[HOWTO] Replace ATI "fglrx" with Nvidia "nvidia"

[korilius]

The project/challenge is to replace an ATI video card with an Nvidia video card. Notes: I used the proprietary drivers for both ATI & Nvidia. I used Wheezy Stable. You should have all steps with you or use a second computer to go through the guide as X will be down for a portion of the swap out.

Hardware: MSI 760GM-E51 motherboard & MSI N640GT-MD2GD3 (GT 640)

1. Open a shell and su to root

2. Purge all fglrx related packages/configurations DKMS specifics should go away as well -->

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apt-get purge fglrx*  

3. Remove the configuration that you "probably" created when doing initial ATI setup -->

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rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fglrx.conf 

4. Shut the computer down. Replace the ATI card with the Nvidia card. Power on. Make any BIOS changes as necessary. You'll boot back to login prompt (X won't be running)

5. Get back to su and follow the guide (I used Wheezy version 304.88) for NvidiaGraphicsDrivers at https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsD ... 2Wheezy.22 Follow along and answer any questions.

6. Here is where it deviated from norm for me: I had to reinstall the nvidia-glx -->

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apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-glx

Follow along and answer any questions.

7. Reboot and X should pop up.

All in all, I must say the Nvidia card is working a lot better than ATI - just my experience.

edit: I'm doing this from memory and will check my notes when I get home to ensure accuracy. I'll remove this edit page when done.

[korilius]

Update to this: I added the libgl1-nvidia-glx:i386 (I'm using amd64) library and it GREATLY affected quality and smoothness for me, especially games using GL. (Need to add mulitarch if on amd64, here https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch/HOWTO )

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#apt-get install libgl1-nvidia-glx:i386