Binary, non-free drivers for: Nvidia / ATI

There are 3 methods to install 3d drivers into your system

  1. sgfxi / smxi

    Use the sidux community contributed multi-function administration tool, smxi/sgfxi, which is short for sidux-maintenance. To read more refer to smxi and sgfxi Syntax Command Sets.

  2. Use Nvidia/ATI binary installer
    Download the binary driver installers directly from Nvidia
Download the binary driver installers directly from ATI

Open Source Xorg drivers for nVidia, ATI, Radeon, Intel

Open Source Xorg drivers for nVidia, ATI, Radeon, Intel are pre-installed with sidux. If you have overwitten them with closed source drivers you can revert or roll back to them with sgfxi

The drivers for the X.Org X server (see xserver-xorg for a further description) provides support in 2d for NVIDIA Riva, TNT, GeForce, and Quadro cards and the ATI Mach, Rage, Radeon, and FireGLcards along with atimisc', 'r128' and 'radeon' sub-drivers. It also provides for the Intel free series in 3d

To install it:

Log out of KDE by Going into Textmode by doing Ctrl+Alt+F1
logon as root user
and then in type init 3
(this should state that X no longer is running
apt-get update
apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-nv
OR
apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-ati
OR
xserver-xorg-video-intel
init 5 && exit

For some cards it may add 3D support, however it is usually 2D.

Next you need to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf, HOWEVER YOU MUST MAKE A BACKUP COPY FIRST, as editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf incorrectly will result in many tears by you.

To edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf right click it, open it with root permissions. Find the section that reads SECTION DEVICE and change the display driver to read nv OR ati

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! EDITING XORG.CONF IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

More information about X.Org

Hints for hardware with non-free requirements

Due to the complexity of law, sidux live-cd will only provide dfsg-free software.

Sources List

As the sidux iso contains only dfsg free software, you will probably want to add contrib/ non-free to your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sources.list or /etc/apt/sources.list and ensure internet access:

# See sources.list(5) for more information, especially
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs
# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.
# The /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory provides a way to add sources.list
# entries in separate files that end with sources.list file.

# Unstable
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free

# sidux
deb http://sidux.com/debian/ sid main contrib non-free firmware fix.main fix.contrib fix.non-free
#deb-src http://sidux.com/debian/ sid main contrib non-free firmware fix.main fix.contrib fix.non-free
Video Cards
Firmware
$ fw-detect

This will give you a list of recommendations and what commands to run. It will return 'null' if you do not need anything, or firmware is already installed.

We try to provide packages for legally redistributable firmware from our non-free repositories, but not all vendors allow this.

Writing to NTFS-partitions with ntfs-3g

Be warned: Whilst the ntfs-3g is stated to be 'stable', never use it without external backup, and of course not on production systems! If you do, it's your fault if your data gets lost, so use at your own risk!

Open a shell and enter the following commands:See Partitioning your HD - Disk Naming

sux
apt-get update && apt-get install ntfs-3g
umount /media/xdxx
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/disk/by-uuid/xxyyzz[etc] /media/xdxx
To get out of the konsole type: exit

Now your NTFS-Volume should be mounted rw and you should be able to store data on it. But again, be warned! Use it in emergency situations, it is not recommended for use on a daily basis.

Page last revised 03/08/2008 1020hrs UTC