131 lines
5.6 KiB
HTML
131 lines
5.6 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta name="generator" content=
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"HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1 September 2005), see www.w3.org">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
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"text/html; charset=us-ascii">
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<title>Chapter 17. Using the NVIDIA Driver with Optimus
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Laptops</title>
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<meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.68.1">
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<link rel="start" href="index.html" title=
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"NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver README and Installation Guide">
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<link rel="up" href="installationandconfiguration.html" title=
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"Part I. Installation and Configuration Instructions">
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<link rel="prev" href="configlaptop.html" title=
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"Chapter 16. Configuring a Notebook">
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<link rel="next" href="programmingmodes.html" title=
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"Chapter 18. Programming Modes">
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</head>
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<body>
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<div class="navheader">
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<table width="100%" summary="Navigation header">
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<tr>
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<th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter 17. Using the
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NVIDIA Driver with Optimus Laptops</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href=
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"configlaptop.html">Prev</a> </td>
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<th width="60%" align="center">Part I. Installation and
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Configuration Instructions</th>
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<td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href=
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"programmingmodes.html">Next</a></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<hr></div>
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<div class="chapter" lang="en">
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<div class="titlepage">
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<div>
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<div>
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<h2 class="title"><a name="optimus" id=
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"optimus"></a>Chapter 17. Using the NVIDIA Driver with
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Optimus Laptops</h2>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<p>Some laptops with NVIDIA GPUs make use of Optimus technology to
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allow switching between an integrated GPU and a discrete NVIDIA
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GPU. The NVIDIA Linux driver can be used on these systems.</p>
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<h3>Installing the NVIDIA Driver on an Optimus Laptop</h3>
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<p>The driver may be installed normally on Optimus systems, but the
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NVIDIA X driver and the NVIDIA OpenGL driver may not be able to
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display to the laptop's internal display panel unless a means to
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connect the panel to the NVIDIA GPU (for example, a hardware
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multiplexer, or "mux", often controllable by a BIOS setting) is
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available. On systems without a mux, the NVIDIA GPU can still be
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useful for offscreen rendering, PRIME render offload, running CUDA
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applications, and other uses that don't require driving a
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display.</p>
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<p>On muxless Optimus laptops, or on laptops where a mux is
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present, but not set to drive the internal display from the NVIDIA
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GPU, the internal display is driven by the integrated GPU. On these
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systems, it's important that the X server not be configured to use
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the NVIDIA X driver after the driver is installed. Instead, the
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correct driver for the integrated GPU should be used. Often, this
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can be determined automatically by the X server, and no explicit
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configuration is required, especially on newer X server versions.
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If your X server autoselects the NVIDIA X driver after
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installation, you may need to explicitly select the driver for your
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integrated GPU.</p>
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<p>As an alternative to using only the integrated graphics device,
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support for the display output source functionality provided by the
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X Resize and Rotate extension version 1.4 is available. This
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functionality allows for graphics to be rendered on the NVIDIA GPU
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and displayed on the integrated graphics device. For information on
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how to use this functionality, see <a href="randr14.html" title=
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"Chapter 34. Offloading Graphics Display with RandR 1.4">Chapter 34,
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<i>Offloading Graphics Display with RandR 1.4</i></a>.</p>
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<p>A second alternative is to use PRIME render offload, such that
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the integrated graphics device is used to drive the X screen, but
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the NVIDIA GPU is used on a per-application basis to accelerate
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rendering of specific applications. For details, see <a href=
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"primerenderoffload.html" title=
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"Chapter 35. PRIME Render Offload">Chapter 35,
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<i>PRIME Render Offload</i></a>.</p>
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<h3>Loading the Kernel Module and Creating the Device Files without
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X</h3>
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<p>In order for programs that use the NVIDIA driver to work
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correctly (e.g.: X, OpenGL, and CUDA applications), the kernel
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module must be loaded, and the device files <code class=
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"filename">/dev/nvidiactl</code> and <code class=
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"filename">/dev/nvidia[0-9]+</code> must exist with read and write
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permissions for any users of such applications. If the setuid root
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nvidia-modprobe(1) utility is installed (the default when the
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driver is installed from .run file), this should be handled
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automatically. Otherwise, the kernel module will need to be loaded,
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and the device files created, through your Linux distribution's
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mechanisms.</p>
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<p>See <a href="faq.html#devicenodes">“How and when are the
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NVIDIA device files created?”</a> for more information.</p>
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<p>Note that on some Optimus notebooks the driver may fail to
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initialize the GPU due to system-specific ACPI interaction
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problems: see <a href=
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"commonproblems.html#optimusacpivbios">“Why does the VBIOS
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fail to load on my Optimus system?”</a> for more
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information.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="navfooter">
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<hr>
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<table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer">
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<tr>
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<td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href=
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"configlaptop.html">Prev</a> </td>
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<td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href=
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"installationandconfiguration.html">Up</a></td>
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<td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href=
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"programmingmodes.html">Next</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">
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Chapter 16. Configuring a Notebook </td>
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<td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href=
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"index.html">Home</a></td>
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<td width="40%" align="right" valign="top">
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Chapter 18. Programming Modes</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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