Multihead and Nvidia Drivers

Chris Tyler's Blog

Multihead and Nvidia Drivers Sun, Feb 4. 2007


I recently updated the Nvidia drivers on my multihead Linux system and had a rude shock: the newest driver does not support my PCI-based Nvidia cards (two NV18's [GeForce4 MX 4000] and an NV17 [GeForce4 MX440]). After experimenting a bit, I realized that the Nvidia "Legacy" driver doesn't offer what I need either -- there seems to be a third driver, which is legacy-but-not-declared-legacy, the 96xx series. (On Livna, the package name for the driver is xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-96xx).


I think it's a mistake for Nvidia to stop supporting the GeForce4 video cards with the 'current' driver while those cards are still being sold. The PCI versions of the GeForce4 cards are great for multihead systems -- they have reasonable power consumption, are available in fanless versions, are inexpensive, and provide sufficient performance for basic 3D purposes (including Google Earth and even Compiz). I'm considering upgrading my 4-head home system system to a dual-core 64-bit motherboard with two PCI-Express x16 slots which will power two seats, and using two of the fanless PCI GeForce4 cards (from the existing system) for the other two seats, but I'm concerned about long-term driver support. It seems a shame to waste two perfectly good (and still available at Retail) video cards...

Posted by Chris Tyler in X Window System (X11) Comments: (2) Trackbacks: (0)

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#1 - Mickey 2007-03-12 05:26 - (Reply)

I had the same problem with my GeForce 2 MX. It was a great card from Compro with TV-in, TV-out, dual screen etc.

Because of missing support in new NVidia drivers, I had to stick with kernel 2.6.9 for a long time.

I got a new computer with PCIe graphics (passive GeForce 7600GS), and I don't have these problems any more, but I am missing my old GF2 :-)

#2 - Miles 2008-02-01 07:14 - (Reply)

I have found that PCI-e auto-negotiates links, this means that the x1 slots in your system can host newer, faster(and cheaper), but most importantly: supported cards.

I have done this by removing the rear key on the motherboard, and by removing the card's bus connector down to the x1 link size (front key is for all power, the rear is all signal pairs.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/nubie07/PCIEX1/photo#5054159711464753282

An alternative is to use a x1 -> x16 wearout adapter, or modify a x1 -> x1 wearout adapter, although this necessitates a case modification to anchor the cards (using low profile cards such as 6200/7300/7100 may allow the use of the extender with a custom bracket to fit in the space of a "normal" video card.)
$25 x1 -> x1 wearout adapter:
http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/express-wearout-extender-p-749.html

I have had 3 cards (2x 6600GT, and a 6200) installed and running on the above system, which is configured with 1 x16 and 2 x1 slots, even benchmarked with 3Dmark2001 and obtained some good results.


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