Adding the Via Unichrome Pro drivers

[totallymaxed]

The instructions for building the Unichrome Pro Via drivers are available from the url below... its what we used to build them;

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=25&CatID=2580&SubCatID=184

You need the v0.83 version of the install guide and the Kernel sources XORG40072_20061226c version.

Once you have built the Unichrome Pro drivers you can use the install script to add them to any MD (you can build them on the Core or any other Kbuntu machine running the correct kernel - it does not have to be a Via machine). We usually add them during the first real boot of a new MD at the point where the AVwizard tries to run but can't start X (the display will continually loop in the console - going blank for a few secs each time). Just ssh into the MD and run the installer from the console choosing the appropriate options for your Via hardare etc. After about 60 secs the AVwizard will spring to lif and display its first screen... this is an indication that the drivers have installed cleanly.

Thats all there is too it.

Enjoy!

[MarcoZan]

Hi Andrew

just a couple of questions to make myself a clear picture.

I've a VIA based MD with CLE266, and according to its xorg.conf it is already using via driver shipped with Kubuntu/LMCE.

Are you saying that those drivers are NOT Unichrome Pro?

I've given a look at the pdf with the compiling procedure and it's a bit scaring to me. This is because I've tried last week to compile an external module but I messed up all my kernel modules and I had to get them out from a backup.
It looks like the .config file shipped with linux sources / headers differs from what have been used to compile
my actual system modules, so after reboot no module was loaded anymore.

So before going again through the same story I prefer to make 100% sure that this is the only option I have.

TIA
Marco

[totallymaxed]

Hi Andrew

just a couple of questions to make myself a clear picture.

I've a VIA based MD with CLE266, and according to its xorg.conf it is already using via driver shipped with Kubuntu/LMCE.

Are you saying that those drivers are NOT Unichrome Pro?

I've given a look at the pdf with the compiling procedure and it's a bit scaring to me. This is because I've tried last week to compile an external module but I messed up all my kernel modules and I had to get them out from a backup.
It looks like the .config file shipped with linux sources / headers differs from what have been used to compile
my actual system modules, so after reboot no module was loaded anymore.

So before going again through the same story I prefer to make 100% sure that this is the only option I have.

TIA
Marco

Well we had a lot of problems with the Via drivers in Kubuntu 7.04 - and from memory I think they are Openchrome. So we built our own Unichrome Pro drivers using the sources and the pdf from Via Arena.

If you get good performance from the drivers your using then stick with them.

[auyongtc]

But even with this Unichrome Pro drivers, there is no support for UI2 right?

[totallymaxed]

But even with this Unichrome Pro drivers, there is no support for UI2 right?

Right... you need the Unichrome Pro II drivers to get UI2 support and they have to be licensed from Via by systems integrators.

[MediaMonkey]

Right... you need the Unichrome Pro II drivers to get UI2 support and they have to be licensed from Via by systems integrators.

On a side note: doesn't it really sucks? I actually liked EX15000G motherboard. It really surprised me when I leaned that you don't get access to their driver even if you buy the hardware from them -- it is worse than Microsoft's business practices.  I am sure I can live without Via.

[totallymaxed]

Right... you need the Unichrome Pro II drivers to get UI2 support and they have to be licensed from Via by systems integrators.

On a side note: doesn't it really sucks? I actually liked EX15000G motherboard. It really surprised me when I leaned that you don't get access to their driver even if you buy the hardware from them -- it is worse than Microsoft's business practices.  I am sure I can live without Via.

Well I do agree its not idea... but in terms of video playback quality, performance, energy consumption, fanless quiet operation etc etc... the Via based motherboards really are very hard to beat. From a technical perspective UI2 is great but video playback performance is more important than transparent menus in my opinion and the Via's deliver that by the truck load. I know this is not necessarily a commonly held view but its one we hold strongly here.

[MarcoZan]

Thanks all for your reply

actually performances with standard drivers are not that bad with DVD playback, but I'm experiencing serious problems with DivX.
Basically when playing DivX my VIA MD crashes on a regular basis, sometimes after few seconds, sometimes after 40 minutes playback.
I couldn't find any relevant trace into logs, apart of this error occurring at boot time:

[drm:via_mem_alloc] *ERROR* Attempt to allocate from uninitialized memory manager.

Googling around I've found (very few) indications that this may be a bug in the via driver, so I guess I've no other options that going for Via Unichrome Pro drivers.

Here comes the crucial question: is the .config file shipped with kernel sources/header of Kubuntu 7.04 the correct one to use for compiling additional drivers/modules?
Or does this file need some changes?

TIA
Marco

[trisc]

Totallymaxed, thanks for your original post but for me these are general guidelines not the actual procedure...

I'm sure lots of us would appreciate a step-by-step guide to installing these drivers. I've struggled with the so called "instructions" off the Via site for days and got nowhere 

Can somebody please post a howto for getting these working on an actual LinuxMCE/Kubuntu MD?

[MarcoZan]

Hi Trisc

maybe I was simply lucky, but I followed the instruction contained in the pdf from the Via site and now I have new drivers running on my VIA MD.

I agree that they may appear a bit confusing because they contain indication for several distro, but in the end I did not need to make anything special.

If you isolate the steps related to Kubunto 7.0.4 you get the step-by-step guide that you are looking for.

Try to post here at which stage did you get stuck, and if possible I will try to give some help.

Regards
Marco

[trisc]

Thanks

I got the CLE266CN400CN-CX700CN800XORG40072-kernel-src_20061226c directory on my core so I guess I have the drivers I need.

Do I need to compile the 3D Mesa drivers also? I imagine we only need 2D drivers...

Finally what is the command to actually install these drivers? I understand to SSH into the MD but what syntax is needed to install them?

Trisc

[MarcoZan]

If you have a look to this file
(http://www.viaarena.com/Driver/via%20linux%20unichrome%20kernel%20driver%20source%20code%20installation%20guide%20v0%5B1%5D.83.gz)

you'll find all the steps that I followed to have drivers compiled and installed.

This is just a brief resume of the steps required to setup your environment:

• install kernel source
• install kernel source
• install kernel source
• install Xorg-dev
• download 3D mesa 6.5.2 + diff  (on the bottom of this page  https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mesa/6.5.2-3ubuntu7)

All these steps are listed in the pdf guide I pointed you to at the beginning of this post, maybe not in very deep details, but they are there.

Then you have to follow the compiling instruction related to ubuntu 7.0.4 contained in the pdf guide .

Once all the compiling process is completed you'll find in the root of your box a directory called

CLE266CN400CN-CX700CN800XORG40072

In this directory you'll find the newly compiled drivers, utility and install script (vinstall)
Launch this file,  select your CPU, then select option "2", and you're done.

It is definitely not a one-click "forward-forward-forward-finish" process and some linux skill is required to get successfully to the end.

Have a try with this and if you still find yourself in troubles let me know.

HTH
Marco

[trisc]

I know all about the pdf - but I'm finding commands in it that don't work for me.

• download 3D mesa 6.5.2 + diff  (on the bottom of this page  https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mesa/6.5.2-3ubuntu7)

I downloaded and unzipped these files but the command cd Mesa returns "No such file or directory" and now I'm stuck!

[MarcoZan]

If you give a look at what you unzipped you'll see that the actual name of directory is Mesa-6.5.2. That is the directory you have to jump in.

Then  the following command should also be modified to include the exact path of the mesa diff file. In my case:

Code:

cat ../mesa_6.5.2-3ubuntu7.diff | patch -p1   

since I stored diff file at the same level of Mesa directory.

As I told you this is not a detailed guide, and some linux knowledge is required to apply small refinements like the ones above.

I assume that all the previous points were ok, so proceed with this and see what happen next.

HTH
Marco

[trisc]

Driver-Package-Name? What should that be?

This seems crazy! Is there nowhere that I can download  pre-compiled drivers?