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NVIDIA have released the big new Linux Beta driver 440.26 today

By - | Views: 27,259

Today NVIDIA released the 440.26 Beta driver for Linux with a number of new features, enhancements and a few interesting bug fixes.

New Feature Highlight:

  • VP9 decode support to the NVIDIA VDPAU driver.
  • Added EGL support for PRIME render offload.
  • Parallel GLSL shader linking is enabled by default, so it allows using GL_ARB_parallel_shader_compile without first calling "glMaxShaderCompilerThreadsARB()".
  • Support for HDMI 2.1 variable refresh rate (VRR) G-SYNC Compatible monitors on supported GPUs.
  • Support for the GLX_NV_multigpu_context and GL_NV_gpu_multicast extensions.
  • The Nvidia Settings application will now tell you if there's unsaved config changes when quitting.
  • Enabled HardDPMS by default.

Bug Fix Highlight:

  • They also continue improving DXVK support with corruption issues solved in Saints Row IV and Saints Row: The Third.
  • Another important fix is falling back to system memory "when video memory is full for some driver-internal allocations". Something that was causing issues with a few DXVK/Steam Play titles, which they were testing out in the recent 435.19.03 Vulkan Beta Driver so it's good to see that come to their mainline driver.
  • They also fixed a regression from the 435.19.02 Vulkan Beta Driver, that caused some apps to get a segmentation fault with the VK_KHR_DISPLAY extension.
  • A bug that prevented Vulkan working on systems with SLI enabled was solved, although they can only use a single GPU.

There's more to it, I'm just cherry-picking things that sounded fun. Good to see NVIDIA keep up with quick driver releases.

You can find the full details here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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33 comments
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vipor29 Oct 17, 2019
linus can't throw up that middle finger anymore this is a pretty damn good release.
sub Oct 17, 2019
Quoting: linuxcitylinus can't throw up that middle finger anymore this is a pretty damn good release.

Get back to why he thought rising that middle finger was appropriate.
Not sure, that "pretty damn good release" changed anything of that. :)
poke86 Oct 17, 2019
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Would this be the appropriate driver to have for Proton then? I'm kind of confused with the different versions TBH.
mao_dze_dun Oct 17, 2019
Quoting: poke86Would this be the appropriate driver to have for Proton then? I'm kind of confused with the different versions TBH.

I tend to stick to the Vulkan Beta driver, as these tend to be the most bleeding edge in terms of feature support, ergo performance. But if you're on Stable or Beta - probably a safe bet to use this one.
Ehvis Oct 17, 2019
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This one also has:

QuoteFall back to system memory when video memory is full for some driver-internal allocations. This can help fix Xid 13 and Xid 31 cases in Vulkan applications when video memory is full.

I think this is the one that crashed Vulkan for 7 Days to Die. Of course that leaves the issue of why VRAM was full in the first place, but that may be a 7 days or Unity issue.
dreamer_ Oct 17, 2019
Quoting: sub
Quoting: linuxcitylinus can't throw up that middle finger anymore this is a pretty damn good release.
Get back to why he thought rising that middle finger was appropriate.
Not sure, that "pretty damn good release" changed anything of that. :)
It was never about GPU desktop drivers. It was about the overall attitude of NVIDIA corporation towards kernel, and specifically about NVIDIA chipsets for Android market. Soon afterwards NVIDIA actually started cooperating more and big chunks of Tegra platform got upstreamed in the kernel. So given this context: Linus' outburst was appropriate and successful.
sub Oct 17, 2019
Quoting: dreamer_
Quoting: sub
Quoting: linuxcitylinus can't throw up that middle finger anymore this is a pretty damn good release.
Get back to why he thought rising that middle finger was appropriate.
Not sure, that "pretty damn good release" changed anything of that. :)
It was never about GPU desktop drivers. It was about the overall attitude of NVIDIA corporation towards kernel, and specifically about NVIDIA chipsets for Android market. Soon afterwards NVIDIA actually started cooperating more and big chunks of Tegra platform got upstreamed in the kernel. So given this context: Linus' outburst was appropriate and successful.

Tegra drivers are partly upstreamed because OEM partners/customers pressured them to do so.
Shmerl Oct 17, 2019
Quoting: linuxcitylinus can't throw up that middle finger anymore this is a pretty damn good release.

I think he still can, due to it still being a blob ;) I don't see any change in their attitude in this regard.


Last edited by Shmerl on 17 October 2019 at 6:31 pm UTC
PJ Oct 17, 2019
shame they can't be bothered to support GBM and thus still are one of the obstacles in Wayland adoption.
Shmerl Oct 17, 2019
I think their kernel blob driver causes some major problems if using GBM, so even if they wanted, they couldn't do it. Nouveau on the other hand is totally fine with it. So it's not a hardware issue clearly.


Last edited by Shmerl on 17 October 2019 at 6:54 pm UTC
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