This tutorial covers how to easily install proprietary drivers for your Nvidia or ATI video card using envy. These are the drivers that are listed in the download section of the ATI and NVIDIA Websites. Advantage to installing these drivers over the nvidia-glx or xorg-driver-fglrx are that you get a nice GUI control panel and advanced features to work with.
How to Install Video Drivers for Ubuntu Linux
To install ATI/AMD and NVIDIA video drivers on Ubuntu, you'll typically use the apt-get package manager to install the appropriate drivers for your graphics card. The exact steps can vary depending on your Ubuntu version and the specific graphics card you have.
The following is a general guide to help you Install Video Drivers on Linux.
How do I Check my Graphics Card in Linux?
You can easily identify whether you have an ATI/AMD or NVIDIA graphics card. You do this by running the following command which will list your graphics card along with its manufacturer. To do so simply open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T), and then type or copy and paste the following command into the terminal:
lspci -k | grep -A 2 -i "VGA\|3D"
Install ATI/AMD Drivers Linux
For ATI/AMD graphics cards, you can use the open-source drivers that are included with Ubuntu by default, or you can install the proprietary drivers for improved performance and additional features. To install the proprietary ATI/AMD drivers (usually referred to as the "AMDGPU" drivers), use the following:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install amdgpu-pro
And finally, reboot your system using:
sudo reboot
Install NVIDIA Drivers on Ubuntu Linux
For NVIDIA graphics cards, it's recommended to use the proprietary NVIDIA drivers for the best performance and feature support. To install the NVIDIA drivers, issue the following two commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver
And then to reboot your system:
sudo reboot
Verifying Linux Video Card Driver Installation
After rebooting, you can verify that the drivers are installed and working correctly. You can do this by running one of the following commands to show information about your graphics card and the current driver that is in use.
To verify ATI/AMD drivers:
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
Or to verify your NVIDIA drivers:
nvidia-smi
Keep in mind that the specific driver package names and installation steps may vary depending on your Ubuntu version and the exact model of your graphics card. Always refer to the official Ubuntu documentation and the documentation provided by ATI/AMD or NVIDIA for the most recent instructions for your particular system.