Nouveau Getting More Stable In Ubuntu Lucid, Available In The Main Kernel Package

About three weeks ago, Ubuntu officially switched to Nouveau as the default Nvidia driver. In the attempt to make Ubuntu 10.04 a rock solid LTS release, large changes have been made to the packaging stack and as a result, Nouveau's kernel module is now in the main kernel package.

This should fix a lot of the problems people reported since Ubuntu switched to Nouveau such as VTs not working, Plymouth splash screen not working and so on. So if you had one of these issues or even no display at all, the Ubuntu developers are asking you to test it again with the 2.6.32-16 kernel. To make sure you have this kernel, do an upgrade (of course, you must be running Ubuntu Lucid):

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

You can check what Kernel version you are running by typing this in a temrinal:

uname -r

If you have time, Ubuntu could use some testing. Here's what you can do:

If you've got an nvidia graphics card, please try disabling the restricted drivers and testing nouveau for a day. Just using your computer with the nouveau drivers and reporting any problems you encounter will be useful, but if you want to test more systematically,
there's a list of things to check on the wiki.

Filing a good bug is as simple as running “ubuntu-bug xorg” and describing the problem you see, and how you can trigger it, in the report. The apport hooks will magically attach all the relevant logs for you.

If you run into a bug and want to invest some extra effort to help get it fixed, after reporting the bug you can test with a newer version of Nouveau. These packages are available in the xorg-edgers/nouveau PPA. Further instructions are on the wiki.

Ubuntu Officially Switches To Nouveau As The Default Nvidia Graphics Driver

Ubuntu officially transitioned from -nv to -nouveau as the default driver for the Nvidia graphics cards. The main reason for this change is that nouveau is more actively developed than nv and is considered to be at least as good as nv. However, based on feedback, it seems there will be regressions on certain hardware that used to work on nv, but the Ubuntu devs are hoping for better results for the average user.

Another reason for this change is to get Kernel Mode-setting (automatic screen resolution selection) support for Nvidia graphics drivers. With mode-settings in the kernel, the boot process is smoother and more graphically attractive.

There is a downside to this transition though: -nouveau only supports 2D so Nvidia users will need to switch to the proprietary Nvidia driver for getting the most out of their hardware. 3D functionality is however under development but it hasn't been tested yet; the 3D enabled drivers will be available in the xorg-edgers PPA at some point.


I would say this is a good change, but it depends on the number of users which will be affected by the regression mentioned in the beginning of the post. Hopefully Lucid won't be for the Nvidia users what Jaunty was for Intel.

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Testing: Nouveau Open-Source Nvidia Driver

The Ubuntu developers plan on shipping the new Nouveau as the default driver for nVidia cards in Lucid. Before doing this, they want to test the new open source Nouveau drivers first.

To test the Nouveau drivers you need to use Ubuntu Lucid and then add this PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/nouveau

Then upgrade the packages and install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

All Lucid users can help with testing - if you don't have Nvidia hardware please test that it doesn't break your existing drivers.

Users with nvidia hardware should test that they get:
1) Kernel modesetting from early boot including a nice native-resolution console.
2) The Nouveau driver is automatically loaded by X without needing an xorg.conf - this can be checked in /var/log/Xorg.0.log, as usual.
3) The Nouveau driver generally works as well as nv - Nouveau should pick the correct resolution, dual-head should work, video should play nicely, etc.

You should not expect to work:
* The Nvidia binary drivers. The Nouveau kernel module will bind to the hardware and there is no mechanism for handing off to Nvidia kernel module.
* 3D acceleration. Brave souls can build mesa from source (and may well find that they can run compiz), but we will not be shipping the 3D component in Ubuntu Lucid.

[via Ubuntu devel mailing list]