Nvidia Restricted driver installation.
I've used this procedure on different versions of Ubuntu. (8.04 / 8.10 / 9.04) and for different Nvidia Geforce cards (6600, 7300, 9500, ... ) and for all it is the same method. Just make sure you download the correct driver for your card.
- Before you start, backup your current xorg.conf file: sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup1
- Download the latest drivers for your version of Linux here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html (pick the right version and processor type)
- Open terminal screen
- Become root: sudo su
- kill the x server with: killall gdm (in case you run gnome desktop) ore use: kill -9 PID#
- Check with ps aux | grep gdm if all instances are really killed.
- make the downloaded file executable: chmod +x /your_download_location/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.17-pkg1.run
- Run the file: sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.17-pkg1.run If all is right and X indeed has been killed the program will do it's thing. You will have to recompile the driver. At the end you will be asked to configure xorg.conf. Go ahead and do that.
- Reboot or Restart X (reboot is the easiest just type reboot as root)
- When the system is rebooted; open terminal screen again. and type: sudo nvidia-settings Don't run the Nvidia settings from the menu, unless you have changed the menu item to run it as root. you need those permissions to write back the new settings you pick into your xorg.conf file.
- Select the settings you want (even dual screen) and save to xorg.conf
This should get you the beautiful 1920 x 1080 resolution the Acer Aspire 8920G delivers.
Hint, if you want to use dual screens, Twin view is an option but I would suggest to go for separate X screens. This has some disadvantages but allows you to run your laptop either in dual screen mode or single screen boot without to change the xorg.conf file. the machine is powerful enough to handle 2 X screens.
I suggest you to copy the new xorg.conf to a new backup file again.
NOTE:
Every time you update the kernel you will have to redo this process as the driver has been compiled in the current kernel manually.
If you have done many modifications to your xorg.conf file, I would suggest to copy it to a master file for later use. you can just copy that one back to xorg.conf after re-installing the Nvidia drivers. (saves you from doing all the settings again)
I attach my xorg.conf for Acer Aspire 8920G in Dual Screen mode as example (2 x screens: 1280x1024 external monitor and 1920x1080 laptop screen)
| File: /etc/X11/xorg.conf |
| # nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings # nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder57) Sun Dec 14 20:59:56 PST 2008 # nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig # nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder57) Sun Dec 14 20:59:00 PST 2008 Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Layout0" Screen 0 "Screen0" 1280 0 Screen 1 "Screen1" LeftOf "Screen0" InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" EndSection Section "Files" EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "extmod" Load "type1" Load "freetype" Load "glx" EndSection Section "ServerFlags" Option "Xinerama" "0" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # generated from default Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "auto" Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # generated from default Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Seiko" HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0 VertRefresh 60.0 Option "DPMS" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor1" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Philips 170S" HorizSync 30.0 - 83.0 VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "GeForce 9500M GS" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Screen 0 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device1" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "GeForce 9500M GS" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Screen 1 EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Device0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 Option "TwinView" "0" Option "metamodes" "DFP: 1920x1080_60 +0+0" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection Section "Screen" # Removed Option "metamodes" "CRT: nvidia-auto-select +0+0" Identifier "Screen1" Device "Device1" Monitor "Monitor1" DefaultDepth 24 Option "TwinView" "0" Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0" Option "metamodes" "CRT: 1280x1024_75 +0+0; CRT: nvidia-auto-select +0+0" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection |