[linux-help] Re: Video Card switch

[Jeff Vian <jvian10@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

James Lancaster wrote:

>On Friday 18 October 2002 19:54, you wrote:
>
>>James Lancaster wrote:
>>
>>>On Friday 18 October 2002 14:20, you wrote:
>>>
>>>>Isn't the TNT2 made by nVidia, too?  I believe they use the same
>>>>driver... you probably won't have to change anything at all.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Correct. A similar switch (TNT M64 -> GF2 MX200) required nothing to
>>>>change in linux (except of course the hardware)
>>>>If you are using the Nvidia drivers and kudzu (auto hardware detect)
>>>>comes up, tell it to IGNORE the device and to KEEP the old settings (for
>>>>the TNT2)
>>>>
>>>>James L
>>>>
>>Why tell it ot IGNORE the device.??????
>>
>>It makes sense to let kudzu reconfigure the drivers since there MAY be a
>>difference in the driver and there IS a difference in the memory that
>>kudzu will configure for the new device
>>
>>The new card has more memory and telling it to IGNORE the change will
>>force it to stay with the current video settings and WILL ignore the
>>IMPROVED settings possible with the extra memory and features available
>>on the new card.
>>
>>I agree the drivers are likely the same, but to force it to ignore the
>>change means you are at all costs stuck with the tnt2 driver and its
>>current video settings. If new settings are desired, ignoring the
>>recommendations of kudzu means you have to manually change the settings
>>to take advantage of the newer memory and video features of the card.
>>
>
>
>NO. The reason to ignore this is because the NVidia driver (if not using 
>that, don't ignore it) is the exact same, for all TNT+ (including GeForce 
>series), and requires a bit of hand tuning. Using kudzu's config (which 
>doesn't include the nvidia drivers) will cause you to have to redo it. (not 
>much but is just annoying) The config file is exactly the same, as long as 
>the monitor is the same. 
>
>The NVidia driver WILL detect the change in ram (actually most XFree driver 
>appear to that I have used (the mem line is commented out anyway, in the 
>config file), It will also detect the change in card, and use all of the new 
>features. 
>
>The point is: if using non-Nvidia drivers use kudzu (Xconfigurator)'s 
>settings, if not, don't botch up a config which WILL take advantage of them 
>that already works.
>
>James L
>

True so far. But the video resolution may (and probably is) be limited 
by the amount of memory he originally had (16mb), and so he may need to 
reset the resolution lines to allow the card/drivers to take advantage 
of the higher amount of memory (32mb).  How can he do that easily and 
not require hand editing of the XF86config file.??  

The way I do it is to use Xconfigurator.  It does allow you to select 
the driver for the card if you want to, and thus can be manually set for 
his desired config and does not 100% rely on the auto-detect features.

Manually running Xconfigurator or allowing kudzu to run it has never 
been a problem for me, ESPECIALLY with the standard video cards used 
such as a gforce2 or a tnt2.  And I love being able to tell it what 
resolutions I want available as I upgrade my card to one with more 
memory and better resolutions available.  :)

Jeff V


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