Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux

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Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux

This article provides a detailed overview of the Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux, released to enhance the performance and stability of NVIDIA GPUs on Linux operating systems. This driver update focuses on expanding hardware support, resolving critical bugs, and improving multimedia capabilities through VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix). This analysis will delve into the specific improvements and fixes included in this release, offering users a comprehensive understanding of its benefits.

Expanded GPU Support

A key highlight of the Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux is the addition of support for several new GPUs, spanning both the Quadro and GeForce series. This expanded compatibility ensures that users with these newly supported cards can leverage the latest driver enhancements and optimizations. The GPUs added to the supported list include:

  • Quadro FX 3800
  • Quadro FX 3700M
  • Quadro FX 1800
  • Quadro FX 580
  • Quadro FX 380
  • Quadro NVS 295
  • GeForce GT 120
  • GeForce G100

This broadening of supported hardware underscores NVIDIA’s commitment to providing ongoing support and improvements for a wide range of their graphics cards, ensuring users can maintain optimal performance and stability.

Bug Fixes and Stability Improvements

The Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux address several critical bugs and stability issues that were present in previous driver versions. These fixes are crucial for ensuring a smooth and reliable user experience, particularly for users relying on OpenGL and VDPAU for graphics rendering and video decoding.

  • OpenGL Redirected Window Issue: The driver fixes a problem that could cause Xid errors and display corruption when OpenGL is used to render to redirected windows. This is particularly relevant for applications using Java2D with the -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true option, ensuring that graphics are rendered correctly without visual artifacts or errors.

  • OpenGL 3.0 Preview Contexts: The update addresses an issue where glGetStringi(GL_EXTENSIONS, i) would return NULL in OpenGL 3.0 preview contexts. This ensures that OpenGL extensions are correctly identified and utilized, improving compatibility and performance for applications relying on these extensions.

  • KDE4 Plasma Crashes: The driver resolves OpenGL crashes that occurred while running KDE4’s Plasma desktop environment. This fix is essential for users who rely on KDE4 for their daily computing tasks, ensuring a stable and reliable desktop experience.

  • Texture Object Crashes: A significant fix addresses OpenGL crashes that occurred when using a large number of texture objects. This is particularly important for applications that rely heavily on textures, such as games and 3D modeling software, preventing unexpected crashes and improving overall stability.

  • Timestamp Reporting in GL_NV_present_video: The driver corrects the timestamp reporting in the GL_NV_present_video extension on SDI II with Quadro FX 4800 and 5800 GPUs. This ensures accurate timestamp information for video presentation, improving synchronization and reducing potential issues with video playback.

  • Power Management Improvements: The update includes improved power management support on some systems, such as Hewlett-Packard xw4600 workstations. This enhancement can lead to reduced power consumption and improved thermal performance, particularly for systems that are used for demanding tasks.

  • Screen Flicker Fix: The driver addresses a problem that caused the screen to flicker momentarily when OpenGL applications exited unexpectedly on GeForce 6 and 7 series GPUs. This resolves a visual annoyance and contributes to a smoother user experience.

  • X Server Crash Fix: An X server crash that occurred when an X client attempted to draw trapezoids and RenderAccel was disabled has been resolved. This ensures that the X server remains stable even when specific rendering configurations are used.

  • Error Recovery Improvements: The driver includes improvements to recovery from certain types of errors. This enhancement can help prevent system crashes and ensure that applications can continue to run even when unexpected errors occur.

  • Autodesk Maya Freeze Fix: A bug that caused Autodesk Maya to freeze when overlays were enabled has been resolved. This fix is crucial for users who rely on Maya for 3D modeling and animation, ensuring a stable and productive workflow.

  • Memory Tracking Library Interaction: The driver addresses an interaction problem between OpenGL and memory tracking libraries such as MicroQuill SmartHeap. This ensures that these libraries can function correctly without interfering with OpenGL operations.

  • OpenGL 3.0 Support: The driver adds support for RG renderbuffers and floating-point depth buffers in OpenGL 3.0. These additions expand the capabilities of OpenGL 3.0, allowing developers to create more advanced and visually rich applications.

  • Valgrind Crash Fix: A problem that caused Valgrind to crash when tracing a program that uses OpenGL has been resolved. This ensures that Valgrind, a popular memory debugging tool, can be used effectively with OpenGL applications.

VDPAU Enhancements

The Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux include significant enhancements to VDPAU, NVIDIA’s API for video decoding and presentation on Unix-like systems. These improvements focus on expanding codec support, fixing corruption issues, and improving deinterlacing algorithms.

  • VC-1/WMV Acceleration: VDPAU now supports VC-1/WMV acceleration on all GPUs supported by VDPAU. This significantly improves the performance of VC-1 and WMV video playback, reducing CPU load and improving overall video quality.

  • H.264 Corruption Fix: The driver resolves VDPAU corruption issues that occurred on some H.264 clips. This ensures that H.264 videos are decoded correctly without visual artifacts or errors.

  • Deinterlacing Algorithm Improvements: The VDPAU documentation has been updated in the README and in vdpau.h to provide more detailed information on how to use the deinterlacing algorithms in the VdpVideoMixer object. Explicit documentation for "half rate" deinterlacing has been added, which should allow the advanced algorithms to run on more low-end systems.

  • Skip Chroma Deinterlace Option: A "skip chroma deinterlace" option has been implemented in VDPAU, which should allow the advanced deinterlacing algorithms to run on more low-end systems. This option can be enabled in vdpau.h and can improve performance on systems with limited processing power.

  • VC-1 Decoding Fix on 64-bit Platforms: The driver resolves an issue that caused VDPAU VC-1 decoding to fail on 64-bit platforms. This ensures that VC-1 videos can be decoded correctly on 64-bit systems.

  • VDPAU Wrapper Library Improvements: The VDPAU wrapper library has been updated to print dlerror() messages when driver loading problems occur. This provides more informative error messages when VDPAU fails to load correctly.

  • Corrupt Stream Handling: VDPAU’s handling of some corrupt H.264 streams and some corrupt/invalid MPEG streams has been improved. This reduces the likelihood of playback errors when encountering damaged video files.

  • WMV Range Reduction Fix: VDPAU now correctly handles WMV "range reduction" on some GPUs. A minor backwards-compatible API change was made for this, and the documentation for structure field VdpPictureInfoVC1.rangered has been updated in vdpau.h.

  • Blit Presentation Queue Fix: A problem that caused surfaces to be marked as visible too early when the blit presentation queue is in use has been resolved. This ensures that video frames are displayed correctly and in the correct order.

  • Display Preemption Prevention: VDPAU has been fixed to prevent some cases of "display preemption" in the face of missing H.264 reference frames on some GPUs. This reduces the likelihood of display interruptions when decoding H.264 videos with missing reference frames.

Installation Instructions

To download and install the Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux, follow these steps:

  1. Review the NVIDIA Software License: You will need to accept this license prior to downloading any files.

  2. Download the Driver File: Download the driver package from a trusted source.

    Download Link: TechSpot Driver Download

  3. Installation: Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where you downloaded the driver file. Type sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.44-pkg1.run to install the driver. NVIDIA provides a utility to assist you with configuration of your X server configuration file. Please see Chapter 3 of the README or run man nvidia-xconfig for details on usage. Instructions for those wishing to edit their X config file by hand can also be found in the README.

    For SuSE users, please read the SuSE NVIDIA Installer HOWTO before downloading the driver: https://www.suse.de/~sndirsch/nvidia-installer-HOWTO.html

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions or problems, please check the NVIDIA Linux discussion forum. If you don’t find an answer to your question there, you can send email (in English) to linux-bugs@nvidia.com. When emailing linux-bugs@nvidia.com, please attach an nvidia-bug-report.log, which is generated by running nvidia-bug-report.sh.

Alternative Download Links

Since the original download link may become outdated or unavailable, here are five alternative sources where you might find the Nvidia GeForce Beta Drivers 180.44 for Linux:

  1. Softpedia: Often archives older driver versions.
  2. DriverGuide: A community-driven website for drivers.
  3. Linux-Drivers.org: A comprehensive resource for Linux drivers (though availability may vary).
  4. Archive.org (The Wayback Machine): Check for archived versions of NVIDIA’s driver pages.
  5. Guru3D: Sometimes hosts older driver versions in their forums or downloads section.

Disclaimer: Always exercise caution when downloading drivers from third-party websites. Ensure the source is reputable and scan the downloaded file for viruses before installation.

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