now that you are in the CLI, enter your username and password to login, and then issue su command and your root password to gain root permissions. Next, enter the following command...

sax2 -r

This will load SaX2 and configure your graphic and visual settings. Once access is granted to your screen, SaX2 will open a window that will present you with the options, such as resolution, 3D Acceleration (which is required to run desktop enhancement programs, such as Compiz-Fusion) and Dual Head Mode required to run multiple monitors on your system. For more information, refer to the SaX2 page. Once you have configured your settings correctly and to your liking, press the OK button on the bottom-right of the window, and then press the Save button in the exiting prompt. Now that SaX2 is configured, the changes made will take effect the next time the X-Server loads. Now we must exit the root permissions and change to run-level 5 (which will start the X-Server). If root permissions are not exited, then you will be logged in as a root user when X-Server loads. Both commands have been combined into a single command below. Enter the following into the terminal:

exit; init 5

This will change the run-level to 5 and load your X-Server (thus, the default desktop environment) and bring you to your desktop.

Further Information

For more information, please refer to the following topics:

• Installing through the CLI
• Adjusting monitor Settings
• 3D Acceleration information
• Dual head mode configuration
• General troubleshooting

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_driver
2. http://www.pcguide.com/ref/video/3dNeed-c.html
3. http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/dri-howto.xml
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-monitor
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Display_Power_Management_Signaling