IT News & Technology update

RadeonHD Video Driver 1.2.0 Released

Written by IT News on 11:00 AM

By: Marius Nestor, Linux Editor

RadeonHD video driver version 1.2.0, it was announced last night at X.org Foundation website. RadeonHD also known as video-xf86 radeonhd and this X.org video driver for the R500 and the new ATI graphics devices. Currently, Novell developed for AMD.

In RadeonHD video driver supports full
modesetting (read: any mode stuff, and not just those in the BIOS), which is compatible with back RandR 1.2. However, it still lacks the more advanced features such as 2D, 3D and video acceleration as information for such implementation has not been allocated yet.

What's new in this release?

• Added support for RV620, RV635, and R680;
• Added 2D acceleration for R5xx (including RS6xx), both XAA and EXA;
• Added support for DDIA block (second digital output) on RS690;
• Added support for interlaced modes;
• Added additional layers for splitting outputs into encoders and transmitters as needed for new hardware;
• Added support for DragonFly BSD;
• Improved RandR corner cases;
• Improved handling of secondary cards;
• Implemented foundation work for future TV support;
• Huge number of bugfixes and minor updates.

You can download and install it in the public domain video driver for the ATI / AMD graphics cards from here. However, you should be aware of the known bugs and limitations.

Nvidia Linux Display Driver 173.08 Beta Released

Written by IT News on 12:37 PM

By: Marius Nestor, Linux Editor

Nvidia, the world leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, has released a new beta version of its Linux video driver, 173.08 option, which provides some support for GeForce 9800, 9600, 9500 and 8400 graphics cards, among other corrections and improvements. But we better take a closer look
the main contents of this beta:

• Added support for the following new GPUs:
· Quadro FX 3600M
· GeForce 9800 GX2
· GeForce 9800 GTX
· GeForce 9600 GT
· GeForce 9500M GS
· GeForce 8400
· GeForce 8400 GS

• Added support for Quadro FX 5600/4600 SDI and Quadro G-Sync II;
• Fixed a problem that caused OpenGL to stop rendering to windows with origins at or beyond 4096 pixels (horizontally) on GeForce 8 and 9 GPUs;
• Fixed OpenGL rendering corruption with textures compressed using the DXT5 compression algorithm;
• Fixed a regression that caused invalid EDIDs to be detected for the internal display device on some notebooks;
• Improved hotkey switching and power management support on some GeForce 8 notebooks;
• Fixed a bug that prevented the console from being restored correctly in SLI mode on GeForce 6 and 7 GPUs;
• Fixed a problem that caused the synchronization signal polarity to always be positive for DVI devices on GeForce 8 and 9 GPUs;
• Fixed a problem that caused TV output on secondary TVs to be black and white on some GPUs;
• Restored compatibility with recent Linux 2.6 kernels.

As you can see, this new driver fixes some important bugs and brings support for Linux kernel 2.6.25, which will be in its final version quite sooner then you think.

Download Nvidia driver for linux

Nvidia Linux Display Driver 169.09 Released

Written by IT News on 3:46 PM

Fixes important bugs!
by: Marius Nestor, Linux Editor | softpedia.com

One month ago, Nvidia, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, released version 169.07 of their popular video driver, which introduced support for GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GTS 512 and GeForce 8800M graphic cards (among other bugfixes and improvements).

Two days ago, they released a new driver, the Nvidia Linux Display Driver version 169.09, which is actually more like a patch for that wicked 100% fan speed bug encountered in all GeForce 8 cards. This bug was introduced in the previous release!

The highlists of this release are:

• Fixed a problem causing the fan on some GPUs to always run at full speed.
• Fixed a bug that caused the X driver to crash if the X.Org GLX extension module was loaded instead of NVIDIA's.
• Improved the X driver's awareness of the current notebook docking status.
• Fixed brightness control on HP Compaq notebooks.
• Fixed a bug in the Linux/i2c algorithm driver implementation that prevented core transfer types from succeeding.

As you can see, this new driver fixes another important bug which caused a crash if the GLX extension module was loaded instead of NVIDIA's one. Moreover, the brightness control for HP Compaq laptops is fixed now.

How to install?

Log out of your current session and hit CTRL+ALT+F1 key combination, in order to enter a text mode session. Log in as root (System Administrator), go to the folder where you've downloaded the Nvidia driver installer and type:

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-169.09-pkg1.run
Then, follow the on-screen instructions to install the video driver.

I guess Nvidia made some Linux users (read: GeForce 8 users) happy with this driver which will let them fully enjoy their video cards capabilities.

Download the NVidia display driver for IA32 architecture right now from Softpedia.
Download the NVidia display driver for AMD64/EM64T architecture right now from Softpedia.