Have you tried the open source Nouveau drivers? They have been (mostly) working for me with Ubuntu 11.04 amd64 desktop with a nVidia Corporation G72 [GeForce 7300 LE] (rev a1). unity is working, so "effects" are working.
I had difficulty installing the Nouveau drivers, because the gui "Additional Drivers" program only listed nVidia drivers and merely installing the Nouveau drivers from synaptic or apt-get does not enable them.
1. Install libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental. (You need this.)
I also added ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates to my repositories and updated my system. I'm not sure that this is necessary.
Open the terminal and type the following commands:
Code:
sudo update-alternatives --config gl_conf
(and select the alternative provided by mesa)
(Here's what I see on my machine:
mikey@hatshepsut:~$ sudo update-alternatives --config gl_conf
[sudo] password for mikey:
There are 3 choices for the alternative gl_conf (providing /etc/ld.so.conf.d/GL.conf).
After running update-alternatives -- config gl_conf, the open source drivers now appear in "Additonal Drivers". they are listed as " Experimental 3D support for nVidia Cards".
John,
Have you tried the open source Nouveau drivers? They have been (mostly) working for me with Ubuntu 11.04 amd64 desktop with a nVidia Corporation G72 [GeForce 7300 LE] (rev a1). unity is working, so "effects" are working.
I had difficulty installing the Nouveau drivers, because the gui "Additional Drivers" program only listed nVidia drivers and merely installing the Nouveau drivers from synaptic or apt-get does not enable them.
Here's what worked for me, mostly from http:// ubuntuforums. org/showthread. php?t=1423210:
1. Install libgl1- mesa-dri- experimental. (You need this.)
I also added ppa:ubuntu- x-swat/ x-updates to my repositories and updated my system. I'm not sure that this is necessary.
Open the terminal and type the following commands:
Code:
sudo update-alternatives --config gl_conf
(and select the alternative provided by mesa)
(Here's what I see on my machine:
mikey@hatshepsut:~$ sudo update-alternatives --config gl_conf so.conf. d/GL.conf) .
[sudo] password for mikey:
There are 3 choices for the alternative gl_conf (providing /etc/ld.
Selection Path Priority Status ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ---- nvidia- current/ ld.so.conf 9700 auto mode mesa/ld. so.conf 500 manual mode nvidia- 173/ld. so.conf 9620 manual mode nvidia- current/ ld.so.conf 9700 manual mode
-------
0 /usr/lib/
* 1 /usr/lib/
2 /usr/lib/
3 /usr/lib/
Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: )
Code:
sudo ldconfig xorg.conf_ old
sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/
and restart your computer.
After running update-alternatives -- config gl_conf, the open source drivers now appear in "Additonal Drivers". they are listed as " Experimental 3D support for nVidia Cards".