CGTalk - Using a 8800GTX with a Linux CD

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synkipate

01-16-2007, 02:21 PM

I burnt a Live CD of Ubuntu, and rebooted this in my disc drive.

This was a very significant....A brand new PC, and my first ever attempt with Linux! I had never used Linux before, and was looking forward to trying it out.

Upon booting it, an error message sprang up, which I have forgotten (i'll update this post with the specifics tonight when I get home), which had something to do with the graphics/controller/driver

I have searched around, and found that only very recent Linux drivers support my card, but should I install, as I'm running XP at the moment, and surely they would mess with my XP drivers for the card?

I really want to run the operating system from the CD, before I attempt to partition my harddrive

Any advice? Should I go for a different distro? (Ubuntu seemed the most noob-friendly :)) Should I install the right linux driver?, Do update the Ubuntu ISO with the right driver and burn another CD?

Apologies for the rambling, as you can see I have little clue on installing other operating systems

synkipate

01-16-2007, 07:37 PM

Ok, so while loading the Live CD, the error message came up saying that the X server (graphical interface) did not load

I am using Ubuntu 6.10

I want to try out the OS first with the Live CD before partitioning my hard-drive. Any ideas on what to do next?

benj

lots

01-16-2007, 08:52 PM

This has to do with the video card. Its so new, that the open source nv drivers have not yet been upgraded to include them (at least not the nv driver present on the live CD). In order to get around this you'll need to install ubuntu onto your system. Partitioning is pretty easy, and everything should be pretty quick and simple (assuming you set windows up first, and you didn't use up ALL your HD space with it). I'm sure the next release of Ubuntu's live CD will have the drivers, but at this point in time, you're really just suffering from "bleeding edge" problems. Keep in mind that open source drivers take time to develop, since they are built by people not associated with the company, on the side, for no money. I think its pretty likely that the nv drivers will get updated at some point down the road, so if you absolutely need to try out Ubunut before installing it, you'll want to wait for the next release. Alternatively you can visit the Ubuntu forums and check up on this problem. Someone may have a fix for the CD, which may or may not require a bit of know how when dealing with Linux. The Ubuntu forums are a great place to get information on your probem (and any future problems). Definately pay them a visit.

The solution will likely include installing the nvidia provided drivers (nvidia) rather than the opensource ones (nv), which you should do anyway, as these generally perform better. Also, Don't worry about anything conflicting with the Windows install. Assuming Windows is on its own partition some place, the drivers in Linux will have nothing to do with the drivers in Windows, and vice versa. The two OSs will only be sharing hard drive space, other than that they will keep to them selves (in this regard).

synkipate

01-16-2007, 09:13 PM

cheers for the reply, much appreciated

I think i'll wait till the next update of Ubuntu before diving in, which seems like the best option for me, as I have not touched linux before.

thanks again

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01-16-2007, 09:13 PM

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