Debian progress
There are these packages in experimental:
- libdrm2
- libdrm-dev
- xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
- drm-modules-source (need compilers etc to build)
Packages uploaded by AVRS
Built on Debian GNU/Linux lenny (testing) i386 with [not always] the latest 686 kernel; or downloaded from the Debian experimental repository mentioned above.
http://www.m4r3k.org/storage/nouveau/
Current (2008-07-27) way
The DRM packages are based on the Ubuntu packages currently maintained by RAOF, or built from the Debian experimental repository package.
For 2D, you need the libdrm packages (libdrm2 and modules for your Linux [kernel] version) and the xserver-xorg-video-nouveau one.
Modules
Backup /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/char/drm/drm.ko
- Install a kernel modules package called drm-modules-[your kernel version]. Instead of these, you can optionally use the source module package "drm-modules-source" to build the package yourself using m-a (module-assistant).
Important (Especially if you are upgrading from other packages, especially with different names) Check for duplicate drm.ko and nouveau.ko not originated from the package you have just installed. It may be in ...`uname -r`/extra/. It may also be that you haven't removed an old package. I have had drm.ko disappear completely when accidentally mixing different module packages — that's related to diversions. I didn't pinpoint the problem; you can restore the proper drm.ko from your linux-image .deb package if that happens.
- You may have to run "depmod -a" now.
libdrm
- Install libdrm2 (remove nouveau-drm if you have it installed).
X drivers
- Install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
Old way
This way is for the packages older than 20080615. Some of them were made using checkinstall, and thus require crutches like --force-overwrite.
Use dpkg --force-overwrite -i nouveau-drm... to install the libdrm. DO NOT remove your existing libdrm2!
For the Linux driver to work, you have to hide the existing drm.ko located in /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/char/drm/drm.ko You can, for example, rename it into drm.ko.default. Then start depmod -a
Completing the installation
Add drm and nouveau to your /etc/modules file.
Now make the required changes to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, restart (or reload the modules) and hope it works.
3D
For 3D, you need a nouveaugallium archive. To unpack it, you'll need tar and lzma, both are in the Debian lenny repository.
NOTE THAT THE 3D GALLIUM DRIVER IS NOT SUPPORTED FOR USERS UNLESS THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE PATCHES! IF YOU HAVE NEVER COMPILED ANYTHING LIKE THAT, AND SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. See also GalliumHowto
At least the older builds crash or hang X sometimes.
See http://libregamewiki.org/Games_Compatibility for what games or game-like software work with NV40 and how well.
You can start programs with nouveau 3D acceleration like this (replace /path with where you put the files from the archive.):
LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/path" LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH="/path" openarena
There are always better ways to do that, if it works and if you are using a separate user for GL apps.
Contact
If you have questions about these packages, you can e-mail me using the address specified in their control files, or ping AVRS on the #nouveau IRC channel.