Nouveau Driver Comes to Kernel 2.6.33
Good news for anyone with a NVIDIA graphics card: the Nouveau driver goes into Kernel 2.6.33 and supports DRM.
Nouveau is the free driver mainly developed by Red Hat with 2D and partial 3D support for the NVIDIA graphics cards. The nv driver currently used for 2D support is fairly old and leaves most NVIDIA cards well below their full capabilities.
Nouveau developers have now appealed to have the code of about 36,000 lines taken up in Kernel version 2.6.33, which was not previously possible in that the driver was still comprised of proprietary code, albeit a very small part. The team around David Airlie and Ben Skeggs has since outsourced this part (the ctx_voodoo microcode) in firmware that can be subsequently loaded on the current GeForce 6 cards.
The driver will first land in the staging tree, which Greg Kroah-Hartman maintains, as the drm-nouveau-pony branch. It will then flow about one or two versions later into the main branch. With the inclusion into the kernel and DRM support, most distros will shortly switch to the Nouveau driver as the standard for NVIDIA cards. Up to now only Fedora had adopted the driver that had been long classified as experimental.
Source: phoronix.com.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.