Nvidia Settings

====Nvidia Settings====

Occasionally I have seen questions about Nvidia that go unanswered for various reasons. The most common reason is that there are so many different cards for Nvidia, and the settings for individual cards can be dramatically different from one another. However, there are numerous items that are the same for everybody.

To start, here are some great Nvidia resources you may find useful. I did.

Link to the Linux Nvidia forums
Basic linux driver set ‘read me’ http://http.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8178/README/index.html
Nvidia performance and power saving tips http://tutanhamon.com.ua/technovodstvo/NVIDIA-UNIX-driver/
Nvidia-settings ‘man page’: http://linux.die.net/man/1/nvidia-settings
Nvidia x-config options http://linux.die.net/man/1/nvidia-xconfig
Nvidia GEForce performance problem ‘read me’ http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=118088
sidux dmakms option http://www.sidux.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-13770-sid-9131514c81f72807392f389fb2d388ba.html
More settings info for experienced users http://cgit.freedesktop.org/~aplattner/nvidia-settings/tree/src/libXNVCtrl/NVCtrl.h
Link to smxi script – Automates a bunch of processes, including the installation of nvidia drivers http://smxi.org/

====Nvidia Settings Utility====

The Nvidia non-free drivers come with a utility for changing the settings on your Nvidia card.
Nvidia-settings can be called from a terminal by typing ‘nvidia-settings’. A separate dialog will open allowing access to the most common display features.

To see your current values, use the ‘query’ command. In a terminal:

nvidia-settings -q all

The most frequently asked question I see about nvidia-settings is how to save your settings and have your settings enabled at startup.
The ‘Nvidia-settings’ display values are stored by default in ~/.nvidia-settings-rc, and will be re-generated every time you restart the X server (logging in, restarting computer, etc . . .) This is the correct behavior per Nvidia, but a real pain when you are the only user of your computer.
Fortunately, there are a couple of different ways to specify personal settings and make them stick. One of the easiest is to specify:

nvidia-settings –load-config-only &

in your ~/.xinitrc file, or in ~/.kderc (KDE) or in ~/.gnomerc, etc… (Fluxbox users can place code options in their ~/.fluxbox/startup file).

Doing so will force Nvidia to only use your ~/.nvidia-settings-rc for display values. I have personally found some inconsistencies with this method due to outside variables, and instead specify those settings I want active for my card directly into my startup file.

My card is a nvidia GE Force 7300 card with the latest 180.xx driver. Below are my specified settings in my ~/.fluxbox/startup file.

**WARNING!** The values for the code options below are for MY CARD ONLY! The code format is correct for everybody, but the values I use match my Nvidia card specifically, and could harm your system if not adjusted for your card.
Use the above links if you are unsure what capabilities your card has, and the correct settings for your nvidia card.

#nvidia-settings –load-config-only &
#nvidia-settings -a FSAAAppControlled=0 &
#nvidia-settings -a FSAA=8 &
nvidia-settings -a LogAnisoAppControlled=0 &
nvidia-settings -a LogAniso=4 &
#nvidia-settings -a TextureSharpen=1 &
nvidia-settings -a InitialPixmapPlacement=2 &
nvidia-settings -a GlyphCache=1 &
##nvidia-settings -a GPUOverclockingState=1 &
##nvidia-settings -a GPU2DClockFreqs=582,720 &
##nvidia-settings -a GPU3DClockFreqs=582,720 &

By default, antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are controlled by your application settings (i.e. Iceweasel). For the most part these work very well. I have found that using my nvidia card to control the ‘anisotropic filter’ settings seems to give me a better display, hence:

nvidia-settings -a LogAnisoAppControlled=0 &
nvidia-settings -a LogAniso=4 &

If you are using an nvidia GE Force 6x or 7x card, you may benefit from enabling

nvidia-settings -a InitialPixmapPlacement=2 &

for better 2d performance. This is no longer required on the GE Force 8x and 9x cards, as it is enabled by default. If you have a 6x or 7x card (e.g. GE Force 6200 or GE Force 7300), and want to see if this is needed, you can paste

nvidia-settings -q InitialPixmapPlacement

into a terminal. If the output shows this set to 1, you might wish to consider adding the above relevent code lines to your startup file.

NOTE* Backup any file you make changes to, and DO NOT CHANGE ANY FILE unless you understand how to backup, and more importantly, how to replace your file with the backup copy from the command line in case of problems. Nano and MC are wonderful tools . . .

====Overclocking====

In order to use the overclocking feature of your nvidia card, you will need to make sure that

Option “Coolbits” “1″

is placed in the ‘device’ section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf. ‘Coolbits’ allows the changing of certain nvidia card settings that can be dangerous to use, and are probably not neccesary for everyday use. I’m all about tweaking my setup for speed, but I do NOT have this enabled at the moment as it puts strain on your card, uses more energy, and has not impacted my card performance in any meaningful way. Newer cards dynamically adjust their power settings as needed making this pointless.

##nvidia-settings -a GPUOverclockingState=1 &
##nvidia-settings -a GPU2DClockFreqs=582,720 &
##nvidia-settings -a GPU3DClockFreqs=582,720 &

The first setting simply states that the overclocking feature is enabled, the second and third lines set the values for your 2D and 3D clock speeds. MINE WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU!!

Once you have enabled the ability to overclock, enter nvidia-settings and look for the overclocking feature. There is an option to have nvidia-settings determine the fastest reliable clock rate for your card. You can also search the above links for more info about your particular card. NOTE* Not every nvidia card supports overclocking.

Remember, these lines need to be placed in your ~/.xinitrc file, or in ~/.kderc (KDE) or in ~/.gnomerc, etc… (Fluxbox users can place code options in their ~/.fluxbox/startup file).

After setting up your card options in your startup file, you may want to Look in ~/.xsession-errors to see if the values you have chosen are being used properly. Here is the output of my ~/.xsession-errors showing everything starting up fine.

Attribute ‘LogAnisoAppControlled’ (sid:0.0) assigned value 0.
Attribute ‘InitialPixmapPlacement’ (sid:0.0) assigned value 2.
Attribute ‘LogAniso’ (sid:0.0) assigned value 4.

===nvidia-xconfig===

To change your resolution, you can look at:

man nvidia-xconfig

This is the utility that allows Nvidia to collect info about your devices, and write a proper xorg.conf.

Typing:

nvidia-xconfig

as root in a terminal will tell nvidia to regenerate the file. Watch for errors.

nvidia-xconfig –mode=1280×1024

tells Nvidia to add this mode line to your xorg.conf

Good luck!

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