Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1 (Updated)

Note: Updated Installer + fixed hang + fix for external monitor (new!)


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Latest update: For those who have found they have trouble with the VGA monitor not working after the upgrade, don't worry and don't panic and roll back to an earlier version. The problem is the update has added a feature to the driver that acer's script wasn;t written to handle, so it kills the process (I should have seen this sooner but I've had the fix for so long I forgot I put it there ). Here's how to fix acer's script:

Code:

sudo cp /usr/bin/lvdsvga.sh /usr/bin/lvdsvga.sh.backup
sudo mousepad /usr/bin/lvdsvga.sh

Find this line (should be very similar if not exactly the same):

Code:

VGA_STATUS=`$CMD_XRANDR |grep "disconnected"`

And change to:

Code:

VGA_STATUS=`$CMD_XRANDR |grep "VGA disconnected"`

Basically, the old way looks for the word disconnected and if it finds it, it doesn't run the external monitor switcher. Problem is the newer driver also supports tv output which is always listed as disconnected. So we need to tell it to look only for a disconnected VGA

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So I failed to figure out a good way to create an rpm from the 2.2.1 version of the intel driver, instead I made a quick script and some instructions.

You will want to follow this how to if:
- you run compiz and want to be able to watch videos without lag or crashes
- you run xfce4 with compositing enabled, and want to watch videos without lag or crashes
- you want to play reasonably more graphics intensive games the aspire one

Important note
Make sure you have a full system backup ready, and/or find out how to rescue your system if something goes wrong and you can't boot up anymore. This has been covered on the forums extensively. Repeat: you must have a backup before proceeding.

Use at your own risk. Though I have tested this myself, I can't provide any guarantees that this will work for you. This may very well cause your system not to start up if you don't do things carefully. If something isn't explained here in enough detail, search the forums.

Ok now for the howto.

Step 1
Fire up your package manager, and upgrade a package called "xorg-x11-server-Xorg" to the latest version. The existing one has some bugs when EXA is enabled.

philippeC has pointed out that you would also want to upgrade compiz to its very latest version by running:

Code:

sudo yum update compiz-manager

Step 2
Download this archive or mirror, and extract it. Open a terminal inside the newly created directory "intel-driver-compiled", and type the following two commands:

Code:

chmod +x install*
sudo ./install_intel-2.2.1.sh

Note: the newest version of the tarball should have an updated installer file with the hanging bug fixed. It's safe now

Step 3
Backup your existing xorg configuration. Still in the terminal, type

Code:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup

Run

Code:

sudo mousepad /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Find the lines:

Code:

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Videocard0"

Replace the entire chunk starting from the above lines all the way to "Screen 0 EndSection" with

Code:

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Videocard0"
	Driver      "intel"
#	Option      "monitor-LVDS" "Monitor0"
#	Option	    "monitor-VGA" "Monitor1"
#	Option	    "Clone" "true"
#	Option	"MonitorLayout"	"LVDS,VGA"
#	BusID	"PCI:0:2:0"
	Option		"AccelMethod"	"EXA"
	Option		"FramebufferCompression" "off"
	Option 		"MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
	Option 		"ExaNoComposite" "true"
	VideoRam	229396
	Option 		"CacheLines" "1980"
#	Screen	0
EndSection

Step 4

If you haven't already done so:

Code:

sudo mousepad /etc/profile

and add the following line:

Code:

export INTEL_BATCH=1

Cross your fingers, and reboot!

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Thanks so much for writing this guide, you're the best

I do have a small problem though, my system freezes when first installing the new driver. On a second try, it gave me a blank screen. Not knowing whether the new driver had been installed, I decided to go ahead to the next step, unfortunately this caused the system not to boot, so I had to restore from the xorg.conf backup to get things running again Gotta take some risks now and then

Do you have any idea what could be the reason for the driver not installing properly? I'll try a clean install some time this week, since I've been messing around on this one for much too long anyway, so that's probably causing all this trouble

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Many thanks, for this guide. Totally fixed the last few niggles I had under Linpus. Now I can use compiz and not have to switch it off every time I want to watch a video/iplayer. Nice clear instructions, good job

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

yatsu: the system shouldn't theoretically freeze when this happens. were you running any other apps?

did the blank screen happen before a reboot?

given that gimp999 reports the method works, it could be something with the way you copied the xorg.conf details. remember that you only need to replace a part of the file, not the entire xorg.conf with what I gave.

edit: a clean install may be a good idea, sounds like it's a symptom that something else is wonky

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Thanks for the instructions and the archive annafil. I had the same lock up when trying to run the install script, and also found that I had xorg-x11-server-Xorg (without the x in front of server) as the installed package on mine. Not sure if this was just a typo, so I just upgraded that, and tried to run the install script which locked the machine. Rebooted and tried again from an ssh session and saw that one of the files didn't copy correctly as I didn't have a /usr/share/xserver-xorg/pci/ directory. I created that directory , copied the intel.ids file into it and made the recommended changes to my xorg.conf and was able to reboot fine. How can I check the current driver version to see if the upgrade was successful? I seem to have the same glxgears numbers as before if that's any indication...

EDIT: just checked my /var/log/Xorg.0.log, looks like it is using the newer one:

Code:

(II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
        compiled for 1.3.0, module version = 2.2.1
        Module class: X.Org Video Driver
        ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 1.2

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

After checking the log file mentioned above, I came to the conclusion my system also seems to be using the new driver. I decided to give editing the xorg.conf file another go, and this time, all went well. I must have made some mistake the first time. It seems the system freeze when installing the drivers (happened when I pushed enter) had no real effects, since the drivers have been installed properly. Watching video while using compiz works great now, thanks!

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

IMSancho: thanks for your comments!

I will edit the installer script to create the "pci" directory first.

Maybe the lockup is being caused by the upgraded xorg package? It's hard for me to debug without a clean system (i'll bug a friend with another aspire one) I'll put up a note in the meantime about the potential lockup.

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

gimp999: what version is your xorg-x11-server-xorg package?

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Hi guys! Your webcams are working ok?

I heard the 2.2.1 drivers have the no Camera issue... It's right?

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

SuzuKube: Nope, not true. The reason this howto exists is to install a driver without these kind of issues.

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Thanks annafil I'll give it a try

I have upgraded my network manager to. But it take so long to start nm-applet now... And i tried to compile my rndis dirvers (For Internet sharing on widnows mobile devices ) But i never found a way to compile that driver....

My tutorial here...

http://suzukube.blogspot.com/

With the intel graphics issue, i had moved to ubuntu There's some Card reader issue but that's all ^^

Thanks for your work annafil.... I have to learn lot of thing about linux

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Thanks for the guide. Mine locked up at the stage you warned it would, so I restarted and continued anyway - is there a way to tell if it has worked properly? My full screen video playback is still a bit choppy (misses a couple of frames every 5 seconds or so), so I guess it hasn't worked right? I don't see any difference in VLC at least anyway.

But the install folder that was extracted isn't there any more, so maybe it did copy the drivers out OK?

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

I updated to xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.3.0.0-47.fc8

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

My camera is working just fine, no issues

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Ok we have a new symptom - disappearing files...

Quick question - did everyone extract their archives onto their SD cards or onto the internal disk?

Maybe it's safer to copy the files without x running (although I don't see why since package managers replace files all the time) - but that means dropping to shell and a lot of other complicated stuff...

To make sure the 2.2.1 version of the driver is actually being loaded, run

Code:

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log |  grep 2.2.1

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

OK ladies and gents, I figured out the hanging problem (finally managed to reproduce it on my aao). I added a new line in the script to remove any old intel drivers before overwriting them, and now if you run the script it should't hang anymore

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

I extracted to my SD card and installed from there and the driver is loading just fine:

(II) LoadModule: "intel"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//intel_drv.so
(II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.3.0, module version = 2.2.1

I installed via a ssh terminal, as so avoided the lockup when the driver got replaced. I know how fiddly X can be under linux, safer to log in remotely when playing around.

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

gimp999: smart I fixed it anyway, so it should be fairly safe now even with x running

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

I had to run:

Code:

sudo yum update compiz-manager

In order to get compiz working properly - it was complaining about the driver not being whitelisted. Looking in the /usr/bin/compiz-manager script it seems like the regular expression was slightly garbled, and the yum update fixed it, np.

Rich

 

Re: Howto: Intel graphics driver 2.2.1, EXA and compiz+video

Anyone got a "ln: creating symbolic link `/usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/i810_drv.so': File exists"on the end of the installer script?

I've got it and I'm wondering if I should try to do something before rebooting the machine... Don't want to be X-less as my sshd is installed but somehow doesn't start automatically on boot.

That link statement refers to 2 existing files on my machine (on that directory): i810_drv.so (286576 bytes, old version I think) and intel_drv.so (2238545 bytes, just created).

Now what?