Add NVIDIA driver to built-in Xorg configuration?

[Kris Moore]

On 07/19/2016 14:25, Arto Pekkanen wrote:
> Kris Moore kirjoitti 19.07.2016 18:09:
>> On 07/19/2016 10:32, Tobias Kortkamp wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> would it be possible to include the following patch in
>>> x11-servers/xorg-server?  It adds the NVIDIA driver to the built-in X
>>> configuration.  It would remove the need to have an xorg.conf on
>>> systems
>>> with an NVIDIA GPU which have to use x11/nvidia-driver.  I think it's a
>>> source of unnecessary friction that doesn't really need to be
>>> there.  It
>>> was deceptively simple to add, so I'm sure I'm missing something. ;-)
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Tobias
>>>
>>> https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/xserver/tree/hw/xfree86/common/xf86pciBus.c?id=xorg-server-1.17.4#n1187
>>>
>>> ===================================================================
>>> --- files/patch-hw_xfree86_common_xf86pciBus.c  (nonexistent)
>>> +++ files/patch-hw_xfree86_common_xf86pciBus.c  (working copy)
>>> @@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
>>> +--- hw/xfree86/common/xf86pciBus.c.orig        2016-07-19
>>> 15:37:53.698794484 +0200
>>> ++++ hw/xfree86/common/xf86pciBus.c     2016-07-19 15:37:26.000000000
>>> +0200
>>> +@@ -1192,6 +1192,7 @@
>>> + #ifdef __linux__
>>> +         driverList[idx++] = "nouveau";
>>> + #endif
>>> ++        driverList[idx++] = "nvidia";
>>> +         driverList[idx++] = "nv";
>>> +         break;
>>> +     }
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> Ohh, we've been bit by that a bunch. I'm going to include this in PC-BSD
>> also. Thanks!
>
> Bad idea, since nVidia driver is proprietary and must be installed
> separately. Thus it is only logical to have it configured separately.
> This is important to maintain a distiction between the bundled X.org
> drivers vs. 3rd party drivers.
>
> Also, currently the nVidia driver is broken on many FreeBSD versions
> due to KMS/DRM integration or lack thereof. Having X.org load nVidia
> automatically is just gonna cause a lot of trouble for the end user.
>
> And then there's the problem with nVidia Optimus laptops, where by
> default only the Intel driver works since the nVidia chip is not wired
> to any of the standard video outputs. Having nVidia auto loaded is
> just yet another problem waiting to happen.
>
> Why would PC-BSD even benefit from having nVidia auto loaded? The
> integration scripts should suggest enabling nVidia driver if
> compatible hardware is detected (ie. non-Optimus nVidia hardware, or
> Optimus where IGP outpus have been rewired to nVidia via BIOS). If the
> nVidia driver does not work, then the end user would actually realize,
> from context, that it was the nVidia driver that had problems. In case
> of problems if nVidia gets auto loaded without any notification to the
> user about it, then the user will be totally in the dark regarding why
> X.org won't start.
>
> Not even Linux distros auto load the proprietary nVidia driver. And
> for a good reason.
>

We already ship the nvidia driver, and auto-loads depending upon which
device is found from 'pciconf' (Ignoring optimus). That has historically
worked well for us, and it *used* to work with xorg auto-detecting
nvidia drivers out of box. I'm hoping this restores that behavior.


-- 
Kris Moore
iXsystems
Enterprise Storage & Servers Driven By Open Source