Checking my nVidia drivers?

Score · 10-04-2006, 05:38 PM

How do I check if my nVidia card is working properly? I have tried several ways to download the drivers for my GeForce 6200 card, but I am never convinced that they work due to error messages, or no clear messages telling me it was a successful installation. All my webpages, pictues, movies and such hangs up a little, like the rendering process is somehow slow or a little late...

In the xorg.conf file it says this:

Code:

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Videocard0"
	Driver      "nv"
	VendorName  "Videocard vendor"
	BoardName   "nVidia Corporation GeForce 6200 TurboCache(TM)"

Does that indicate that the drivers are working?

Thanks in advance!

pljvaldez · 10-04-2006, 06:18 PM

Typically, the "nv" driver is the open source nvidia kernel driver and does not perform 3D acceleration. Once you install the module and confirm it is loaded (hint - type lsmod and look for "nvidia"), then modify your xorg.conf file to read "nvidia" instead of "nv". After that, close all open programs and then hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to reboot your xserver. Then you can usually check it by typing glxgears -printfps

Score · 10-04-2006, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

Typically, the "nv" driver is the open source nvidia kernel driver and does not perform 3D acceleration. Once you install the module and confirm it is loaded (hint - type lsmod and look for "nvidia"), then modify your xorg.conf file to read "nvidia" instead of "nv". After that, close all open programs and then hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to reboot your xserver. Then you can usually check it by typing glxgears -printfps

Thank you. Where should I write lsmod? And I can't write anything in the xorg.conf file, I got no access to it. It's marked as read-only. How can I obtain permanent root access to all/that file so I can edit it??

I got the access to the file. Does this look correct?

Code:

glxgears
1100 frames in 5.5 seconds = 199.016 FPS
1140 frames in 5.3 seconds = 217.132 FPS
1140 frames in 5.2 seconds = 217.520 FPS
1140 frames in 5.3 seconds = 214.786 FPS
1026 frames in 5.0 seconds = 205.172 FPS

Thanks!

pljvaldez · 10-05-2006, 11:40 AM

Looking at the output of glxgears, it appears acceleration is not enabled. You should get something over 900 FPS when acceleration is working. Did you remember to restart your xserver (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace)? What is the output of lsmod (from a command line)?

Score · 10-06-2006, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

Looking at the output of glxgears, it appears acceleration is not enabled. You should get something over 900 FPS when acceleration is working. Did you remember to restart your xserver (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace)? What is the output of lsmod (from a command line)?

I tried another way to install them, a way I got from a how-to at the Fedora forum. Then my glxgears goes like this:

Code:

8642 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1728.210 FPS
8764 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1749.050 FPS
7511 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1502.135 FPS
14955 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2990.983 FPS
17118 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3423.588 FPS
12881 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2576.025 FPS
15108 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3021.477 FPS
17454 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3490.645 FPS
16349 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3269.735 FPS
13669 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2733.735 FPS

And yes, I did ctrl+alt+backspace after the installation, I even get a flash of the nVidia before the log-in screen appears.

Does it look better now?

pljvaldez · 10-06-2006, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Score

I even get a flash of the nVidia before the log-in screen appears.

Does it look better now?

Looks great! If you want to really test it out, try downloading a 3D intensive screensaver (like Really Slick Screensavers) or a 3D intensive game like BZFlag.