Is there Nvidia GT210 support for Puppy?

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer video hardware
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Barkingmad
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:20

Is there Nvidia GT210 support for Puppy?

#1 Post by Barkingmad »

Hello

I'm needing a cheap replacement graphics card for my P4 box.

I've seen this one which seems to be based on the Nvidea GT210 processor and need to know if it will a) work and b) work well with Puppy Precise?

There seem to be some references to using this core with Ubuntu so I hoped there might be a chance but wanted to ask before buying.

Thanks for any help -- the more I try to read-up about Puppy graphics drivers the more confused I seem to get :)

Will
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p310don
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Joined: Tue 19 May 2009, 23:11
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#2 Post by p310don »

I have the same Nvidia chip in my PC. Works a treat.

It will work with the default drivers, there are probably precompiled nvidia drivers for your puppy and you can compile the driver yourself easily.

All methods will work.
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mikeb
Posts: 11297
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#3 Post by mikeb »

I believe they were aimed at the profession graphics market so on windows you may get locked out unless you have the OEM driver...or something along those lines...the geoforces were the cheaper commersial releases of the same but with feature limited chips...again just a rough description.
This may be why they are cheaper...got stung by a ATI card like that but managed to hack the windows driver in the end.

On linux if you want full features (3D) you need nvidias proprietry driver... though nouveau is not too bad now.... hopefully there will be no such problems ...am posting as i am curious myself.

mike
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Barkingmad
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:20

#4 Post by Barkingmad »

hello

Mike
The card I am looking at seems to be sold as a low-end deskto/home entertainment market product - it sells for ~£20 here in the UK. windows drivers seem to be available for XP up to 8.1 from the Asus website.

Anyone
I have now been able to confirm that I'm using (according to Hardinfo) Precise 5.7.1 with kernal 3.9.11.

Any other opinions on this graphics chip on this set up before I order?

Thanks
Will
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mikeb
Posts: 11297
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#5 Post by mikeb »

Hmm i might be getting mixed up with the (older) NVS range which go really cheap second hand...usually pulls from Business machines like those half height compaqs... so what you are after sounds like there will be no problem :)

Strike my comment from the record and enjoy.

Mike
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bigpup
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Location: S.C. USA

#6 Post by bigpup »

The cards specs say it needs PCI-Express 2.0 interface

Does your computer have that?

It will probably work OK if all you have is PCI-Express 1.0 interface.

PCIe 2.0 cards are also generally backward compatible with PCIe 1.x motherboards, using the available bandwidth of PCI Express 1.1

So, if you only have PCI-Express 1.0 interface. The card may not run at it's max bandwidth.

PCI Express Bandwidth
PCIe 1.0a, with a per-lane data rate of 250 MB/s and a transfer rate of 2.5 gigatransfers per second (GT/s).

2.0 standard doubles the transfer rate compared with PCIe 1.0 to 5 GT/s and the per-lane throughput rises from 250 MB/s to 500 MB/s.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
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James C
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Location: Kentucky

#7 Post by James C »

I have 2 boxes running that card. The nouveau driver works fine in every Puppy version I've tried.The Nvidia driver is available for some Pups as well.

Pretty good low-budget card.

Code: Select all

root# report-video
VIDEO REPORT: tahrpup, version 6.0

Chip description:
VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 210] (rev a2)

Requested by /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
  Resolution (widthxheight, in pixels): 1024x768x16
  Depth (bits, or planes):              24
  Modules requested to be loaded:       dbe 

Probing Xorg startup log file (/var/log/Xorg.0.log):
  Driver loaded (and currently in use): nvidia
  Loaded modules: dbe dri2 extmod fb glx kbd mouse ramdac wfb

Actual rendering on monitor:
  Resolution:  1440x900 pixels (411x263 millimeters)
  Depth:       24 planes

...the above also recorded in /tmp/report-video
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Barkingmad
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:20

#8 Post by Barkingmad »

Hello

James C:
The nouveau driver works fine in every Puppy version I've tried.The Nvidia driver is available for some Pups as well.
That's what I needed to hear -- I've just ordered the part and will try to report back how it goes.

Bigpup:

I've looked into the interface question and realize I won't get the fullest performance from the new card on my PCIe 1.x mainboard but need to get the box running again so I'll try it. The suppliers say it should work with PCIe 1 and they take returns so it seems worth the risk :)

Thank everyone

Will
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Barkingmad
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri 21 Nov 2008, 17:20

#9 Post by Barkingmad »

Hello

I'm back, card installed and working -- Puppy came stright up and "just worked" - hows this look.
VIDEO REPORT: Precise Puppy, version 5.7.1

Chip description:
VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 210] (rev a2)

Requested by /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Resolution (widthxheight, in pixels): 1280x1024
Depth (bits, or planes): 24
Modules requested to be loaded: dbe

Probing Xorg startup log file (/var/log/Xorg.0.log):
Driver loaded (and currently in use): nouveau
Loaded modules: dbe dri dri2 exa extmod fb glx kbd mouse record shadowfb

Actual rendering on monitor:
Resolution: 1280x1024 pixels (338x270 millimeters)
Depth: 24 planes
I'm getting ~960 fps in glxgears too so unless I have any problems I'll leave well alone with drivers.

Thanks for the help.

William
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