Nvidia linux driver

Nvidia Adds Update Feature To Linux Drivers

Nvidia has attempted to simplify the task of updating Linux drivers by integrating an update feature directly into its own graphics software driver.

Beginning today, version 1.4349 of Nvidia's Detonator drivers for Linux will allow users to easily upgrade their drivers when and if they shift kernel revisions or graphics hardware, or if Nvidia releases a new version of the software.

"Linux drivers are cumbersome to set up," said Andrew Fear, a software product manager at Nvidia.

Unlike Microsoft's Windows Update feature, the Nvidia drivers use a "pull" model, where users have to know that Nvidia has published a new driver. Once the updater is triggered, however, the software polls the system for the appropriate hardware and software kernel, sends a request up to Nvidia's FTP server, and downloads the new driver if one is available.

"The number one question is what to install and how to install it right," Fear said. "That knocks 85 percent of the requests on support forums. If you knock those out of the way, everybody benefits."

The new driver does come with a price, of sorts. Although Linux has become a popular OS choice for older systems that can't tolerate the high memory requirements of Windows, adding the update feature has bumped up the driver size. Previous Nvidia drivers were about 400 Kbytes in size; the new version requires about 6 Mbytes, Fear said.

Nvidia has included an uninstall feature, for the odd occasion where new drivers accidentally lower performance. Fear also said that users can tweak up to 20 command parameters, and write their own fron-end code to query the Nvidia server every so often, essentially turning the "pull" model the driver uses into an automated "push" feature.

Currently the driver is only available for IA-32 processors: the Pentium III, the Pentium 4, and the Athlon family, Fear said. "Not a lot of people are running Itanium processors," he said, although Itanium support is planned in the next few months, he said.

The next big Linux revision will be designing support for its nForce series of chipsets. When that happens, users will have a one-stop shop for updating their graphics, audio, networking, controller, and other drivers, Fear said. Nvidia does not have a timetable for nForce support, however.