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nvidia-settings(1) nvidia-settings(1)

NAME
nvidia-settings - configure the NVIDIA graphics driver

SYNOPSIS
nvidia-settings [options]
nvidia-settings [options] --no-config
nvidia-settings [options] --load-config-only
nvidia-settings [options] {--query=attr | --assign=attr=value} ...
nvidia-settings [options] --glxinfo

Options: [-vh] [--config=configfile] [-c ctrl-display]
[--verbose={errors | warnings | all}]
[--describe={all | list | attribute_name}]

attr has the form:
DISPLAY/attribute_name[display_devices]

DESCRIPTION
The nvidia-settings utility is a tool for configuring the NVIDIA graph‐
ics driver. It operates by communicating with the NVIDIA X driver,
querying and updating state as appropriate. This communication is done
via the NV-CONTROL, GLX, XVideo, and RandR X extensions.

Values such as brightness and gamma, XVideo attributes, temperature,
and OpenGL settings can be queried and configured via nvidia-settings.

When nvidia-settings starts, it reads the current settings from its
configuration file and sends those settings to the X server. Then, it
displays a graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring the current
settings. When nvidia-settings exits, it queries the current settings
from the X server and saves them to the configuration file.

OPTIONS
-v, --version
Print the nvidia-settings version and exit.

-h, --help
Print usage information and exit.

--config=CONFIG
Use the configuration file CONFIG rather than the default
~/.nvidia-settings-rc

-c CTRL-DISPLAY, --ctrl-display=CTRL-DISPLAY
Control the specified X display. If this option is not given,
then nvidia-settings will control the display specified by
'--display' ; if that is not given, then the $DISPLAY environ‐
ment variable is used.

-l, --load-config-only
Load the configuration file, send the values specified therein
to the X server, and exit. This mode of operation is useful to
place in your xinitrc file, for example.

-n, --no-config
Do not load the configuration file. This mode of operation is
useful if nvidia-settings has difficulties starting due to prob‐
lems with applying settings in the configuration file.

-r, --rewrite-config-file
Write the X server configuration to the configuration file, and
exit, without starting the graphical user interface. See EXAM‐
PLES section.

-V VERBOSE, --verbose=VERBOSE
Controls how much information is printed. By default, the ver‐
bosity is errors and only error messages are printed. Valid
values are 'none' (do not print messages), 'errors' (print error
messages), 'warnings' (print error and warning messages), and
'all' (print error, warning and other informational messages).

-a ASSIGN, --assign=ASSIGN
The ASSIGN argument to the '--assign' command line option is of
the form:

{DISPLAY}/{attribute name}[{display devices}]={value}

This assigns the attribute {attribute name} to the value {value}
on the X Display {DISPLAY}. {DISPLAY} follows the usual
{host}:{display}.{screen} syntax of the DISPLAY environment
variable and is optional; when it is not specified, then it is
implied following the same rule as the --ctrl-display option.
If the X screen is not specified, then the assignment is made to
all X screens. Note that the '/' is only required when {DIS‐
PLAY} is present.

{DISPLAY} can additionally include a target specification to
direct an assignment to something other than an X screen. A
target specification is contained within brackets and consists
of a target type name, a colon, and the target id. The target
type name can be one of screen , gpu , framelock , vcs , gvi ,
or fan ; the target id is the index into the list of targets
(for that target type). The target specification can be used in
{DISPLAY} wherever an X screen can be used, following the syntax
{host}:{display}[{target_type}:{target_id}]. See the output of

nvidia-settings -q all

for information on which target types can be used with which
attributes. See the output of

nvidia-settings -q screens -q gpus -q framelocks -q vcs -q
gvis -q fans

for lists of targets for each target type.

The [{display devices}] portion is also optional; if it is not
specified, then the attribute is assigned to all display
devices.

Some examples:

-a FSAA=5
-a localhost:0.0/DigitalVibrance[CRT-0]=0
--assign="SyncToVBlank=1"
-a [gpu:0]/DigitalVibrance[DFP-1]=63

-q QUERY, --query=QUERY
The QUERY argument to the '--query' command line option is of
the form:

{DISPLAY}/{attribute name}[{display devices}]

This queries the current value of the attribute {attribute name}
on the X Display {DISPLAY}. The syntax is the same as that for
the '--assign' option, without '= {value}' ; specify '-q
screens', '-q gpus', '-q framelocks', '-q vcs', '-q gvis', or
'-q fans' to query a list of X screens, GPUs, Frame Lock
devices, Visual Computing Systems, SDI Input Devices, or Fans,
respectively, that are present on the X Display {DISPLAY}.
Specify '-q all' to query all attributes.

-t, --terse
When querying attribute values with the '--query' command line
option, only print the current value, rather than the more ver‐
bose description of the attribute, its valid values, and its
current value.

-d, --display-device-string
When printing attribute values in response to the '--query'
option, if the attribute value is a display device mask, print
the value as a list of display devices (e.g., "CRT-0, DFP-0"),
rather than a hexadecimal bit mask (e.g., 0x00010001).

-g, --glxinfo
Print GLX Information for the X display and exit.

-e DESCRIBE, --describe=DESCRIBE
Prints information about a particular attribute. Specify 'all'
to list the descriptions of all attributes. Specify 'list' to
list the attribute names without a descriptions.

-p PAGE, --page=PAGE
The PAGE argument to the '--page' commandline option selects a
particular page in the nvidia-settings user interface to display
upon starting nvidia-settings. Valid values are the page names
in the tree view on the left side of the nvidia-settings user
interface; e.g.,

--page="X Screen 0"

Because some page names are not unique (e.g., a "PowerMizer"
page is present under each GPU), the page name can optionally be
prepended with the name of the parent X Screen or GPU page, fol‐
lowed by a comma. E.g.,

--page="GPU 0 - (Quadro 6000), PowerMizer"

The first page with a name matching the PAGE argument will be
used. By default, the "X Server Information" page is displayed.

USER GUIDE
Contents
1. Layout of the nvidia-settings GUI
2. How OpenGL Interacts with nvidia-settings
3. Loading Settings Automatically
4. Command Line Interface
5. X Display Names in the Config File
6. Connecting to Remote X Servers
7. Licensing
8. TODO

1. Layout of the nvidia-settings GUI
The nvidia-settings GUI is organized with a list of different cate‐
gories on the left side. Only one entry in the list can be selected at
once, and the selected category controls which "page" is displayed on
the right side of the nvidia-settings GUI.

The category list is organized in a tree: each X screen contains the
relevant subcategories beneath it. Similarly, the Display Devices cat‐
egory for a screen contains all the enabled display devices beneath it.
Besides each X screen, the other top level category is "nvidia-settings
Configuration", which configures behavior of the nvidia-settings appli‐
cation itself.

Along the bottom of the nvidia-settings GUI, from left to right, is:

1) a status bar which indicates the most recently altered option;

2) a Help button that toggles the display of a help window which
provides a detailed explanation of the available options in the
current page; and

3) a Quit button to exit nvidia-settings.

Most options throughout nvidia-settings are applied immediately.
Notable exceptions are OpenGL options which are only read by OpenGL
when an OpenGL application starts.

Details about the options on each page of nvidia-settings are available
in the help window.

2. How OpenGL Interacts with nvidia-settings
When an OpenGL application starts, it downloads the current values from
the X driver, and then reads the environment (see APPENDIX E: OPENGL
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE SETTINGS in the README). Settings from the X
server override OpenGL's default values, and settings from the environ‐
ment override values from the X server.

For example, by default OpenGL uses the FSAA setting requested by the
application (normally, applications do not request any FSAA). An FSAA
setting specified in nvidia-settings would override the OpenGL applica‐
tion's request. Similarly, the __GL_FSAA_MODE environment variable
will override the application's FSAA setting, as well as any FSAA set‐
ting specified in nvidia-settings.

Note that an OpenGL application only retrieves settings from the X
server when it starts, so if you make a change to an OpenGL value in
nvidia-settings, it will only apply to OpenGL applications which are
started after that point in time.

3. Loading Settings Automatically
The NVIDIA X driver does not preserve values set with nvidia-settings
between runs of the X server (or even between logging in and logging
out of X, with xdm(1), gdm, or kdm ). This is intentional, because
different users may have different preferences, thus these settings are
stored on a per-user basis in a configuration file stored in the user's
home directory.

The configuration file is named ~/.nvidia-settings-rc. You can specify
a different configuration file name with the --config command line
option.

After you have run nvidia-settings once and have generated a configura‐
tion file, you can then run:

nvidia-settings --load-config-only

at any time in the future to upload these settings to the X server
again. For example, you might place the above command in your ~/.xini‐
trc file so that your settings are applied automatically when you log
in to X.

Your .xinitrc file, which controls what X applications should be
started when you log into X (or startx), might look something like
this:

nvidia-settings --load-config-only &
xterm &
evilwm

or:

nvidia-settings --load-config-only &
gnome-session

If you do not already have an ~/.xinitrc file, then chances are that
xinit(1) is using a system-wide xinitrc file. This system wide file is
typically here:

/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

To use it, but also have nvidia-settings upload your settings, you
could create an ~/.xinitrc with the contents:

nvidia-settings --load-config-only &
. /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

System administrators may choose to place the nvidia-settings load com‐
mand directly in the system xinitrc script.

Please see the xinit(1) man page for further details of configuring
your ~/.xinitrc file.

4. Command Line Interface
nvidia-settings has a rich command line interface: all attributes that
can be manipulated with the GUI can also be queried and set from the
command line. The command line syntax for querying and assigning
attributes matches that of the .nvidia-settings-rc configuration file.

The --query option can be used to query the current value of
attributes. This will also report the valid values for the attribute.
You can run nvidia-settings --query all for a complete list of avail‐
able attributes, what the current value is, what values are valid for
the attribute, and through which target types (e.g., X screens, GPUs)
the attributes can be addressed. Additionally, individual attributes
may be specified like this:

nvidia-settings --query Overlay

An attribute name may be prepended with an X Display name and a forward
slash to indicate a different X Display; e.g.:

nvidia-settings --query localhost:0.0/Overlay

An attribute name may also just be prepended with the screen number and
a forward slash:

nvidia-settings --query 0/Overlay

in which case the default X Display will be used, but you can indicate
to which X screen to direct the query (if your X server has multiple X
screens). If no X screen is specified, then the attribute value will
be queried for all valid targets of the attribute (eg GPUs, Displays X
screens, etc).

Attributes can be addressed through "target types". A target type
indicates the object that is queried when you query an attribute. The
default target type is an X screen, but other possible target types are
GPUs, Frame Lock devices, Visual Computing Systems, SDI Input Devices,
and fans.

Target types give you different granularities with which to perform
queries and assignments. Since X screens can span multiple GPUs (in
the case of Xinerama, or SLI), and multiple X screens can exist on the
same GPU, it is sometimes useful to address attributes by GPU rather
than X screen.

A target specification is contained within brackets and may consist of
a target type name, a colon, and the target id. The target type name
can be one of screen, gpu, framelock, vcs, gvi, fan, thermalsensor,
svp, or dpy; the target id is the index into the list of targets (for
that target type). Target specifications can be used wherever an X
screen is used in query and assignment commands; the target specifica‐
tion can be used either by itself on the left side of the forward
slash, or as part of an X Display name.

For example, the following queries address X screen 0 on the localhost:

nvidia-settings --query 0/VideoRam
nvidia-settings --query localhost:0.0/VideoRam
nvidia-settings --query [screen:0]/VideoRam
nvidia-settings --query localhost:0[screen:0]/VideoRam

To address GPU 0 instead, you can use either of:

nvidia-settings --query [gpu:0]/VideoRam
nvidia-settings --query localhost:0[gpu:0]/VideoRam

Note that if a target specification is present, it will override any X
screen specified in the display name as the target to process. For
example, the following query would address GPU 0, and not X screen 1:

nvidia-settings --query localhost:0.1[gpu:0]/VideoRam

A target name may be used instead of a target id, in which case all
targets with matching names are processed.

For example, querying the DigitalVibrance of display device DVI-I-1 may
be done like so:

nvidia-settings --query [dpy:DVI-I-1]/DigitalVibrance

When a target name is specified, the target type name may be omitted,
though this should be used with caution since the name will be matched
across all target types. The above example could be written as:

nvidia-settings --query [DVI-I-1]/DigitalVibrance

The target name may also simply be a target type name, in which case
all targets of that type will be queried.

For exmple, querying the BusRate of all GPUs may be done like so:

nvidia-settings --query [gpu]/BusRate

The target specification may also include a target qualifier. This is
useful to limit processing to a subset of targets, based on an existing
relationship(s) to other targets. The target qualifier is specified by
prepending a target type name, a colon, the target id, and a period to
the existing specification. Only one qualitfer may be specified.

For example, querying the RefreshRate of all DFP devices on GPU 1 may
be done like so:

nvidia-settings --query [GPU:1.DPY:DFP]/RefreshRate

Likewise, a simple target name (or target type name) may be used as the
qualifier. For example, to query the BusType of all GPUs that have
DFPs can be done like so:

nvidia-settings --query [DFP.GPU]/BusType

See the output of

nvidia-settings --query all

for what targets types can be used with each attribute. See the output
of

nvidia-settings --query screens --query gpus --query framelocks --query vcs --query gvis --query fans

for lists of targets for each target type.

The --assign option can be used to assign a new value to an attribute.
The valid values for an attribute are reported when the attribute is
queried. The syntax for --assign is the same as --query, with the
additional requirement that assignments also have an equal sign and the
new value. For example:

nvidia-settings --assign FSAA=2
nvidia-settings --assign [CRT-1]/DigitalVibrance=9
nvidia-settings --assign [gpu:0]/DigitalVibrance=0

Multiple queries and assignments may be specified on the command line
for a single invocation of nvidia-settings. Assignments are processed
in the order they are entered on the command line. If multiple assign‐
ments are made to the same attribute or to multiple attributes with
dependencies, then the later assignments will have priority.

If either the --query or --assign options are passed to nvidia-set‐
tings, the GUI will not be presented, and nvidia-settings will exit
after processing the assignments and/or queries. In this case, set‐
tings contained within the ~/.nvidia-settings-rc configuration file
will not be automatically uploaded to the X server, nor will the
~/.nvidia-settings-rc configuration file be automatically updated to
reflect attribute assignments made via the --assign option.

5. X Display Names in the Config File
In the Command Line Interface section above, it was noted that you can
specify an attribute without any X Display qualifiers, with only an X
screen qualifier, or with a full X Display name. For example:

nvidia-settings --query FSAA
nvidia-settings --query 0/FSAA
nvidia-settings --query stravinsky.nvidia.com:0/FSAA

In the first two cases, the default X Display will be used, in the sec‐
ond case, the screen from the default X Display can be overridden, and
in the third case, the entire default X Display can be overridden.

The same possibilities are available in the ~/.nvidia-settings-rc con‐
figuration file.

For example, in a computer lab environment, you might log into any of
multiple workstations, and your home directory is NFS mounted to each
workstation. In such a situation, you might want your ~/.nvidia-set‐
tings-rc file to be applicable to all the workstations. Therefore, you
would not want your config file to qualify each attribute with an X
Display Name. Leave the "Include X Display Names in the Config File"
option unchecked on the nvidia-settings Configuration page (this is the
default).

There may be cases when you do want attributes in the config file to be
qualified with the X Display name. If you know what you are doing and
want config file attributes to be qualified with an X Display, check
the "Include X Display Names in the Config File" option on the
nvidia-settings Configuration page.

In the typical home user environment where your home directory is local
to one computer and you are only configuring one X Display, then it
does not matter whether each attribute setting is qualified with an X
Display Name.

6. Connecting to Remote X Servers
nvidia-settings is an X client, but uses two separate X connections:
one to display the GUI, and another to communicate the NV-CONTROL
requests. These two X connections do not need to be to the same X
server. For example, you might run nvidia-settings on the computer
stravinsky.nvidia.com, export the display to the computer bar‐
tok.nvidia.com, but be configuring the X server on the computer schoen‐
berg.nvidia.com:

nvidia-settings --display=bartok.nvidia.com:0 \
--ctrl-display=schoenberg.nvidia.com:0

If --ctrl-display is not specified, then the X Display to control is
what --display indicates. If --display is also not specified, then the
$DISPLAY environment variable is used.

Note, however, that you will need to have X permissions configured such
that you can establish an X connection from the computer on which you
are running nvidia-settings (stravinsky.nvidia.com) to the computer
where you are displaying the GUI (bartok.nvidia.com) and the computer
whose X Display you are configuring (schoenberg.nvidia.com).

The simplest, most common, and least secure mechanism to do this is to
use 'xhost' to allow access from the computer on which you are running
nvidia-settings.

(issued from bartok.nvidia.com)
xhost +stravinsky.nvidia.com

(issued from schoenberg.nvidia.com)
xhost +stravinsky.nvidia.com

This will allow all X clients run on stravinsky.nvidia.com to connect
and display on bartok.nvidia.com's X server and configure schoen‐
berg.nvidia.com's X server.

Please see the xauth(1) and xhost(1) man pages, or refer to your system
documentation on remote X applications and security. You might also
Google for terms such as "remote X security" or "remote X Windows", and
see documents such as the Remote X Apps mini-HOWTO:

⟨http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Remote-X-Apps.html⟩

Please also note that the remote X server to be controlled must be
using the NVIDIA X driver.

7. Licensing
The source code to nvidia-settings is released as GPL. The most recent
official version of the source code is available here:

⟨ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/nvidia-settings/⟩

Note that nvidia-settings is simply an NV-CONTROL client. It uses the
NV-CONTROL X extension to communicate with the NVIDIA X server to query
current settings and make changes to settings.

You can make additions directly to nvidia-settings, or write your own
NV-CONTROL client, using nvidia-settings as an example.

Documentation on the NV-CONTROL extension and additional sample clients
are available in the nvidia-settings source tarball. Patches can be
submitted to linux-bugs@nvidia.com.

8. TODO
There are many things still to be added to nvidia-settings, some of
which include:

- different toolkits? The GUI for nvidia-settings is cleanly
abstracted from the back-end of nvidia-settings that parses the
configuration file and command line, communicates with the X
server, etc. If someone were so inclined, a different front-end
GUI could be implemented.

- write a design document explaining how nvidia-settings is
designed; presumably this would make it easier for people to
become familiar with the code base.

If there are other things you would like to see added (or better yet,
would like to add yourself), please contact linux-bugs@nvidia.com.

FILES
~/.nvidia-settings-rc

EXAMPLES
nvidia-settings
Starts the nvidia-settings graphical interface.

nvidia-settings --load-config-only
Loads the settings stored in ~/.nvidia-settings-rc and exits.

nvidia-settings --rewrite-config-file
Writes the current X server configuration to ~/.nvidia-set‐
tings-rc file and exits.

nvidia-settings --query FSAA
Query the value of the full-screen antialiasing setting.

nvidia-settings --assign RedGamma=2.0 --assign BlueGamma=2.0 --assign
GreenGamma=2.0
Set the gamma of the screen to 2.0.

AUTHOR
Aaron Plattner
NVIDIA Corporation

SEE ALSO
nvidia-xconfig(1), nvidia-installer(1)

nvidia-settings 325.15 2014-01-03 nvidia-settings(1)

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