Ubuntu Manpage: nvidia-xconfig - manipulate X configuration files for the NVIDIA driver

Provided by: nvidia-utils-470_470.239.06-0ubuntu0.23.10.1_amd64

NAME

       nvidia-xconfig - manipulate X configuration files for the NVIDIA driver

SYNOPSIS

       nvidia-xconfig [ options ]

DESCRIPTION

nvidia-xconfig is a tool intended to provide basic control over configuration options
available in the NVIDIA X driver.

nvidia-xconfig performs its operations in several steps:

1) The system X configuration file is found and read into memory. If no configuration
file can be found, nvidia-xconfig generates one from scratch using default
settings; in this case, nvidia-xconfig will write the configuration to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf

2) The configuration in memory is modified to support the NVIDIA driver. This
consists of changing the display driver to "nvidia", removing the commands to load
the "GLcore" and "dri" modules, and adding the command to load the "glx" module.

3) The configuration in memory is modified according to the options specified on the
command line. Please see the NVIDIA README for a description of the NVIDIA X
configuration file options. Note that nvidia-xconfig does not perform any
validation of the X configuration file options requested on the command line; X
configuration file option validation is left for the NVIDIA X driver.

4) The configuration is written back to the file from which it was read. A backup of
the original configuration is created with ".backup" appended. For example, if
your X configuration is /etc/X11/xorg.conf then nvidia-xconfig will copy it to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup before writing the new configuration. The --post-tree
(-T) option can be used to print the new configuration to standard out in tree form
instead. This option is useful to see what nvidia-xconfig will do while leaving
the original configuration intact.

The source code to nvidia-xconfig is released under the GPL and available here:

⟨https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/nvidia-xconfig/⟩

Patches are welcome.

OPTIONS

       -c XCONFIG, --xconfig=XCONFIG
              Use  XCONFIG  as the input X config file; if this option is not specified, then the
              same search path used by the X server will be used  to  find  the  X  configuration
              file.

       -o OUTPUT-XCONFIG, --output-xconfig=OUTPUT-XCONFIG
              Use  OUTPUT-XCONFIG  as  the  output  X  configuration  file; if this option is not
              specified, then the input X configuration filename will also be used as the  output
              X configuration filename.

       -s, --silent
              Run  silently;  no messages will be printed to stdout, except for warning and error
              messages to stderr.

       -t, --tree
              Read the X configuration file, print to stdout the X configuration data in  a  tree
              format, and exit.

       -v, --version
              Print the nvidia-xconfig version and exit.

       -h, --help
              Print usage information for the common commandline options and exit.

       -A, --advanced-help
              Print  usage information for the common commandline options as well as the advanced
              options, and then exit.

ADVANCED OPTIONS

--acpid-socket-path=ACPID-SOCKET-PATH, --no-acpid-socket-path
Set this option to specify an alternate path to the Linux ACPI daemon (acpid)'s
socket, which the NVIDIA X driver will use to connect to acpid.

--add-argb-glx-visuals, --no-add-argb-glx-visuals
Enables or disables support for OpenGL rendering into 32-bit ARGB windows and
pixmaps.

--allow-glx-with-composite, --no-allow-glx-with-composite
Enable or disable the "AllowGLXWithComposite" X configuration option.

--busid=BUSID, --no-busid
This option writes the specified BusID to the device section of the X configuration
file. If there are multiple device sections, then it adds the BusID field to each
of them. To add the BusID to only a specific device or screen section, use the
'--device' or '--screen' options.

--preserve-busid, --no-preserve-busid
By default, nvidia-xconfig preserves the existing BusID in the X configuration file
only if there are multiple X screens configured for the X server. Use
'--preserve-busid' or '--no-preserve-busid' to force the BusID to be preserved or
not preserved, overriding the default behavior.

--cool-bits=COOL-BITS, --no-cool-bits
Enable or disable the "Coolbits" X configuration option. Setting this option will
enable support in the NV-CONTROL X extension for manipulating GPU clock and GPU fan
control settings. Default value is 0. For fan control set it to 4. WARNING: this
may cause system damage and void warranties.

--composite, --no-composite
Enable or disable the "Composite" X extension.

--connected-monitor=CONNECTED-MONITOR, --no-connected-monitor
Enable or disable the "ConnectedMonitor" X configuration option; setting this
option forces the X driver to behave as if the specified display devices are
connected to the GPU.

--connect-to-acpid, --no-connect-to-acpid
Enable or disable the "ConnectToAcpid" X configuration option. If this option is
set, the NVIDIA X driver will attempt to connect to the Linux ACPI daemon (acpid).
Set this option to off to prevent the X driver from attempting to connect to acpid.

--constant-dpi, --no-constant-dpi
Enable or disable the "ConstantDPI" X configuration option, which controls whether
the NVIDIA X driver maintains a constant dots per inch (DPI) value by recomputing
the reported size in millimeters of the X screen when XRandR changes the size in
pixels of the X screen.

--custom-edid=CUSTOM-EDID, --no-custom-edid
Enable or disable the "CustomEDID" X configuration option; setting this option
forces the X driver to use the EDID specified.This option is a semicolon-separated
list of pairs of display device names and filename pairs; e.g "CRT-0:mp\did.bin".
Note that a display device name must always be specified even if only one EDID is
specified.

--dac-8bit, --no-dac-8bit
Most Quadro parts by default use a 10 bit color look up table (LUT) by default;
setting this option to TRUE forces these graphics chips to use an 8 bit (LUT).

-d DEPTH, --depth=DEPTH
Set the default depth to DEPTH ; valid values for DEPTH are 8, 15, 16, 24, and 30.

--device=DEVICE
The nvidia-xconfig utility operates on one or more devices in the X configuration
file. If this option is specified, the device named DEVICE in the X configuration
file will be used. If this option is not specified, all the devices within the X
configuration file will be used.

--disable-glx-root-clipping, --no-disable-glx-root-clipping
Disable or enable clipping OpenGL rendering to the root window via the
"DisableGLXRootClipping" X configuration option.

--damage-events, --no-damage-events
Use OS-level events to notify the X server when a direct-rendering client has
performed rendering that needs to be composited to the screen. Improves
performance when using GLX with the composite extension.

--preserve-driver-name
By default nvidia-xconfig changes the display driver to "nvidia" for all
configured X screens; this option preserves the existing driver name of each X
screen.

--egpu, --no-egpu
Enable or disable the "AllowExternalGpus" X configuration option.

-a, --enable-all-gpus
Delete all existing X screens in the current configuration, then configure an X
screen on every GPU in your system.

--exact-mode-timings-dvi, --no-exact-mode-timings-dvi
Forces the initialization of the X server with the exact timings specified in the
ModeLine.

-E FILE, --extract-edids-from-file=FILE
Extract any raw EDID byte blocks contained in the specified X log file LOG ; raw
EDID bytes are printed by the NVIDIA X driver to the X log as hexadecimal when
verbose logging is enabled with the "-logverbose 6" X server commandline option.
Any extracted EDIDs are then written as binary data to individual files. These
files can later be used by the NVIDIA X driver through the "CustomEDID" X
configuration option.

--extract-edids-output-file=FILENAME
When the '--extract-edids-from-file' option is used, nvidia-xconfig writes any
extracted EDID to a file, typically "edid.bin" in the current directory. Use this
option to specify an alternate filename. Note that nvidia-xconfig, if necessary,
will append a unique number to the EDID filename, to avoid overwriting existing
files (e.g., "edid.bin.1" if "edid.bin" already exists).

--flatpanel-properties=FLATPANEL-PROPERTIES, --no-flatpanel-properties
Set the flat panel properties. The supported properties are 'dithering' and
'ditheringmode'. Please see the NVIDIA README 'Appendix B. X Config Options' for
more details on the possible values and syntax.

--flip, --no-flip
Enable or disable OpenGL flipping

--force-generate
Force generation of a new X config file, ignoring any existing system X config
file. This is not typically recommended, as things like the mouse protocol,
keyboard layout, font paths, etc, are setup by your Unix distribution. While
nvidia-xconfig can attempt to infer these values, it is best to use your Unix
distribution's X config file for the basis of anything that nvidia-xconfig creates.

--force-stereo-flipping, --no-force-stereo-flipping
Normally, stereo flipping is only performed when a stereo drawable is visible. This
option forces stereo flipping even when no stereo drawables are visible.

--handle-special-keys=WHEN, --no-handle-special-keys
Specify when the X server should use the builtin keyboard handler to process
special key combinations (such as Ctrl+Alt+Backspace); see the X configuration man
page for details. The value of WHEN can be 'Always', 'Never', or 'WhenNeeded'.

--include-implicit-metamodes, --no-include-implicit-metamodes
Enable or disable the "IncludeImplicitMetaModes" X configuration option.

--keyboard=KEYBOARD
When generating a new X configuration file (which happens when no system X
configuration file can be found, or the '--force-generate' option is specified),
use KEYBOARD as the keyboard type, rather than attempting to probe the system for
the keyboard type. For a list of possible keyboard types, see the
'--keyboard-list' option.

--keyboard-driver=DRIVER
In most cases nvidia-xconfig can automatically determine the correct keyboard
driver to use (either 'kbd' or 'keyboard'). Use this option to override what
nvidia-xconfig detects. Typically, if you are using an X.Org X server, use 'kdb';
if you are using an XFree86 X server, use 'keyboard'.

--keyboard-list
Print to stdout the available keyboard types recognized by the '--keyboard' option,
and then exit.

--layout=LAYOUT
The nvidia-xconfig utility operates on a Server Layout within the X configuration
file. If this option is specified, the layout named LAYOUT in the X configuration
file will be used. If this option is not specified, the first Server Layout in the
X configuration file is used.

--mode=MODE
Add the specified mode to the mode list.

--mode-debug, --no-mode-debug
Enable or disable the "ModeDebug" X configuration option; when enabled, this option
causes the X driver to print verbose details about mode validation to the X log
file.

--mode-list=MODELIST
Remove all existing modes from the X configuration's modelist and add the one(s)
specified in the MODELIST string.

--remove-mode=MODE
Remove the specified mode from the mode list.

--metamodes=METAMODES
Add the MetaMode X configuration option with the value METAMODES which will replace
any existing MetaMode option already in the X configuration file.

--mouse=MOUSE
When generating a new X configuration file (which happens when no system X
configuration file can be found, or the '--force-generate' option is specified),
use MOUSE as the mouse type, rather than attempting to probe the system for the
mouse type. For a list of possible mouse types, see the '--mouse-list' option.

--mouse-list
Print to stdout the available mouse types recognized by the '--mouse' option, and
then exit.

--multigpu=MULTIGPU, --no-multigpu
Enable or disable MultiGPU. Valid values for MULTIGPU are 'Off' and 'Mosaic'.

--multisample-compatibility, --no-multisample-compatibility
Enable or disable the use of separate front and back multisample buffers.

--nvidia-cfg-path=PATH
The nvidia-cfg library is used to communicate with the NVIDIA kernel module to
query basic properties of every GPU in the system. This library is typically only
used by nvidia-xconfig when configuring multiple X screens. This option tells
nvidia-xconfig where to look for this library (in case it cannot find it on its
own). This option should normally not be needed.

--only-one-x-screen
Disable all but one X screen.

--overlay, --no-overlay
Enable or disable the "Overlay" X configuration option.

--cioverlay, --no-cioverlay
Enable or disable the color index overlay.

--overlay-default-visual, --no-overlay-default-visual
Enable or disable the "OverlayDefaultVisual" X configuration option.

--transparent-index=INDEX, --no-transparent-index
Pixel to use as transparent when using color index overlays. Valid values for
TRANSPARENT-INDEX are 0-255.

-T, --post-tree
Like the '--tree' option, but goes through the full process of applying any user
requested updates to the X configuration, before printing the final configuration
to stdout in a tree format. Effectively, this option just causes the configuration
to be printed to stdout as a tree instead of writing the results to file.

--power-connector-check, --no-power-connector-check
Disable or enable the "NoPowerConnectorCheck" X configuration option.

--probe-all-gpus, --no-probe-all-gpus
Disable or enable the "ProbeAllGpus" X configuration option.

--query-gpu-info
Print information about all recognized NVIDIA GPUs in the system.

--registry-dwords=REGISTRY-DWORDS, --no-registry-dwords
Enable or disable the "RegistryDwords" X configuration option.

--render-accel, --no-render-accel
Enable or disable the "RenderAccel" X configuration option.

--render-extension, --no-render-extension
Disable or enable the "NoRenderExtension" X configuration option.

--screen=SCREEN
The nvidia-xconfig utility operates on one or more screens within a Server Layout
in the X configuration file. If this option is specified, the screen named SCREEN
in the X configuration file will be used. If this option is not specified, all
screens within the selected Server Layout in the X configuration file will be used
used.

--separate-x-screens, --no-separate-x-screens
A GPU that supports multiple simultaneous display devices can either drive these
display devices in a single X screen, or as separate X screens. When the
'--separate-x-screens' option is specified, each GPU on which an X screen is
currently configured will be updated to have two or more (depending on the
capabilities of that GPU) X screens configured. The '--no-separate-x-screens'
option will remove any extra configured X screens on each GPU. Please see the
NVIDIA README description of "Separate X Screens on One GPU" for further details.

--x-screens-per-gpu=X-SCREENS-PER-GPU
A GPU that supports multiple simultaneous display devices can either drive these
display devices in a single X screen, or as separate X screens. When the
'--x-screens-per-gpu=<quantity>' option is specified, each GPU on which an X screen
is currently configured will be updated to have <quantity> X screens. <quantity>
has to be greater than 0. Setting <quantity> to 1 is equivalent to specifying the
'--no-separate-x-screens' option. Please see the NVIDIA README description of
"Separate X Screens on One GPU" for further details.

--sli=SLI, --no-sli
Enable or disable SLI. Valid values for SLI are 'Off' and 'Mosaic'.

--stereo=STEREO, --no-stereo
Enable or disable the stereo mode. Valid values for STEREO are: 0 (Disabled), 1
(DDC glasses), 2 (Blueline glasses), 3 (Onboard stereo), 4 (multi-display clone
mode stereo), 5 (SeeReal digital flat panel), 6 (Sharp3D digital flat panel), 7
(Arisawa/Hyundai/Zalman/Pavione/Miracube), 8 (3D DLP), 9 (3D DLP INV), 10 (NVIDIA
3D VISION), 11 (NVIDIA 3D VISION PRO), 12 (HDMI 3D), 13 (Tridelity SL).

--thermal-configuration-check, --no-thermal-configuration-check
Disable or enable the "ThermalConfigurationCheck" X configuration option.

--tv-standard=TV-STANDARD, --no-tv-standard
Enable or disable the "TVStandard" X configuration option. Valid values for
"TVStandard" are: "PAL-B", "PAL-D", "PAL-G", "PAL-H", "PAL-I", "PAL-K1", "PAL-M",
"PAL-N", "PAL-NC", "NTSC-J", "NTSC-M", "HD480i", "HD480p", "HD720p", "HD1080i",
"HD1080p", "HD576i", "HD576p".

--tv-out-format=TV-OUT-FORMAT, --no-tv-out-format
Enable or disable the "TVOutFormat" X configuration option. Valid values for
"TVOutFormat" are: "SVIDEO" and "COMPOSITE".

--metamode-orientation=ORIENTATION, --no-metamode-orientation
Specify the MetaModeOrientation. Valid values for ORIENTATION are: "RightOf" (the
default), "LeftOf", "Above", "Below", or "Clone".

--nvidia-xinerama-info, --no-nvidia-xinerama-info
Enable or disable providing Xinerama information from the NVIDIA X driver.

--nvidia-xinerama-info-order=NVIDIA-XINERAMA-INFO-ORDER, --no-nvidia-xinerama-info-order
Enable or disable the "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" X configuration option.
NVIDIA-XINERAMA-INFO-ORDER is a comma-separated list of display device names that
describe the order in which nvidiaXineramaInfo should be reported. E.g., "CRT,
DFP, TV".

--ubb, --no-ubb
Enable or disable the "UBB" X configuration option.

--use-edid, --no-use-edid
Enable or disable use of the EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) from your
display device(s). The EDID will be used for driver operations such as building
lists of available modes, determining valid frequency ranges, and computing the DPI
(Dots Per Inch). This option defaults to TRUE (the NVIDIA X driver will use the
EDID, when available). It is NOT recommended that you use this option to globally
disable use of the EDID; instead, use '--no-use-edid-freqs' or '--no-use-edid-dpi'
to disable specific uses of the EDID.

--use-edid-dpi, --no-use-edid-dpi
Enable or disable use of the physical size information in the display device's
EDID, if any, to compute the DPI (Dots Per Inch) of the X screen. This option
defaults to TRUE (the NVIDIA X driver uses the EDID's physical size, when
available, to compute the DPI).

--use-edid-freqs, --no-use-edid-freqs
Enable or disable use of the HorizSync and VertRefresh ranges given in a display
device's EDID, if any. EDID provided range information will override the HorizSync
and VertRefresh ranges specified in the Monitor section. This option defaults to
TRUE (the NVIDIA X driver will use frequency information from the EDID, when
available).

--use-display-device=DISPLAY-DEVICE, --no-use-display-device
Force the X driver to use the display device specified.

--use-events, --no-use-events
Enable or disable "UseEvents" X configuration option. Setting this option will
enable the X driver to use the system events in some cases when it is waiting for
the hardware. With this option X driver sets an event handler and waits for the
hardware through the poll() system call. This option defaults to FALSE.

--virtual=WIDTHxHEIGHT, --no-virtual
Specify the virtual screen resolution.

--x-prefix=X-PREFIX
The X installation prefix; the default is /usr/X11R6/. Only under rare
circumstances should this option be needed.

--xinerama, --no-xinerama
Enable or disable Xinerama.

--color-space=COLORSPACE, --no-color-space
Enable or disable the "ColorSpace" X configuration option. Valid values for
"COLORSPACE" are: "RGB" and "YCbCr444".

--color-range=COLORRANGE, --no-color-range
Sets the "ColorRange" X configuration option. Valid values for "COLORRANGE" are:
"Full" and "Limited".

--3dvision-usb-path=3DVISION-USB-PATH
Set this option to specify the sysfs path of the connected USB dongle.

--3dvisionpro-config-file=3DVISIONPRO-CONFIG-FILE
Set this option to specify the NVIDIA 3DVisionPro configuration file. Ensure X
server has a read and write access permissions to this file. NVIDIA X driver stores
the hub and the pairing configuration in this file to re-use across X restarts. If
this option is not provided, 3D VisionPro configuration will not be stored.

--3dvision-display-type=3DVISION-DISPLAY-TYPE, --no-3dvision-display-type
When NVIDIA 3D Vision is enabled with a non 3D Vision ready display, use this
option to specify the display type. Valid values are: 0 (Assume it is a CRT), 1
(Assume it is a DLP) and 2 (Assume it is a DLP TV and enable the checkerboard
output).

--base-mosaic, --no-base-mosaic
Enable or disable the "BaseMosaic" X configuration option.

--restore-original-backup
Restore a backup of the X configuration that was made before any changes were made
by nvidia-xconfig, if such a backup is available. This type of backup is made by
nvidia-xconfig before it modifies an X configuration file that it has not
previously touched; this is assumed to be an X configuration file that predates the
involvement of the NVIDIA X driver. As an example, nvidia-xconfig will copy an X
configuration file at /etc/X11/xorg.conf to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia-xconfig-original the first time it makes changes to that
file.

--allow-empty-initial-configuration, --no-allow-empty-initial-configuration
Allow the X server to start even if no connected display devices could be detected.

--inband-stereo-signaling, --no-inband-stereo-signaling
Enable or disable the "InbandStereoSignaling" X configuration option.

--force-yuv-420, --no-force-yuv-420
Enable or disable the "ForceYUV420" X configuration option. If the current display
and GPU both support uncompressed RGB 4:4:4 output and YUV 4:2:0 compressed output
with the current mode, then RGB 4:4:4 output is selected by default. This option
forces the use of YUV 4:2:0 output (where supported) instead.

--force-composition-pipeline=FORCE-COMPOSITION-PIPELINE, --no-force-composition-pipeline
Enable or disable the "ForceCompositionPipeline" X configuration option.

--force-full-composition-pipeline=FORCE-FULL-COMPOSITION-PIPELINE, --no-force-full-
composition-pipeline
Enable or disable the "ForceFullCompositionPipeline" X configuration option.

--allow-hmd=ALLOW-HMD, --no-allow-hmd
Enable or disable the "AllowHMD" X configuration option.

--prime, --no-prime
Enable PRIME for the generated X config file. Cannot be run with --no-busid or
--no-allow-empty-initial-configuration. On a system with more than 1 GPU, specify
the GPU to use for PRIME with --busid or the first available will be chosen. Note
that to enable PRIME it is necessary to run "xrandr --setprovideroutputsource
modesetting NVIDIA-0" and "xrandr --auto" after completion.

EXAMPLES

       nvidia-xconfig
              Reads an existing X config file and adapts it to use the NVIDIA driver.   If  no  X
              config  file  can be found, a new one is created at /etc/X11/xorg.conf with default
              settings.

       nvidia-xconfig --post-tree --metamode-orientation=clone
              Reads the existing X configuration file, adds the MetaModeOrientation  option,  and
              then  prints  the  resulting  config  file  to  standard  out  in  tree  form.  The
              configuration file is not modified.

       nvidia-xconfig --enable-all-gpus
              Examines the system and configures an X screen for each display device it finds.

       nvidia-xconfig --mode=1600x1200
              Adds a 1600x1200 mode to an existing X configuration.

       nvidia-xconfig --mode-list=1600x1200 1280x1024
              Removes any existing modes from the  X  configuration  file,  replacing  them  with
              "1600x1200" and "1280x1024".

       nvidia-xconfig --metamodes=1024x768 +0+0, 1024x768 +1024+0
              Adds the MetaMode "1024x768 +0+0, 1024x768 +1024+0" to the existing X configuration
              file, replacing any existing MetaModes X configuration option.

       nvidia-xconfig --only-one-x-screen --sli=Auto
              Configures the X server to have just one X screen that will use SLI when available.

AUTHOR

       Aaron Plattner
       NVIDIA Corporation

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2005-2010 NVIDIA Corporation.