How to Update Video Driver

Please save your original /etc/X11/xorg.conf so you will can go back to original configuration and make your test...

To make a backup copy of your actual /etc/X11/xorg.conf please open a Terminal from the menu Applications->Accessories->Terminal and type:

cd /etc/X11
sudo cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.bak

give your user password when requested, you don't see nothing when you type it, then press enter.

Make your test...

If something goes wrong you can restore the saved copy of your old configuration, open a terminal or login to a virtual terminal by pressing ctrl+alt+F2 and type:

cd /etc/X11
sudo cp xorg.conf.bak xorg.conf

and to restart the pc, type:

sudo reboot

Hope this helps

marcobra, thank you for your reply. i think you are referring to backing up my video config file in case something gioes wrong i can use the backup to restore my system...good idea... but now, how do i update my video driver?

Taurus,

Normally, the system will inform you when a new driver is available and is just a matter of click on a button to update it. If this are not your case, you need to give us more informantion about what you are trying to do and why. With that information we can give you the correct directions to follow. Why you need to update your video driver?

Chreers,

Helton

Yes as tell Helton you don't need to update your video driver.

What are you trying to do enable 3d desktop effects...?

Or do you want simply change screen resolution...?

Thank you

Helton and marcobra, thank you for your replies. The reason I want to update my video driver is because of 2 things:

1) Whenever I see a video clip in full screen, the video is blank. I can only see the video when it's not in full screeen.

2) And, when I have Opera in full screen, when I right click in Opera, my screen blinks ALL THE TIME.

3) My computer runs SLOW !!!

These are the reasons why... I would like to see a faster computer and no problems viewing a movie clip or surfing the net in full screen mode. Thanks!

Taurus,

Maybe you are only without direct rendering enabled. To verify this, open a terminal by click in Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal and type

glxinfo | grep "direct rendering"

If the answer is "No", you can enable it by installing libgl1-mesa-dri and libgl1-mesa-glx packages. To do this, type in the terminal

sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx

Now, restart your Xserver pressing CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE or restart your computer.

Let us known if this procedure helped you.

[]'s

Helton

Helton - Thank you for replying. And i apologize for tot responding to you sooner, since I was out of state for 2 days... greatly apologize for that.... Anyway, I did type in terminal the following like you told me:

glxinfo | grep "direct rendering"

and I got a 'Yes' reply back. What do you recommend at this point? I really don't want to experience the scren flickering when I have Opera in full screen, and I want to view movies in full screen also. Also, forgot to say that images while surfing the net in Opera look somewaht pixelated, not smooth. What do you recommend? Thanks!

Hi Taurus,

Sorry for the delay in my answer, I was very busy in last two weeks. If you got a Yes, this means that everything is fine with your video driver and it is working with hardware acceleration. Maybe the problem is in your monitor configuration. Maybe your monitor is working in a frequency or resolution out of the manufacturer's recommend range. First, take a look at monitor configuration in System -> Administration -> Screens and Graphics and second, check the frequency and resolution at System -> Preferences -> Screen Resolution.

Helton