Updating drivers?

[wolfyking2]

How would I do this? Because my graphics on this computer suck and I really want my games to work. A lot of them don't work. I have an intel card (i'm pretty sure)

[ugm6hr]

Intel graphics aren't fantastic.

But they are well-supported in Linux.

You can check with - post output here for further advice:
lshw -class display

If it is Intel, it is unlikely that a newer driver will make a big difference.

What version of Ubuntu are you running?

[wolfyking2]

Well, heres the output

user@ubuntu:~$ lshw -class display
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 01
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: vga_controller bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=i810_smbus latency=0 module=i2c_i810

And I'm running ubuntu 8.04

[ugm6hr]

I think you already have the latest driver.

In any case - here they are:
xserver-xorg-video-intel (apt:xserver-xorg-video-intel)
xserver-xorg-video-i810 (apt:xserver-xorg-video-i810)

I think either of these will work (although former includes more chipsets).

[wolfyking2]

Yea, they are...

sadface :(

[beatgr]

Intel 82845G/GL
Yes, very familar with that chipset. It was used in the the early Shuttle-X computers (I still use mine, built in 2002 as a daily driver).

I would not recommend the Intel chipset for games,
go with Nvidia add-in card (unless this is a laptop).
Intel walked away from this early attempt at graphics chip sets about 10 years ago(ATI was still a player then). Intel made a strategic mistake, once you look at Nvidia Ion !

Nvidia is walking away with this marketplace (leading with gaming).
See the Nvidia ION at CES last month?
Here is the photo and article:

Small chip on side is 1.6GHz Atom 330 CPU
Large chip is NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M Graphical Processing Unit (GPU)
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/nvidia-ion-platform-gets-demonstrated-at-ces/

beatgr

[wolfyking2]

Yeeaa, I noticed a lot of people hav nVidia cards (or however you spell them) we go this computer from a university surplus store, so they weren't supposed to be for gaming or anything ;(

[SunnyRabbiera]

Yeh I dont think drivers will help you in this case, Intel cards work well for the most part even in linux but they lack the umph required for some games.
I myself have a intel915, works well but I know it has limitations

[beatgr]

.. we got this computer from a university surplus store, so they were not used for gaming (more for business computing)
Well, if you expected this surplus acquistion to be "game ready" -- that was a poor assumption.
NVIDIA makes several video cards, and older models are available CHEAP either surplus, eBay or closeouts from normal computer hardware suppliers. The GeForce line is quite good.
http://www.nvidia.com/page/home.html

beatgr