Nvidia Removed Linux Driver Feature For Feature Parity With Windows 237
RemyBR writes "Softpedia points to a Nvidia Developer Zone forum post revealing that the company has removed a specific Linux feature as of the v310 drivers due to the Windows platform. A BaseMosaic user on Ubuntu 12.04 noticed a change in the number of displays that can be used simultaneously after upgrading from the v295 drivers to v310. Another user, apparently working for Nvidia, gave a very troubling answer: 'For feature parity between Windows and Linux we set BaseMosaic to 3 screens.'"
And this why communism doesn't work (Score:5, Funny)
It makes everyone equal with Windows.
Re: And this why communism doesn't work (Score:2, Insightful)
No. Free nouveou is communism. Binary blob is dictatorship
Re: And this why communism doesn't work (Score:2)
Your metaphor falls apart because I'm running free software that allows me to run either one.
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No, it would be communism if the nouveau project decreed that you couldn't run competing software (like nvidia's binary) and had the authority to enforce it. After all, it was developed by 'The People', and you will use and like it. Thankfully this is not the case. It's just too bad nvidia is removing functionality for idiotic reasons.
I think this comes down to: (Score:2)
I'd settle for making it compile with the 3.10 kernels... so I don't end up without a FUCKING GUI thanks NVIDIA.
I think this comes down to:
(1) When you change an API and break our software, you are an asshole
(2) When we change an API and break your software and you don't scramble to use the new API, we are forward thinkers contributing to progress
In the second case, it's clear that your code has "bitrotted", and it has nothing to do with the fact that we changed the API.
Thus: (Score:5, Insightful)
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What deal? The only deal would be between Nvidea and Microsoft, who I'm sure paid a princely sum to hide one of Windows' various deficiencies.
MS must be sacred shitless of Linux, especially since Linux-Android is kicking its ass in the phone and tablet market. MS has a long way to go to match Linux's and Linux's distros' feature sets.
Re:Thus: (Score:4, Informative)
What deal? The only deal would be between Nvidea and Microsoft, who I'm sure paid a princely sum to hide one of Windows' various deficiencies.
Why do that, when you control the Windows logo rules?
Windows must have a preferred status; features available to Windows users must surpass the list of features available to users of competing platforms; that is, as a condition of applying Windows logo certification to a qualifying hardware product, Hardware must have an experience or supported featureset on Windows that exceeds the user experience on any competing operating system.
Re:Thus: (Score:5, Insightful)
Now ask again why we need antitrust laws with teeth.
Re:Thus: (Score:5, Insightful)
They've got Balmer, we don't need antitrust laws.
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Could you give the source of your quote?
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This is not a quote. It is an implication; that behind closed doors, between vendors, there is an "arrangement" MS requires, and if they refuse to comply --- MS has the stick of refusing logo certification to their product ---- if nVidia doesn't get the Windows Logo; then neither do any of the hardware builders or OEMs using nVidia components; therefore, they are likely to ship someone else's hardware instead, so they can get the logo.
Some of the Logo certification requirements [microsoft.com]
As for multiple
Re:Thus: (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not a quote. It is an implication; that behind closed doors, between vendors, there is an "arrangement" MS requires, and if they refuse to comply --- MS has the stick of refusing logo certification to their product ---- if nVidia doesn't get the Windows Logo; then neither do any of the hardware builders or OEMs using nVidia components; therefore, they are likely to ship someone else's hardware instead, so they can get the logo.
In other words, you made up a phony quote that looks like it's copied straight from a real policy and got modded to +5 Informative, when instead it's just speculation on your part.
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It's well known that for 18 years (at least since 1996), that Microsoft doesn't want OpenGL to offer features that DirectX doesn't have. Some companies would be required to put the "brightest graduates" on DirectX projects rather than OpenGL ones - that's from interviews and direct employment.
Re: Thus: (Score:3)
Well from experience Microsoft has secret contract terms like this that repeatedly come out after years of competitive interests being shitcanned on support from hardware vendors or OEMS. So while this exact term may be made up, it most certainly EXISTS in their contracts... Because that's Microsoft's MO.
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I'm certainly no fan of Microsoft or Windows -- you can check my posting history to see that -- but it strikes me that the WHQL requirements could have a good reason and such an exception shouldn't be granted. In particular, it makes sense to me that the OS should be able to see multiple GPUs separately so that it can manage them itself.
I may not entirely know what I'm talking about, but I get the general impression that the real issue is that X delegates too much responsibility to the driver, and that the
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But doesn't Wayland get rid of all the remote desktop capabilities and whatnot too? I suppose I understand the need to break compatibility (in order to move to a more flexible driver model) but I don't understand the need to break compatibility gratuitously (by changing the API more than it absolutely has to) or the need to remove features.
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What advantages does Nvidia get by it's hardware carrying the Nvidia logo? Why do they care?
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I dare say buyers/suppliers are more fickle than you're giving them credit for.
Re:Thus: (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd love to know whether that's a real quote from the Windows logo rules. Unfortunately, a Google search for the text returns only one result: this comment. [Citation needed]
MicroSoft needs 3rd party for that? (Score:2)
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Do hardware drivers make the user experience so much better?
Yes.
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I'm sorry, let me rephrase that: Do hardware drivers make the user experience so much better? That must be one crappy operating system then....
Funny. If I read just this part of your comment, I wouldn't know whether you are criticizing Windows or Linux. This whole article is about hardware drivers affecting user experience!!
Re:MicroSoft needs 3rd party for that? (Score:5, Informative)
I think WHQL certification is mostly MS' way of pressuring component vendors to implement new features they want. For example; UEFI secure boot / OS signing, and preventing OSes such as Linux for booting, or providing TCPA / TCPM (Trusted Computing Platform Modules).
But that's not all. there are plenty of features. Whatever MS requires or forbids will be extremely influential, as computer manufacturers Want to be able to advertise their product using the Windows Logo; and they are required to use only Windows logo certified components in their systems, so a hardware vendor not getting the stamp of approval on their product can be harmful to their business.
MS will use their leverage to do what they think will improve the number of people buying their product --- that includes improving their user experience, or diminishing the user experience of old operating systems, or competing vendors' OS.
For example: making new hardware no longer compatible with XP or Windows 7 would be a win for them, because it encourages more sales of Windows 8.
The WHQL [microsoft.com] requirements are full of lists of features that must be supported and features that must not be supported by hardware.
In the former category; they list supposed business justifications, and it's all about user experience.
For the latter category; these are limitations of Windows, and the hardware is not allowed to have support for features outside of Windows' limitations.
In the middle category; there are features hardware vendors must ask for permission to implement; that is probably the safest category for MS to use to pressure vendors --- just withhold permission, until they agree to 'off the record' conditions.
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So what stops nVidia selling a not dissimilar card without this feature and with a penguin logo instead?
You're asking the wrong question. What benefit do they get by selling a not-dissimilar piece of silicon with a penguin logo instead? (And is that benefit greater than the cost?)
The cost of marketing and selling another product can be significant; especially, if they have to make sure the driver for the penguin logo product won't work on the Windows logo product.
I imagine most OEMs such as Dell,
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Whoosh [imdb.com]?
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No, I know where the quote comes from, it just wasn't applicable. Vader made a deal, Nvidea made no deal with Linux. Their only deals are with Microsoft, who are probably the Vader here (Darth Ballmer?).
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No, I know where the quote comes from, it just wasn't applicable. Vader made a deal, Nvidea made no deal with Linux. Their only deals are with Microsoft, who are probably the Vader here (Darth Ballmer?).
That's kind of the point, most of the time the opensource world does not get to make deals with corporations. You take what they dole out and then you thank them for it.
I don't like it, and I'm hoping it doesn't last, but it does seem to be the reality.
In the ideal world our esteemed colleagues at Redmond will continue to screw themselves over and the world will turn slowly to Linux and all the hardware vendors will start playing ball, and there is some indication that has been the gradual trend over the pa
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I would say that the CEO of m$, and the CEO of Apple will be dusting off their resumes soon. Why Apple's CEO? The Samsung Wrist Phone...
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Why Apple's CEO? The Samsung Wrist Phone...
Are you kidding? I'm guessing the conversation around the bong was more along the lines of:
".... so dude... we managed to convince our competitors, the pundits and the market that we'd make a stupid fucking watch right?"
*giggles*
"... I know right ... and now Samsung have actually tried to compete with the damn thing .."
*more giggles* *at least one board member falls off his chair*
"... oh man ... I can't wait to retire and write this up... they'll never believe this shit..."
QA (Score:3, Insightful)
I bet it's just for the test cases.
SteamOS (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder how this will affect SteamOS, since the Steam Machines are nvidia based. Maybe Valve will start throwing their weight around to get nvidia to offer better Linux support?
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They already have. I don't remember reading anything about SteamOS being completely opensource.
Re: SteamOS (Score:5, Interesting)
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Their "prototype beta hardware" is off the shelf stuff.
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Valve stated that SteamOS will be open source.
I've looked, and found no reference for this. On their SteamOS [steampowered.com] page, they hint at it but it's nebulous:
"Cooperating system
Steam is not a one-way content broadcast channel, it's a collaborative many-to-many entertainment platform, in which each participant is a multiplier of the experience for everyone else. With SteamOS, "openness" means that the hardware industry can iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they've been able to. Content creators can connect directly to their customers. Users c
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The OS will be based on open source stuff, but I don't think it's enterity will be open source, since Steam includes DRM, and DRM+Open source don't go hand in hand.
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Considering it's a console that plugs into a TV, I don't think this matters much at all. Valve's definitely been throwing their weight around demanding better performance and fewer bugs, though. nVidia Linux drivers have been performing better with every release.
When Wii U, PS4, and XbOne all run AMD (Score:3)
Considering it's a console that plugs into a TV, I don't think this matters much at all. Valve's definitely been throwing their weight around demanding better performance and fewer bugs, though.
That or the fact that of the four eighth-generation consoles available now, all three run AMD graphics. PS4 and Xbox One have essentially the same AMD APU, and Wii U is reportedly built on a Radeon HD 5000 [wiiudaily.com]. Only the OUYA console has NVIDIA graphics, and that's the same Tegra 3 that's in the first-generation Nexus 7. Perhaps this is NV's attempt to redeem itself to gamers who say OUYA doesn't count.
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Meanwhile as of 3.11 the kernel "radeon" driver is already fully functional, complete with power management and KMS support.
Frankly I'd wager nvidia has already lost on Linux, even though it may currently appear they are still the preferred platform with their higher quality binary driver. But binary drivers have a very limited future on Linux, especially such a critical one as the graphics driver. AMD may have a shitty binary driver, but the "radeon" driver is miles ahead of "nouveau", and once they start
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once they start seeing the signs on the wall it will be a simple matter for them to put in a little effort and make "radeon" the best graphics driver for gaming on Linux
Or a lot more work, from what I gather one of the key differences between the radeon driver and the catalyst driver is that they've created a ton of behavior profiles to fit different workloads and they're continuously working to update them and providing even more specific ones tuned to the individual game. That takes a lot of manpower and a rather complicated driver infrastructure, while the open source driver has gone for a much simpler "jack of all trades" acceleration. Last I was really paying attentio
Removing feature for parity with another platform? (Score:5, Interesting)
Directly quoting someone from that thread because this was exactly what I was thinking of.
nouveau (Score:5, Insightful)
All this time I've been pissed at the nouveau [freedesktop.org] drivers that came as default with my linux distribution. "NVIDIA's drivers are working perfectly" I thought. "Why the hell are you building something not as good, just to make it open source?"
Now I know.
Re: nouveau (Score:2, Informative)
Silly RMS and his free software. He is starting to look quite a bit more insightful, decades after he started his public campaign.
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Starting to? He looked insightful from the start to anyone with similar insight. What you mean is that it's taken decades for you to start realizing some of the things he's been preaching for so long.
Or perhaps, some of RMS's decades-old insights have become obvious now.
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It still lacks critical features like proper power management, which means cards using Nouveau tend to have reduced lifespans compared to the binary drivers which actually control the fans and voltages properly.
Nouveau is a good idea and should be encouraged, but there's no fucking way I'll touch it even if NVIDIA treats Linux like a second-class citizen. And honestly, if you aren't used to being treated like a second (or after OS X, a third-class citizen) on the desktop computing world, you haven't used Li
But improvements are on the way (Score:2)
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It still lacks critical features like proper power management, which means cards using Nouveau tend to have reduced lifespans compared to the binary drivers which actually control the fans and voltages properly.
Can you back up the statement that it actually reduces lifespan or it's just a wild conjecture? Indeed nouveau lacks support for voltage and fan control by default, but it leads to it using lowest frequency for GPU which doesn't require much fan management. I wouldn't expect degradation of lifespan.
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Check what I wrote. I didn't blame the people working on Nouveau at all, it's a tough job and I even said we should encourage their work. It's just that the current results are shit for those who have high performance and functionality standards. It's stupid to ignore the reality of the situation just because it's not ideal and I'm not going to sugar-coat the current situation.
As for NVIDIA hardware, it's still got the best support in Linux when you want power. At work we use CUDA because OpenCL still isn't
I Moved Your Cheese (Score:4)
we don't live in an ideal world
Agreed so far. But understanding how each deviation from the ideal came about can prove useful in improving the lot of each of us.
and one needs to remember that we're not out to change it.
You need to read I Moved Your Cheese by Deepak Malhotra, an unofficial sequel to a widely read business fable. You can take change lying down, or you can become an instrument of change.
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I would hardly say OSX is third-class... OSX is far more open than windows, key parts of the system are open source and most parts of the system do a good job of supporting open standards (eg the calendar app supports caldav, whereas outlook is tied to exchange via proprietary protocols)...
IOS and OSX are entirely different products.
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It's much more difficult to hide an NSA backdoor in nouveau than in the closed-source nVidia blobs. Just so you know more.
not the first time they remove features. (Score:5, Interesting)
They removed basic customizable anaglyph support from both after I detailed how you could hack 3D support into Left 4 Dead and other games.
And I'm still an Nvidia fanboy.
Re:not the first time they remove features. (Score:5, Informative)
I used that feature on a Geforce 2MX to try it out, a good while ago. No idea what you mean by "hacking" 3D support, you only had to press a hotkey to enable Stereo 3D in any game or app (with or without great results, but at least it's working or trying to). Five year laters I tried shutter glasses on Geforce 6/7 (too bad FSAA wasn't working, as I had to run at 640x480 or 800x600 on the old CRT to play with stereo).
Anaglyph was really shit though, it fucks your color vision (after using it for a hour your eyes or brain compensate, if you look away from the screen and close one eye, one eye sees in red and the other in blue! to this day my right eye seems to see in a warm tint and the left eye in a cold one)
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Thank god. It was bothering me that I was seeing this and yet when I described it to others no one knew what they hell I was talking about.
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Anaglyph was really shit though, it fucks your color vision (after using it for a hour your eyes or brain compensate, if you look away from the screen and close one eye, one eye sees in red and the other in blue! to this day my right eye seems to see in a warm tint and the left eye in a cold one)
That's not the Anaglyph driver, that's physics and biology and is an artifact of the red-blue method of "3d". You'll get the same effect watching an old 3d movie from the '50s with the red-blue (more like bluegreen
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Indeed, the complaint was more about anaglyph than the driver per se. You don't even need a driver, you can look at stuff right from image search results. The comments about blood flow in the eyes from other posters are damn interesting too, this means there are probably no long term effects.
About shutter glasses, they don't deal with colors and theoretically would not affect them. They darken the picture and give an unwanted blue tint, but that's because the LCDs are far from perfect. With the old style PC
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to this day my right eye seems to see in a warm tint and the left eye in a cold one)
This sounds like a multi-million$ lawsuit.
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to this day my right eye seems to see in a warm tint and the left eye in a cold one
There's no biological reason why this effect would last more than ten to fifteen minutes.
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My eyes do that naturally and I've never used any of those red/blue glasses. It's normal for your eyes not to see the same colors.
My big beef with cheap, TN panel LCDs is that the viewing angle is so narrow, my left eye sees different colors than my right eye. I have to use a good IPS display just for everyday work or I get a stereographic-induced headache. Forget resolution -- I'm pissed it took so long for affordable IPS displays to hit the market.
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And I'm still an Nvidia fanboy.
Why?
They still dont get it (Score:4, Interesting)
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Nvidia gets it alright. They just don't agree.
In this case, I think that Nvidia is using driver capabilities to sell new chips. What happens is that the chips are designed with a certain feature set, but the driver does not enable all of them. Later, "new" chips are released, but the only real change is a change to the drivers, which now unlock features already in the prior chips.
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Nvidia still dosent get it.. Reminds me of now famous Torvalds quote from video where he send hes regards to Nvidia..
What doesn't it get that the quote from Linus reminds you of? That Linux developers are unprofessional? I think it gets that very well.
Nvidia still doesn't get that removing a feature, from the linux driver, to level it with the one for an inferior product is a big "f_ck you" to their linux costumers.
If that is being professional I think that calling " Linux developers are unprofessional" is praising them.
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Nvidia still dosent get it.. Reminds me of now famous Torvalds quote from video where he send hes regards to Nvidia..
What doesn't it get that the quote from Linus reminds you of? That Linux developers are unprofessional? I think it gets that very well.
Nvidia still doesn't get that removing a feature, from the linux driver, to level it with the one for an inferior product is a big "f_ck you" to their linux costumers.
If that is being professional I think that calling " Linux developers are unprofessional" is praising them.
Well, they're certainly being encouraged to work with Linux by being told "fuck you" by its most important developer. I can see why they didn't sweat it by reducing a feature in the Linux driver to spare Microsoft's blushes. I expect they've never been told to fuck off by Microsoft.
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Well, they're certainly being encouraged to work with Linux by being told "fuck you" by its most important developer. I can see why they didn't sweat it by reducing a feature in the Linux driver to spare Microsoft's blushes. I expect they've never been told to fuck off by Microsoft.
I think you are being unfair to assume nvidia product managers are such petulant tantrum-throwing prima donnas that they'll retaliate against their users because a project's leader prefixed constructive criticism with a rant nvidia pm's might find tactless. I see no evidence of that.
If that kind of behaviour is the norm in your company, or considered "an understandable human reaction" or something, I suggest it might be practical to demand that your coworkers grow the fuck up if they expect to be taken seriously.
I'm sorry, I thought the sarcasm was plainly evident in my post. I guess not.
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People really need to get over their silly aversion to so called "obscene" words and gestures. They are just words and gestures. They aren't going to hurt anyone. We would all be better off if the entire world were bombarded with and thereby desensitized to this s
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If being "professional" means presenting a false, colorless, expressionless version of yourself rather than behaving like you would with friends and family without the need to present an artificial image I think the Linux developers are better off.
People really need to get over their silly aversion to so called "obscene" words and gestures. They are just words and gestures. They aren't going to hurt anyone. We would all be better off if the entire world were bombarded with and thereby desensitized to this stuff.
I see you missed the sarcasm, but such as it is.
There is middle ground between a false, colourless, expressionless version of yourself and telling someone to fuck off. That's the target ground you (and the business you represent) aim for. Your strawman argument suggests that the alternative to telling a company to fuck off is to be an expressionless drone.
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I believe that this is the discussion [youtube.com] being referred to, where Linus expresses his frustration with nVidia.
The real reply (Score:3, Insightful)
"In order to sell more video cards, we set BaseMosaic to 3 screens."
Closed source... (Score:3)
A new law (Score:5, Interesting)
For any people with free time, how about starting a PAC to get a new law passed that would require hardware manufacturers to provide full specifications of their products to consumers in a standardized format? It could be used not only for open source developers (rights of the consumer to use purchased gear as he or she sees fit) but also could be used to guarantee and verify all provided functions and that there aren't any additional spyware functions included. Conceivably it could be used in a software / firmware binary verification program too.
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we don't follow our existing laws - and you want to create new ones?
there is a law against NSA spying on citizens but they do it anyway.
besides, you can't get the gov to sign any laws that tie their hands on spying. and spyware, whether corporate or governmental is not going to be outlawed. that would interfere with, well, business and government! at least the current bad behavior of those two.
the time when government stood up for consumers' rights was 20 or more years ago. the last few decades, well, n
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get a new law passed that would require hardware manufacturers to provide full specifications
This is analogous to patching bad code with more bad code instead of fixing the bug. The reason there is so little competition among video card manufacturers can be found in the patent system and corporate liability law.
Fix the real bugs.
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Not Thinking (Score:2)
There is a Fix for This (Score:5, Interesting)
1.) Go to the Nvidia site and search for 'Linux' and then surf all the linux related
pages on thier site.
2.) Send an email to technical support and ask why you can no longer use all the monitors on your desktop.
3.) Buy an AMD/ATI card , send them an email to let them know why. Let AMD know you are using Linux and why.
4.) Send your old Nvidia card to Nvidia head office for RMA in protest by mail. (Write it off)
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4.) Send your old Nvidia card to Nvidia head office for RMA in protest by mail. (Write it off)
That may be a good moral stance, but it's not a fix. nVidia has already said they don't care about the linux multi-head users - sending them a small amount of e-waste isn't going to change that.
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Let's see: you use an overblown proprietary binary blob that contains who-knows-what in times of overall NSA spying, and you dare complain that this binary blob has lost one tiny bit of functionality w.r.t. Windows' binary blob? Don't worry, the main functionality of this nVidia blob (NSA backdoor?) is still fully functional.
Nvidia has never been a perfect partner to the opensource world, however your tinfoil hat is too tight son, it's clearly cutting off the blood flow to your brain.
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And I was being a little flippant.
Yes, any binary that you don't have the source to is a potential security hole.
But it's like worrying about people wearing bombs in their shoes, you're focusing on the wrong thing.
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Ah if only I had not already commented on this...
So I'll point out that step 4) should include a cover letter that clearly documents your actions in 1), 2) & 3)
Step 5) would be to document the above and any responses from NVIDIA somewhere in public on the web.
No profit here, but much satisfaction from righteous indignation.
windows with only 3 monitors? (Score:2)
I've been running NVIDIA hardware with 4 monitors for over a decade. So, maybe there is an issue with win7/8 and multiple GPUs? In the past I would even mix/match the GPU's because the windows multimonitor support is (was?) part of the OS. I remember packing multiple PCI (not e) boards into the same machine. Lots of combinations worked but not all of them.
So, as another user on the nvidia forums pointed out it sounds like BS.
That said, running single screen configurations with linux/Xinerama has been proble
Open Graphics (GPL-GPU) (Score:2)
Just thought I'd post that our kickstarter goes live on 10/9 for an LGPL graphics core. It is a complete 2D/3D Verilog implementation. The current version is PCI based and runs on Altera/ Xilinx or ASIC. 100% clean and synthesizable Verilog. We have a number of stretch goals that bring new features, generic interfaces so you could run on a PCIe FPGA board or an SOC part. The ultimate stretch goal would be a Unified Shader design.
We have pictures and will have video from the FPGA board on the kickstarter sit
Re:NVIDIA -- fuck you! (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, well, If Linus had listened to RMS about binary blobs then he wouldn't be giving the finger to NVIDIA, eh? Fucking hypocrite, IMO.
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Re:NVIDIA -- fuck you! (Score:4, Insightful)
The world needs RMS and people with his viewpoint.
But you cant force everyone to live in their world.
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And instead we got NVidia's feet wet in the Linux ecosystem and proved there's money in it for them.
Now we can push them further toward the FOSS cliff.
Re:I smell a lawsuit... (Score:5, Insightful)
In a car anaology, if you are a racecar driver you need a racecar, but as a car manufacturer don't rest on your laurels and think you can charge more just because you have a really fast ferrari. Most people are happy with a slower but reliable toyota with the power window and cruise control at a fraction of the cost.
Thanks nVidia (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been running accelerated 3D graphics on Linux thanks to nVidia since 2000. And thanks to Linus' pragmatism
In an ideal world, nVidia would provide their drivers as Open Source for the FOSS crowd, and one day they might if they can get the IP issues sorted out.
I am a supporter of Linux and the FSF and I admire and support the efforts and ideals of both. However, these are ideals not physical reality. I choose FOSS wherever possible. I don't run Windows and abandoned MS when Win95 came out. I've done just fine without them (thanks for Slackware, Pat).
I dare say that there are millions of (not very clever) people in the world who would have dismissed Linux and Free Software in general as "rubbish" had they not been able to see it do fast, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics like the commercial OSs. You know what people are like...
Then we had the support for Linux from ATi, not to be left out, and later intel who have very generously provided much data and open source code.
Without nVidia's contribution and pioneering support of Linux, we'd be in a much darker place today and Linux would be not nearly as popular with the average user.
I've been using nVidia graphics cards on my own PCs (all Linux) since 1999 and I've never been disappointed. I'm on my 5th or 6th card now (lost count). And I've never had trouble integrating their driver with Slackware or anything else...
Just a happy customer here, not an employee or shareholder.
D3D 9 Comes To Linux,Implemented Over Mesa/Gallium (Score:2)
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For non-Quadro cards, there is little pyramid shaped box that connects to a USB port. The communications protocol has been reverse-engineered for Linux compatibiity by many projects (libnvstusb and http://users.csc.calpoly.edu/~zwood/teaching/csc572/final11/rsomers/ [calpoly.edu])