# Nvidia Driver AGP FastWrite and Side Band Addressing

## elboricua

I got this tip from gleaning info from a few threads here on the gentoo boards, some from the infogrames boards, and some from reading through the nvidia documentation.  I discovered this while trying to squeeze a few more FPS from my UT2003 install.  

I found that by default the nvidia drivers do not enable AGP FastWrites or Side Band Addressing. Here is a quick and easy way to turn it on.

NOTE To enable fastwrite you must have a motherboard that supports it, and have it turned on in the BIOS. Most AMD boards have fastwrite capability. I am not sure about Pentium based boards.

*(This tip requires a reboot. Unloading and reloading the driver just gets you an unstable system:/)*

First check to see if the FastWrites and SBA is enabled or disabled

```
$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:     Enabled

Driver:     AGPGART

AGP Rate:     4x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:        Enabled
```

(my system has it enabled because I turned it on. You may see that it says disabled.)

Now before enabling fastwrites and sba make sure that your video card supports it. The Geforce 2 GTS cards and Geforce Ti cards support it. I am not sure if the MX cards do.

```
 cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card 

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:        Supported

AGP Rates:     4x 2x 1x 

Registers:     0x1f000217:0x1f000314
```

If your card supports FW and SBA then just do the following:

edit /etc/modules.d/nvidia. 

```
alias char-major-195 NVdriver

options NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1
```

Reboot.   To make sure that the Fastwrite and SBA are enabled just

```
$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:     Enabled

Driver:     AGPGART

AGP Rate:     4x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:        Enabled
```

This helped to up my frames per second in UT2k3, Quake3, RTCW and generally all of my first person games  :Smile: 

----------

## mooteel

Just for the record, I have a ASUS, VIA based motherboard with a Pentium III and I have to enable Fast Writes in my BIOS too.

----------

## floam

be warned: enabling fastwrites can cause lots of system instability with some via chipsets.

----------

## roTor

 *floam wrote:*   

> be warned: enabling fastwrites can cause lots of system instability with some via chipsets.

 

This is VERY true.

Tried it with an Abit KX7-333 (Via KT chipset) and it would lock the computer up hard at KDM login.

Couldn't even telnet in to shut the thing down.

Use at your own risk.  :Wink: 

----------

## ejwahl

No problems so far with an ABIT KG-7 (AMD 761 chipset), GeForce4 Ti 4400 and Flux...

Thanks for the tip...

----------

## squanto

```
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge 

Host Bridge:     Via Apollo Pro KT266 

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:        Supported

AGP Rates:     4x 2x 1x 

Registers:     0x1f000217:0x00000104

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card        

Fast Writes:     Not Supported

SBA:        Not Supported

AGP Rates:     4x 2x 1x 

Registers:     0x1f000007:0x1f000104

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:     Enabled

Driver:     AGPGART

AGP Rate:     4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:        Disabled

```

This is on my GeForce3 Ti200 card.  I notice the Fast Writes Not Supported part and wonder.  Will what you tell me work?

I think that the agpstatus part would be a card setting because when I turn on fastwrite in my bios I get these results, but with fastwrite disabled in bios, it tells me it is disabled in host-bridge.

I am gonig to try it anyways, but just wanted to see if anyone with gf3's noticed this on their cards as well?

Should AGPGART show up as my driver?

Thanks,

Andrew

EDIT: I built a kernel without AGPGART support so that I will use the nvidia agp support, and without tweaking the fastwrite / sba and I notice that opengl runs slower on the nvidia agp setup (aka, no agpgart in kernel)

I also get 

```
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:     Disabled
```

 without agpgart

----------

## squanto

Well I guess on GF3Ti200 you cant turn on Fast Write and sba, but I wound up in the process of doing all this, to wind up building a new kernel and unmerging all the nvidia stuff and then emerging all the nvidia stuff and then putting the fastwrite options in, and when I used to get like 30fps max in ut2k3 I now get like 45 consistant and the game is much more fun.  :Smile:  I am back to the AGPGART based setup, it works great now.

Now to build a 2.5 series kernel  :Wink: 

So overal I am happy.

It is 4am here, bed time   :Embarassed: 

-Andrew

----------

## tirantloblanc

Thanks for the advice, enabling "Fast Writes" made my system faster when running UT2003!!!  :Cool:   :Cool: 

MotherBoard ECS K7S6A

Chipset: SiS 745

It does support "Fast Writes" and "SBA"

AGPgart: Kernel 2.4.19-Gentoo

Graphics card: Hercules 3D Prophet II MX 32MB AGP

Chipset: nvidia Geforce 2 MX

It only supports "Fast Writes"

Driver: Nvidia-latest

I haven't had any stability issue. This motherboard is superstable! and only cost me 55!!

```

tirantloblanc@merlin:~$ cat /etc/modules.d/nvidia 

alias char-major-195 NVdriver

# Enable Fast Write

options NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

# Enable SBA

#NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1

```

----------

## TheCoop

it screwed up my system, X locked up on bootup, i had to boot from the cd to change the nvidia file back...

GF4 TI4200

Epox 8KHA mobo /w VIA KT266 chipset

----------

## kvh009

I've got Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG;  I can't find any place to change the AGP Fast Writes.  Fast Writes not enabled even after reboot...running 1.4 gentoo.

Any ideas?   :Crying or Very sad: 

% cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

%  cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card 

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Not Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 1x 

Registers:       0x1f000015:0x1f000104

% cat /etc/modules.d/nvidia 

alias char-major-195 NVdriver

options NVdriver Vreg_EnableAGPFW=1

----------

## tirantloblanc

kvh009:

your m/b must support Fast writes, too:

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge 

Host Bridge: 	 SiS (unknown)        

Fast Writes: 	 Supported

SBA: 		 Supported

AGP Rates: 	 4x 2x 1x 

Registers: 	 0x1f000217:0x00000114

I didn't have any option to change in my BIOS.

----------

## squanto

 *tirantloblanc wrote:*   

> I didn't have any option to change in my BIOS.

 

If it says supported (for host-bridge), it is already on in your bios, nothing to change there  :Wink: 

if you were able to turn it off, it would then say unsupported or disabled.

-Andrew

----------

## tirantloblanc

If it says supported (for host-bridge), it is already on in your bios, nothing to change there  :Wink: 

I was pointing that if there's no option in the BIOS, it comes enabled by default.

----------

## kvh009

It seems my MB supports both options, but I still can't figure how to turn Fast Writes on.

%cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge 

Host Bridge:     nVidia nForce        

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x 

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x00000104

% cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

----------

## DarkJedi9

Agh, all kinds of problems getting this working.  When I do cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status, it says it is Disabled.  I checked dmesg and it has this in it:

Linux agpgart interface v0.99 (c) Jeff Hartmann

agpgart: Maximum main memory to use for agp memory: 439M

agpgart: unsupported bridge

agpgart: no supported devices found.

So I edited my /etc/modules.d/nvidia file to look like this:

alias char-major-195 NVdriver

options agp_try_unsupported=1

and rebooted.  But I still get agpgart as disabled.  Any suggestions?

----------

## col

After I aplied the module options I get :

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Disabled

so I dont know if its working....didnt notice any more speed.

----------

## TheCoop

try the nvagp driver instead of the kernel agp driver

----------

## squanto

 *TheCoop wrote:*   

> try the nvagp driver instead of the kernel agp driver

 

 *Squanto wrote:*   

> EDIT: I built a kernel without AGPGART support so that I will use the nvidia agp support, and without tweaking the fastwrite / sba and I notice that opengl runs slower on the nvidia agp setup (aka, no agpgart in kernel)
> 
> I also get
> 
> Code:
> ...

 

With out having agpgart, and by using the nvagp setup, I noticed that games ran much slower, fps wise. Just to let you know.

----------

## col

ok I recompiled my kernel removing agpgart & now I still get:

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status: Disabled 

In my XF86Conifg I have:

Option       "NvAGP"      "1" (nvagp)

Now my UT2003 frame rate is worse.....what's the deal ???

----------

## DarkJedi9

I just got mine working.  I compiled /dev/agpgart support as a module and put a line in my vid card section of XF86Config that reads Option "NvAGP" "3" which tells X to use agpgart and then NvAGP if agpgart isn't available.  Also, and this was key, I had to do a little source editing.  Here's a copy-and-paste from my post at Linuxnewbie.org

Here's how I did it. I did emerge -C on nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx (that's gentoo talk for uninstalled my nvidia "stuff"). Then I downloaded the tarballs from Nvidia's site. Now, I can't take credit for this. A friend of my brothers at college (that's university for our friends across the pond ) told me what to do next. 

Change into the directory created by unzipping the nvidia_kernel-blahblahblah tarball. Open the file os-registry.c, and go down to line 228 (I believe), and change "static int NVreg_EnableAGPSBA = 0;" so that the 0 is a 1. Do the same for line 254 (again that  should be it). The only difference is it's going to say FW instead of SBA. Either way, it needs to be 1, not 0. The SBA stands for side band addressing, and the fw for fast writing, by the way. Save the file, and do make install, then change to the nvidia_glx- blahblahblah, and do make install again. 

In /etc/modules.conf (or whatever file is necessary to edit said file, with gentoo changes are made to /etc/modules.d/nvidia) I need the line options agp_try_unsupported=1 because my MOBO is very new. Then in the Device section of XF86Config that applies to your vid card, add the line Option "NvAGP" "3". According to nvidia's readme, this will use NvAGP if possible, otherwise it will use AGPGART.

I set /dev/agpgart to a module in my kernel config, and I'm pretty sure I don't have it loading. The chipset on my card (VIA Apollo KT266) works with NvAGP, so I'm pretty sure I don't need agpgart anyway. I think that should be all that's needed.

Here's the full post: http://www.linuxnewbie.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75077

Hope it helps.

----------

## wHAcKer

works like a charm on a xp 2000+ with soltek drv5 mobo and geforce 4 ti 4200

thanks a lot mate

----------

## DarkJedi9

 *wHAcKer wrote:*   

> works like a charm on a xp 2000+ with soltek drv5 mobo and geforce 4 ti 4200
> 
> thanks a lot mate

 

Good to hear.   :Very Happy: 

----------

## kvh009

 *DarkJedi9 wrote:*   

>  *wHAcKer wrote:*   works like a charm on a xp 2000+ with soltek drv5 mobo and geforce 4 ti 4200
> 
> thanks a lot mate 
> 
> Good to hear.  

 

I can only do FastWrites; is it really worth this trouble?  Does anyone have any benchmarks?  Would glxgears be a good benchmark?

  Kurt

----------

## DarkJedi9

For me, I "benchmark" with glxgears.  I don't think it's terribly accurate, but I doubled my fps when I enable FW and SBA.  No idea how just FW will affect things.  Personally, I would try it.  I'm sure it will help a little.

----------

## kvh009

The only source file I could find for the GLX module was a .rpm

Yuck, I hate rpm...  :Evil or Very Mad: 

NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.src.rpm

And that appears to be binary only...no source files....Hmmmmm....

Where did you get the source code for the GLX part?

----------

## DarkJedi9

 *kvh009 wrote:*   

> The only source file I could find for the GLX module was a .rpm
> 
> Yuck, I hate rpm... 
> 
> NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.src.rpm
> ...

 

http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-3123/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.tar.gz

http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-3123/NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-3123.tar.gz

----------

## guero61

http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-3123/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.tar.gz

----------

## elboricua

 *DarkJedi9 wrote:*   

> Here's how I did it. I did emerge -C on nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx (that's gentoo talk for uninstalled my nvidia "stuff"). Then I downloaded the tarballs from Nvidia's site. Now, I can't take credit for this. A friend of my brothers at college (that's university for our friends across the pond ) told me what to do next. 
> 
> Change into the directory created by unzipping the nvidia_kernel-blahblahblah tarball. Open the file os-registry.c, and go down to line 228 (I believe), and change "static int NVreg_EnableAGPSBA = 0;" so that the 0 is a 1. Do the same for line 254 (again that  should be it). The only difference is it's going to say FW instead of SBA. Either way, it needs to be 1, not 0. The SBA stands for side band addressing, and the fw for fast writing, by the way. Save the file, and do make install, then change to the nvidia_glx- blahblahblah, and do make install again. 
> 
> In /etc/modules.conf (or whatever file is necessary to edit said file, with gentoo changes are made to /etc/modules.d/nvidia) I need the line options agp_try_unsupported=1 because my MOBO is very new. Then in the Device section of XF86Config that applies to your vid card, add the line Option "NvAGP" "3". According to nvidia's readme, this will use NvAGP if possible, otherwise it will use AGPGART.
> ...

 

The whole point of my tip is that you do not actually have to go through all of that.  Adding options NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1 to the module options have the exact same effect without having to recompile the glx driver.  Essentially this changes turns on those options in the reg file.    It's really strange that it did not work for you with just editing the module.....

I use the kernel AGPGart on my box, I do not use the Nvidia one.  I get average 40-45 FPS now in UT2003 Indoor maps.  On the outdoor maps with lots of people like the Tokara Forest map I get about 25-30.  Before enabling SBA and FW I was getting 25-30 on the indoor and 10-15 extremely unplayable FPS on the outdoor maps.

----------

## col

 *col wrote:*   

> ok I recompiled my kernel removing agpgart & now I still get:
> 
> cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status
> 
> Status: Disabled 
> ...

 

I thought maybe this has something to do with my chipset (via kt400)

----------

## DarkJedi9

Col, check nvidia's readme to see if your chipset is supported by NvAGP.  It's got a list somwhere in it.

----------

## DarkJedi9

Just checked, here's what the README says.

The following AGP chipsets are supported by NVIDIA's AGP; for all other

chipsets it's recommended that you use the AGPGART module.

  o Intel 440LX

  o Intel 440BX

  o Intel 440GX

  o Intel 815 ("Solano")   

  o Intel 820 ("Camino")   

  o Intel 830

  o Intel 840 ("Carmel")   

  o Intel 845 ("Brookdale")

  o Intel 845G

  o Intel 850 ("Tehama")

  o Intel 860 ("Colusa")

  o AMD 751 ("Irongate")

  o AMD 761 ("IGD4")   

  o AMD 762 ("IGD4 MP")

  o VIA 8371   

  o VIA 82C694X

  o VIA KT133

  o VIA KT266

  o RCC 6585HE

  o Micron SAMDDR ("Samurai") 

  o Micron SCIDDR ("Scimitar")

  o nForce AGP

  o ALi 1621

  o ALi 1631

  o ALi 1647

  o ALi 1651

  o ALi 1671

  o SiS 630

  o SiS 633

  o SiS 635

  o SiS 645

  o SiS 730

  o SiS 733

  o SiS 735

  o SiS 745

It looks like you'll need to use the agpgart from the kernel or as a module.

----------

## Mimamau

So what should I prefer? The NVIDIA's AGP or agpart from kernel? Which one is faster?

----------

## ghetto

Dont you hate old PC's? I do..

Here is just one more reason.. i saw this post and i got pretty excited.. so i checked my card and found this..

 cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status: 	 Enabled

Driver: 	 AGPGART

AGP Rate: 	 2x

Fast Writes: 	 Disabled

SBA: 		 Disabled

...ok no problem, lets see if i can improve it...

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card 

Fast Writes: 	 Supported

SBA: 		 Not Supported

AGP Rates: 	 4x 2x 1x 

Registers: 	 0x1f000017:0x1f000102

...aha, so it looks like i can improve one but not the other.. ok thats not great but i will take it, so now lets look at my MoBo and see what that says...

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge 

Host Bridge: 	 Intel 440LX          

Fast Writes: 	 Not Supported

SBA: 		 Supported

AGP Rates: 	 2x 1x 

Registers: 	 0x1f000203:0x00000102

...DAMN, so the one that my card supports is not supported by my MoBo and vice versa.. 

Aint life a kick in the ass sometimes?

----------

## TheCoop

get a new mobo   :Razz: 

----------

## ghetto

I am looking for one.. something in the $150(cdn) range? preferably AMD, with ddr ram, no need for isa slots, no need for onboard scsi, lan, video or sound.. Something that would take a fairlly fast cpu im thinkg somewhere between 1600-2000XP, and at lease AGPx4 that supports 'Fast Writes'

 :Wink: 

any sudgestions?

----------

## TheCoop

epox are good, as are gigabyte

----------

## col

I have a new Gigabyte 7VAXP & it works perfectly on gentoo .... only 1 minor problem I cant get the SPDIF digital audio out to work.

----------

## DarkJedi9

 *Mimamau wrote:*   

> So what should I prefer? The NVIDIA's AGP or agpart from kernel? Which one is faster?

 

Officially, I think they're equal.  But it seems most people prefer agpgart if it's available.  Use the Option "NvAGP" "3" line and you should be all set.

----------

## TheCoop

i get lower fps in quake3 when using the agpgart interface

----------

## DarkJedi9

Well, whatever works for you I guess.  Experiment a little if you wanna squeeze out every last frame.  (And I know you do...  :Smile: )

----------

## col

I compiled my NVdriver module using my old KT333 board & used to get 40-70 fps on UT2003 demo......same as or better than windows. Then I got a new KT400 board & got basically the same frame rate until I tried to recompile my NVdriver....now I only get 10-40 fps.....what has happend ?? not happy.....

----------

## col

 *col wrote:*   

> I compiled my NVdriver module using my old KT333 board & used to get 40-70 fps on UT2003 demo......same as or better than windows. Then I got a new KT400 board & got basically the same frame rate until I tried to recompile my NVdriver....now I only get 10-40 fps.....what has happend ?? not happy.....

 

YAY....fixed the KT400 problem.

not sure if this is necessary but I edited the kernel source,

/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/agp/agpgart_be.c & changed this to enable:

static int agp_try_unsupported __initdata = 1;

re-compiled the kernel with agpgart as a module

edit /etc/modules.autoload

agpgart agp_try_unsupported=1

NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

reboot 

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

I now get 50-100 FPS in ut2003 with the new options

----------

## DarkJedi9

Nice.  Is what was probably happening was you didn't have a supported mobo (KT400 is pretty new) so agpgart wasn't even loading.  The try unsupported will attempt to treat it like a similar compatible mobo, in this case most likely the KT333.  Not sure if that's exactly how it goes but if it works it works.  I personally need to look into NvAGP to see if using that will bump my frame rate a little.  I know 65 is nothing bad but I can do better.

----------

## DarkJedi9

Nice.  Is what was probably happening was you didn't have a supported mobo (KT400 is pretty new) so agpgart wasn't even loading.  The try unsupported will attempt to treat it like a similar compatible mobo, in this case most likely the KT333.  Not sure if that's exactly how it goes but if it works it works.  I personally need to look into NvAGP to see if using that will bump my frame rate a little.  I know 65 is nothing bad but I can do better.

----------

## DarkJedi9

Oops!  :Embarassed: 

----------

## squanto

Well, I got myself a GeForce4 Ti4200 in my puter right now, only thing is, it only puts out about 1fps faster in the ut2003 --bench test than my GeForce3 Ti200 did. I notice that RTCW runs about the same as well.

I have fastwrites and sba on for the 4200 but had them both off on my gf3.

Interesting note of the day, I will be going back to my GF3 as the 4200 is not owned by me  :Wink: 

----------

## ghetto

well i finally upgraded some of my hardware.. I got a new cpu and mobo, but I still have the same problem that I had with my old mobo.. 

 #  cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card 

Fast Writes: 	 Supported

SBA: 		 Not Supported

AGP Rates: 	 4x 2x 1x 

Registers: 	 0x1f000017:0x1f000104

 # cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge: 	 Via Apollo Pro KT133 

Fast Writes: 	 Not Supported

SBA: 		 Supported

AGP Rates: 	 4x 2x 1x 

Registers: 	 0x1f000207:0x00000104

Looks like now i need a new Nvidia card.. whats a good bang for my buck now a days.. currently i have a pretty old one (geforce2 mx400) and i love it.. but i really would like something a bit newer and also that could take advantage of SBA. Any sudgestions?

----------

## DarkJedi9

 *ghetto wrote:*   

> well i finally upgraded some of my hardware.. I got a new cpu and mobo, but I still have the same problem that I had with my old mobo.. 
> 
>  #  cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card 
> 
> Fast Writes: 	 Supported
> ...

 

Gotta go GeForce 4.  I would recommend maybe the TI-4200 or 4400 if you're on a budget but if you can afford it then the 4600 is of course better.  However, you may want to save some money and wait for the GeForce FX.  (Those might get pricey though...)

----------

## puddpunk

Well, as it turns out, My motherboard supports FastWrites, but my Video card only supports SBA, which my motherboard helpfuly doesn't support.

Woohoo. No tweaking for me  :Sad: 

----------

## rbonthond

I have a Gigabyte GA-8PE667Ultra S478 motherboard and a ASUS v8460 Ti4600 GeForce4 card.

using Option "NvAgp" "1" for XFree86.

/proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status reports the following: 

```

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Disabled

```

Unfortunately SBA gives really nice ansi art in XFree (=lockup).

Anybody got a clue why fastwrites would work and SBA not ?

----------

## John2583

I just tried the suggested tip, but it didn't work. I have a Geforce4 Ti4200 64MB

```
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/cards/0 

Model:           GeForce4 Ti 4200

IRQ:             11

Video BIOS:      04.25.00.29.00

Card Type:       AGP
```

```
cat version

NVRM version: NVIDIA Linux x86 NVdriver Kernel Module  1.0-3123  Tue Aug 27 15:56:48 PDT 2002

GCC version:  gcc version 3.2.1
```

```
cat host-bridge 

Host Bridge:     nVidia (unknown)     

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x 

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x00000000
```

```
 cat card

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x 

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x00000000
```

but unfortunately agp is still disabled  :Sad: 

```
 cat status 

Status:          Disabled
```

any ideas?

edit: also after i rebooted my /proc/driver/nvidia directory was gone!  and there was a new directory in /proc/driver/ray_cs. so i ran startx and the nvidia directory and all the stuff inside it were recreated? what's up with that?

edit again: taskara just told me in a diff. thread that agp gart isn't supported yet for the nforce2 motherboard i have. oh well, i'll wait till nvidia releases them. *Quote:*   

> I know you enabled it in the bios, but what I'm saying is that linux has no support for the nforce AGP gart.
> 
> Sure agp will work - I mean you can see your screen can't you?
> 
> but it won't have a specific driver loaded for it.
> ...

 

----------

## DarkJedi9

 *John2583 wrote:*   

> 
> 
> edit: also after i rebooted my /proc/driver/nvidia directory was gone!  and there was a new directory in /proc/driver/ray_cs. so i ran startx and the nvidia directory and all the stuff inside it were recreated? what's up with that?
> 
> 

 

So the ray_cs deal was before you ran startx at all after a reboot?  Not sure here, but possibly the nvidia stuff doesn't come into play until X is up and running.  After all, agp gart doesn't do much when you're only in a console.

----------

## floam

its not gonna showup in the driver list unless its loaded, remeber that stuff in /proc really arent "files"

----------

## DuF

I'm looking for if somebody have try to enable fast writes on a MB Abit KT7a (with via kt133) with Geforce2Pro and if there is no problem of stability ?

I can enabled it, but before trying I will prefer to know if it's a good idea or not  :Smile: 

If anybody answer me, I will try, but I prefer to know before   :Razz: 

----------

## floam

my old kt133 worked fine, just try it. its not like you can permanatly hurt anything

----------

## DuF

Thanks for the information floam, I will try it at the next reboot, I have change my /etc/modules.d/nividia, so I'm ready to see if I will can play UT2k3   :Razz: 

----------

## TheCoop

i would recommend removing xdm from the startup scripts when you try it, so you dont have to bot with the cd if it locks up your machine

----------

## ScubaStreb

On the latest driver release, this solution didn't work for fast write and SBA.  I edited my /etc/modules.d/nvidia file to look like this and it worked.

```
alias char-major-195 nvidia

options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1
```

In the Nvidia 4191 driver release, they changed the module from "NVdriver" to "nvidia".

Good luck!

----------

## TheCoop

with the new gentoo release the lines you need are only commented out in the relevant files

----------

## pYrania

seems like i am pretty fucked with the gf4go in my notebook   :Confused: 

```

# cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART (inactive)

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

# cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card   

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Not Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x 

Registers:       0x1f000017:0x1f000104

# cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge 

Host Bridge:     SiS (unknown)        

Fast Writes:     Not Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x 

Registers:       0x1f000207:0x00000104

```

----------

## zephyr1256

I gave this tip a try.  Had no problems starting up fluxbox.  We'll see if this is stable in a little while(in the past I could run for a while then it would lock up).  Before(with Mandrake 9) I wasn't able to run with fast writes or agp greater than 2x, but I did things differently back then.  Just for reference I'm using VIA KT266 MB with GeForce Ti 4200 128 MB(8x capable but my MB only supports 4x).

edit: It wasn't stable.  Took a while but it eventually crashed, so I reverted to my previous settings.

----------

## hooligan

aw weak... I had to update my mobo's bios to support my new processor... and now /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge says that Fast Writes are not supported... but it worked prior to my update...

hmmm... agp fast write or 200MHz more processor?

I think I will have to stick with no agp fast write... but it still really really sucks

----------

## MatzeOne

what are good benchmarks to see if the activation of fast write and sba increase the performance?

i only know glxgears

----------

## Bastux

Just if you activated the fast write and it makes your X crash even you retired the fast write just compil again the nvidia module

----------

## dmind

 *floam wrote:*   

> my old kt133 worked fine, just try it. its not like you can permanatly hurt anything

 

can only agree, i have a asus a7v kt133 motherboard and i just recently "upgraded" to an good old geforce2 mx 400 64mb card (bought it from a friend for nothing) and tried it out and works like a charm. though it doesnt support sba. so now i can play nwn and stuff!   :Cool:   nwn didnt like me old tnt1  :Laughing: 

----------

## neenee

when i enabled sba and fw, my system

locks up when i run tvtime for a minute

or so.

before i ran tvtime, i ran glxgears, which

produced the same fps as without sba

and fw.

both things considered, i'll leave them off.

----------

## grrrrr

fw and sba won't make a difference in glxgears

it'll only show in stuff that uses large textures, like games and stuff

----------

## christsong84

k...followed the tip...here's the results

```
-(swells@psalms)-(pts0)-(18:01/03-Mar-04)--

--<~>-- cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Disabled

--(swells@psalms)-(pts0)-(18:01/03-Mar-04)--

--<~>-- cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card   

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x 

Registers:       0x1f000e1b:0x1f004112

--(swells@psalms)-(pts0)-(18:01/03-Mar-04)--

--<~>-- cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge 

Host Bridge:     Intel Corp. 82875P Memory Controller Hub

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x 

Registers:       0x1f004a1b:0x00000912

```

since it's supported by both card and mobo...how come even after enabling it, sba doesn't show up? help?

----------

## Glorandar

 *Quote:*   

> since it's supported by both card and mobo...how come even after enabling it, sba doesn't show up? help?

 

I have (apparently) had the same issue until I used both the latest kernel with the latest nvidia drivers. Also my glxgears performance was suffering.

However, I overcame those issues this evening, on the following system, with the included configuration details:

```
mobo: ABIT NF7-S rev 2 [the standard nforce2 ultra 400 chipset)

video card: GeForce FX 5600

sys-kernel/gentoo-dev-sources-2.6.3-r1 [AGPGART enabled]

media-video/nvidia-kernel-1.0.5336-r1

media-video/nvidia-glx-1.0.5336-r1
```

To emerge these (latest) keyword masked versions of the nvidia driver, add these two lines to /etc/portage/package.keywords:

```
media-video/nvidia-glx

media-video/nvidia-kernel
```

Here is my /etc/X11/XF86Config's Device section:

```
Section "Device"

        Identifier  "NVAGP"

        Driver      "nvidia"

        VendorName  "nvidia"

        Option      "NvAGP" "3"

        Option      "CursorShadow" "yes"

        Option      "NoLogo" "yes"

        Option      "RenderAccel" "yes"

EndSection
```

Here are my AGP results:

```
wblew@mortis wblew $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

wblew@mortis wblew $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

Registers:       0x1f000e1b:0x1f004312

wblew@mortis wblew $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge:     nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different version?)

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

Registers:       0x1f00421b:0x00000312
```

Here are my glxgears results:

```
wblew@mortis wblew $ glxgears

7164 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1432.800 FPS

9204 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1840.800 FPS

9172 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1834.400 FPS

9177 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1835.400 FPS
```

I hope this helps.

----------

## Redeeman

 *floam wrote:*   

> be warned: enabling fastwrites can cause lots of system instability with some via chipsets.

 

works perfect on asus k8v deluxe with via k8t800

----------

## Stolz

Same problem as rbonthond and christsong84

```
$ cat /etc/X11/XF86Config | grep NvAGP

    Option "NvAGP" "1"

```

```
$ cat  /etc/modules.d/nvidia

alias char-major-195 nvidia

alias /dev/nvidiactl char-major-195

options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

```

```
$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

```

```
$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge:     nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different version?)

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

```

```
$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Disabled

```

My System:

 *Quote:*   

> mobo: Epox 8RDA+ rev 1.1
> 
> video card: GeForce 4 Ti 4200
> 
> sys-kernel/gentoo-dev-sources-2.6.3-r1 [AGPGART disabled, using NVIDIA driver]
> ...

 

How can I get SBA enabled?

Thanks in advice.

----------

## John5788

yeah same here, i want to know how to get SBA enabled. i have fastwrite on and its not doing much of a difference.

----------

## buser

Crashes instantly with SBA and Fastwrites enabled.  Crashes after about 8 days uptime randomly with Fastwrites enabled and SBA disabled.  Rock solid stable with both off.

Specs:

Asus A7v Kt133

Crucial pc 133 Ram

MSI Geforce 4 ti-4200 64mb

Kernel 2.6.3-gentoo-r1

----------

## John5788

my system locked up with only fastwrite on while playing an opengl game.

----------

## dmitrio

I have copied this HOWTO, with permission of elboricua to gentoo-wiki.com 

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Nvidia_Driver_AGP_FastWrite_and_Side_Band_Addressing

If you see anything that should be added or changed, feel free to do so. 

Thank you for a great HOWTO

----------

## TheCoop

theres a howto i wrote last year on the docs forum about getting the nvidia driver working with fastwrite and sba, search for it

----------

## DrWoland

 *DarkJedi9 wrote:*   

> I just got mine working.  I compiled /dev/agpgart support as a module and put a line in my vid card section of XF86Config that reads Option "NvAGP" "3" which tells X to use agpgart and then NvAGP if agpgart isn't available.  Also, and this was key, I had to do a little source editing.  Here's a copy-and-paste from my post at Linuxnewbie.org
> 
> Here's how I did it. I did emerge -C on nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx (that's gentoo talk for uninstalled my nvidia "stuff"). Then I downloaded the tarballs from Nvidia's site. Now, I can't take credit for this. A friend of my brothers at college (that's university for our friends across the pond ) told me what to do next. 
> 
> Change into the directory created by unzipping the nvidia_kernel-blahblahblah tarball. Open the file os-registry.c, and go down to line 228 (I believe), and change "static int NVreg_EnableAGPSBA = 0;" so that the 0 is a 1. Do the same for line 254 (again that  should be it). The only difference is it's going to say FW instead of SBA. Either way, it needs to be 1, not 0. The SBA stands for side band addressing, and the fw for fast writing, by the way. Save the file, and do make install, then change to the nvidia_glx- blahblahblah, and do make install again. 
> ...

 

:ugh: Overkill, I didn't have to do any of this...

----------

## seank

```
[~] $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card   

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:        Supported

AGP Rates:     4x 2x 1x 

Registers:     0x1f000217:0x1f000304

[~] $
```

```
[~] $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:     Enabled

Driver:     NVIDIA

AGP Rate:     4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:        Enabled

[~] $
```

```
[~] $ grep -v '^#' /etc/modules.d/nvidia

alias char-major-195 nvidia

alias /dev/nvidiactl char-major-195

options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

[~] $
```

Anyone know why Fast Writes isn't being enabled?

----------

## Deep-VI

Check your host bridge capabilities as well:

```
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge
```

----------

## seank

 *Deep-VI wrote:*   

> Check your host bridge capabilities as well:
> 
> ```
> cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge
> ```
> ...

 

Ah, well that explains it.  Thanks.

----------

## 96140

--Last edited by 96140 on Fri Sep 13, 2013 9:39 am; edited 1 time in total

----------

## JackDog

Just thought I would chime in...

nforce3 150 on a GB K8N-Pro with an nvidia 6800 works great. No problems at all

```

Computer agp # cat card host-bridge status

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

Registers:       0xff000e1b:0x1f004312

Host Bridge:     nVidia Corporation nForce3 Host Bridge

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

Registers:       0x1f00421b:0x00000312

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

Thanks for the info!

----------

## shakti

```
cat card host-bridge status

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x1f000104

Host Bridge:     nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different version?)

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x00000104

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

cat /etc/modules.d/nvidia

# Nvidia drivers support

alias char-major-195 NVdriver

alias /dev/nvidiactl char-major-195

# To tweak the driver the following options can be used, note that

# you should be careful, as it could cause instability!! For more

# option see /usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-1.0.7174/README.gz

#

#   To enable Side Band Adressing:  NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1

#

#   To enable Fast Writes: NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

#

# To enable both for instance, uncomment following line:

#

options NVdriver NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1 NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1

```

I did a modules-update, checked that its enabled in bios, reboot...nope not working. Using nvidia-kernel-1.0.7174.

----------

## Fuzzo

Both my card and host-bridge supports SBA and FW but if I enable these, X hangs at startup  :Sad: 

I have AGPGART static compiled on the 2.6.11-r9 but:

```
Dell5150 root # cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

```

and

```
Dell5150 root # cat /proc/driver/nvidia/registry

VideoMemoryTypeOverride: 1

EnableVia4x: 0

EnableALiAGP: 0

NvAGP: 3

ReqAGPRate: 7

EnableAGPSBA: 0

EnableAGPFW: 0

SoftEDIDs: 1

Mobile: 4294967295

ResmanDebugLevel: 4294967295

FlatPanelMode: 0

DevicesConnected: 0

VideoEnhancement: 0

RmLogonRC: 1

ModifyDeviceFiles: 1

DeviceFileUID: 0

DeviceFileGID: 0

DeviceFileMode: 438

```

Should I have also intel-agp module to enable FW and SBA?  :Question: 

----------

## JustGags

Is this still worth doing? With Xorg modular and latest nVidia drivers?

----------

## Fuzzo

No, now it works  :Smile: 

----------

## JustGags

 *Fuzzo wrote:*   

> No, now it works 

 

Could you elaborate?

----------

## Fuzzo

I've removed agpgart from the kernel and i've uncomment this

```
#NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1

#

#NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1 
```

----------

## sliwowitz

I uncommented the suggested line in /etc/modules.d/nvidia, but 

```
jiri ~ #  cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Disabled

AGP initialization failed, please check the ouput  

of the 'dmesg' command and/or your system log file 

for additional information on this problem.        

jiri ~ # dmesg | grep NVAGP

NVRM: not using NVAGP, an AGPGART backend is loaded!
```

So I followed the wiki - added agpgart and intel-agp to /etc/hotplug/blacklist and changed /etc/modules.d/aliases, but then udev tries to load intel-agp, but gets unresolved symbols as well as when it tries to load the nvidia module. See the whole dmesg output. Both /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card and /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge show FastWrite ans SBA is supported.Last edited by sliwowitz on Sun Aug 25, 2019 1:02 pm; edited 1 time in total

----------

## Tolstoi

 *sliwowitz wrote:*   

> I uncommented the suggested line in /etc/modules.d/nvidia, but 
> 
> ```
> jiri ~ #  cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status
> 
> ...

 

Exactly the message I get. I've tried NVAGP, AGPART kompiled in kernel as well as a module. And always that message.

lspci -vv

```

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA])

        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-

        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-

        Latency: 248 (1250ns min, 250ns max)

        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 22

        Region 0: Memory at fd000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]

        Region 1: Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]

        [virtual] Expansion ROM at fe8e0000 [disabled] [size=128K]

        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2

                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)

                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

        Capabilities: [44] AGP version 3.0

                Status: RQ=32 Iso- ArqSz=0 Cal=3 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW+ AGP3+ Rate=x4,x8

                Command: RQ=1 ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA- AGP- GART64- 64bit- FW- Rate=<none>

```

```

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge:     PCI device 1106:0308

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x

Registers:       0x1f000a1b:0x00000000

```

----------

## shakti

dont build any agp stuff from the kernel, the nvidia drivers agp module should do

----------

## Rabbi Hillel

Hi!

As there seem to be some nvidia-experts at this place I'd like to ask a question too:

I've got an VIA Intel Pentium III (Coppermine) stepping 06 and a  nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6200] (rev a1) graphic-card.

I had to update my bios to enable 4xagp (per default it didn't even exist) which is supported by my nvidia-card too.

When I force X to use 4xagp via

```
options nvidia NVreg_EnableVia4x=1 NVreg_ReqAGPRate=4
```

in /etc/modules.conf my screen shows awful signs or glxgears let's reset X. It's extremely unstable.

This is regarded to the power I can give to the card via the bios by manipulating two options which can have values from 0-F like 00, 01,02,...FF.

I have tested a few ones but none of them brought up a functioning X.

Any ideas?

----------

## Tolstoi

awww god, forgot to compile SMB into the kernel. Now it works.

Maybe give it a try, sliwowitz!

----------

## sliwowitz

I would, but I had too much work lately and now am leaving for weekend. I'll give it a shot next week. BTW, do you see any noticeable speedup?

----------

## sliwowitz

Yesterday, I compiled a new kernel with AGP related stuff removed, tinkered with some more config options and finally have both FW and SBA enabled. I have around 5-10% FPS increase in UT2004 and glxgears, no problems with stability so far (YMMV). I wouldn't say it's a must-have feature, but it didn't seem to hurt anything either. (as to my deepest hopes for getting rid of the 30% performance drop in GL applications when running compiz - it didn't help at all)

----------

## nihues

 *sliwowitz wrote:*   

> Yesterday, I compiled a new kernel with AGP related stuff removed, tinkered with some more config options and finally have both FW and SBA enabled. I have around 5-10% FPS increase in UT2004 and glxgears, no problems with stability so far (YMMV). I wouldn't say it's a must-have feature, but it didn't seem to hurt anything either. (as to my deepest hopes for getting rid of the 30% performance drop in GL applications when running compiz - it didn't help at all)

 

Hi, 

Did you saw what I did? I got +-30% increase in 3d games

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-573443.html

----------

## Pajarico

Both my card and host-bridge support SBA and FW but:

```
# cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

Did someone fix this?

----------

