[ubuntu-x] Call for testing: nouveau open-source nvidia driver

[Christopher James Halse Rogers]

We're aiming to ship Nouveau as the default driver for nVidia cards in
Lucid as a better nv.  Towards this end there are now packages ready
for wider testing in the xorg-edgers/nouveau PPA[1].

To test the nouveau drivers you just need to add the PPA with
“add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/nouveau”, update your package
lists, upgrade your packages and then install the
“xserver-xorg-video-nouveau” package from the PPA.  This should
install the needed packages: linux-backport-modules-nouveau for the
kernel module, nouveau-firmware, and xserver-xorg-video-nouveau for
the X driver.  The upgraded xserver-xorg-core should automatically use
the nouveau drivers without an xorg.conf, and the newer libdrm is also
needed.

All Lucid users can help with testing - if you don't have nvidia
hardware please test that it doesn't break your existing drivers.

Users with nvidia hardware should test that they get:
1) Kernel modesetting from early boot including a nice
native-resolution console.
2) The nouveau driver is automatically loaded by X without needing an
xorg.conf - this can be checked in /var/log/Xorg.0.log, as usual.
3) The nouveau driver generally works as well as nv - nouveau should
pick the correct resolution, dual-head should work, video should play
nicely, etc.

You should not expect to work:
 * The nvidia binary drivers.  The nouveau kernel module will bind to
the hardware and there is no mechanism for handing off to nvidia
kernel module.
 * 3D acceleration.  Brave souls can build mesa from source (and may
well find that they can run compiz), but we will not be shipping the
3D component in Lucid.

For the moment problems can be reported as replies to this mail - I'm
particularly interested in any situation where this breaks non-nvidia
hardware.

[1]: https://edge.launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/nouveau