[OpenIndiana-discuss] Installing Newer Driver from NVIDIA Site

[Nikola M]

On 04/10/18 06:41 PM, Rasaki Temidire wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have openindiana 2017.10 installed and updated it to the latest packages and image but the NVIDIA driver version is 340.106 and every time I try to make an window fullscreen, it goes across both screens.  I have an NVIDIA GTX 590.  I can't find a way through the nvidia-settings program to get it to just make fullscreen windows appear on one of the screens.
>
> This problem doesn't exist with the version of the NVIDIA driver in FreeBSD 11.  So I downloaded the latest short branch version 387.34 directly from the NVIDIA Solaris x64/x86 archive.  When I installed it, it complained about a requirement for SUNWgnomelibs but it installed anyhow.  After I rebooted the system, I noticed that Xorg was still loading the old 340.106 version from the original oi install.  Can someone tell me how I can force it to load the new driver?  I think the system is using the driver embedded in the kernel.
>
> Is there already an advanced version of the NVIDIA 387.34 or newer prepackaged in some repository for oi?

illumos is not Solaris and Solaris is not illumos, for quite some time now.
Proprietary drivers used to work (for selected subsets of Nvidia 
hardware) yet it is only natural that they start to deverge more as 
times goes. (and illumos/OI components change more).
Not that the task for suporting illumos that is not changing much in 
driver requirements is hard for Nvidia, yet there needs to be some money 
incentive for it. (Except only the incentive that comes from using 
Nvidia cards)
So since drivers are from Nvidia it is Nvidia to be contacted for 
support on illumos.

Best solution for an open platform is using Open drivers only and there 
opennes of AMD graphics and it's drivers comes to mind. Yet one needs to 
acquire much kernel-side and driver-side contributors to make it alive 
and running.

Course of action could be:
- listing what Nvidia proprietary driver works with what Nvidia card 
under illumos could be benefitial, say, in an article on Wiki that could 
be easily written and changed, unlike other ways.
See:
https://wiki.openindiana.org/oi/Nvidia+Graphics
- Porting open AMD drivers to illumos and kernel work needed for it is 
an job for the engineers and it needs to be funded and supported,
so some fund creation for it and other costs for the project comes in mind.

The problem I see is that OI itself suffers for the lack of community 
freedom , strangled to one or two and secretive third mailing list and 
operational rules that also kill initiative.
Forced not to form any meaningful broader community or initiative, but 
to be cut to the shorter and shorter contributors list, and that does 
not benefit OI nor broader community.