View source for Make.conf/VIDEO CARDS

{{warning|From a regular user perspective, this page is deprecated.  We use [[Funtoo_Profiles]] now to set video cards. This page still serves as a useful reference for graphics cards mix-ins and their internals.}}

{{Subpages|Mix-ins,DRI vs. Gallium vs. NVIDIA,Understanding What's Available,Daniel's Simple Hybrid Graphics,NVIDIA and Nouveau Driver Switching}}

{{Note|If you are simply looking for quick information on how to configure your system, see [[#Changing VIDEO_CARDS Settings|Changing VIDEO_CARDS Settings]] below.}}

The {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} [[make.conf]] setting is used to define what graphics support is enabled on your system. This graphics support can include a combination of ''kernel drivers'' and ''user-space libraries'' that as a whole provide graphics capability for your system. This Portage variable is generally used only by packages that directly implement graphics support, such as {{c|media-libs/mesa}} and a few others. Typically, {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings are "stacked", which means that multiple related flags are specified, typically enabling various parts of the graphics stack that work together. Here are some useful examples:

{{file|name=/etc/make.conf|lang=bash|body=
# This setting will support nearly all X/DRI-based Intel integrated graphics:
VIDEO_CARDS="intel dri3 i965 i915"

# This next setting is similar to the one above but will also enable Vulkan support for the DRI driver:
VIDEO_CARDS="intel vulkan-intel dri3 i965 i915"

# This next setting will enable Gallium for Intel integrated graphics -- The Intel drivers are currently more mature:
VIDEO_CARDS="intel gallium-i915"

# This next setting could be useful if you have hybrid graphics on your laptop and you plan to use X:
VIDEO_CARDS="intel dri3 i965 i915 nvidia"

# This setting would be good for X-based graphics with Radeon cards using gallium:
VIDEO_CARDS="amdgpu vulkan-amdgpu radeon gallium-r300 gallium-r600 gallium-radeonsi"
}}

== Funtoo Differences ==

Starting with Funtoo Linux 1.4, {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings work a bit differently than in Gentoo and these differences are documented here. The design philosophy for the use of {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} is to have each atom in the string map to a single specific graphics driver or capability. So, rather than have {{c|1=USE="gallium"}} {{c|1=VIDEO_CARDS="nouveau"}} to enable the {{c|nouveau}} driver with Gallium backend, Funtoo specifies just {{c|1=VIDEO_CARDS="gallium-nouveau"}}. This turns out to be useful in practice since there are DRI and Gallium {{c|nouveau}} and {{c|nouveau-gallium}} drivers that can now be set independently.

The Funtoo {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} flags are designed to have a consistent format. If just a graphics driver is listed, such as {{c|i965}}, then it is an X-based DRI driver. Drivers that use the new [[Gallium]] driver architecture are in the format {{c|gallium-<driver>}} such as {{c|gallium-radeonsi}}. In addition, any optional framework is listed as a prefix, such as {{c|vulkan-i965}} for optional DRI-based Vulkan support for {{c|i965}}+ Intel cards.

Also note that it is possible to have {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} set for you via use of a Funtoo profile [[mix-in]].

== Changing VIDEO_CARDS Settings ==

When changing {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings, either directly by modifying {{c|/etc/make.conf}} or '''by use of a mix-in (recommended -- [[#Funtoo Graphics Mix-Ins|see below]])''' it is important to perform a deep update of your system and ensure that X is configured correctly for your new settings. At the minimum, this generally involves performing an {{c|emerge -auDN @world}}. You will likely notice a rebuild of {{c|media-libs/mesa}} and perhaps {{c|x11-libs/libdrm}}, and the new installation of one or more X.org drivers.

{{Important|It's generally best to use the mix-ins listed below to manage graphics settings, rather than modifying {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} directly! These five mix-ins will work for 99% of Funtoo Linux users!}}

The following mix-ins are available for your use, and support can be enabled as follows, assuming you have either {{c|x11-base/xorg-server}} or {{c|x11-base/xorg-drivers}} already installed on your system:

{{console|body=
# ##i##ego profile mix-in +gfxcard-intel
# ##i##emerge -auDN @world
}}

{{/Mix-ins}}

Please note that it is possible to combine these mix-ins as well, so if you have hybrid graphics on your laptop and want have Intel and NVIDIA graphics installed and switch between them using the BIOS, this will work. Note that additional setup is required to switch between them seamlessly via a simple BIOS change, this will at least get all the necessary bits installed:

{{console|body=
# ##i##ego profile mix-in +gfxcard-intel +gfxcard-nvidia
# ##i##emerge -auDN @world nvidia-kernel-modules
}}

{{Note|Reconfiguration of your {{c|/etc/X11/xorg.conf}}, further configuration and/or rebooting may be required after enabling new graphics support.}}

== DRI3 ==

The most well-supported version of DRI is version 2. There is a {{c|dri3}} {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} setting that can be enabled to enable support for version 3 of DRI, which should offer improved performance. DRI version 3 support may be less mature than the same driver with just version 2 support, so the availability of a {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} option allows it to be turned off if you experience video issues. In general, however, {{c|dri3}} has been around long enough to be generally robust for most users.

== NVIDIA Drivers ==

The proprietary NVIDIA drivers are their own beast and have [[Package:NVIDIA_Linux_Display_Drivers|their own specific documentation]] on the wiki.

== Video Acceleration Architectures ==

In addition to graphics driver architectures, over the years there have been different architectures designed to help accelerate the playback of video. As you might guess, these architectures are different levels of support depending upon the graphics driver selected. The {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings related to graphics drivers are {{c|xa}}, {{c|vaapi}}, {{c|vdpau}} and {{c|xvmc}}. In Funtoo it is safe, and recommended, to append ''all'' these settings to your {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} setting, which can be done by adding this to the end of your {{c|/etc/make.conf}}:

{{file|name=/etc/make.conf|lang=bash|body=
VIDEO_CARDS="${VIDEO_CARDS} xa vaapi vdpau xvmc"
}}

If you are using the {{c|workstation}} or {{c|desktop}} flavor, these settings will be enabled for you automatically. ''In addition'', you may want to add some or all of these settings to your {{c|USE}} flags to enable any optional video acceleration support in regular software. These {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings enable the support in the underlying graphics driver itself only, if available.

It's also important to note that while most of the time, video acceleration is provided by the underlying graphics driver, this is not the case for Intel integrated graphics, where it is necessary to emerge another ebuild to enable full video acceleration support:

{{console|body=
# ##i##emerge libva-intel-driver
}}

Even more confusing, there is a new {{c|libva-intel-media-driver}} which is a new design of the VAAPI-based acceleration for Intel integrated graphics, and requires a bleeding-edge installation of {{c|media-libs/libva}}. This is something that is not yet actively supported under Funtoo but is something that I hope to play with soon.

== Use within Ebuilds ==

Inside ebuilds, the {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings is [[USE_EXPAND]]ed to a {{c|USE}} flag with a prefix of {{c|video_card_}}. For example, {{c|radeonsi}} will set the {{c|video_card_radeonsi}} USE flag, {{c|gallium-osmesa}} will set the {{c|video_card_gallium-osmesa}} {{c|USE}} flag, etc. Pay careful attention to the use of underscores and hyphens. Hyphens are used in the video card variable name itself, whereas underscores are used in {{c|video_card_}} only.

== VIDEO_CARDS Settings ==

The most-common {{c|VIDEO_CARDS}} settings are listed below. For a comprehensive list of settings, type {{c|emerge -av mesa}} and peruse the list of {{c|USE}} flags.

{{#cargo_query:
tables=video_cards
|fields=CONCAT( '[[', _pageName, '|\'\'\'{{c|', name,  '}}\'\'\']]' ) = name, description, platforms
|format=dynamic table
|rows per page=25
}}

[[Category:Official Documentation]]
[[Category:Make.conf Settings]]