Chapter 20. The Sysctl Interface

The sysctl interface allows you to obtain run-time information about the driver, any installed NVIDIA graphics cards and the AGP status. It also allows you to control low-level configuration options and/or overrides.

The various pieces of information are held in a hierarchy under hw.nvidia and are accessible with the sysctl(8) command.

NVIDIA sysctl Entries

hw.nvidia.version

Prints the installed driver revision

hw.nvidia.cards.n.*

These OIDs provide information about NVIDIA device 'n':

ID Description
model the device's product name
irq the IRQ claimed by this device
vbios the device's Video BIOS revision
type the bus type of this device

hw.nvidia.agp.host-bridge.*, hw.nvidia.agp.card.*

These OIDs provide information about the AGP capabilities of the installed AGP graphics card and host-bridge respectively. These values are most likely to be correct after system boot and before the X server is started (and the AGP subsystem initialized).

ID Description
rates the AGP rates supported by this device
fw if the device supports AGP fast-writes
sba if the device supports AGP side-band-addressing
registers the device's AGP registers, status:command

hw.nvidia.agp.status.*

Prints AGP status information based on the AGP command registers of the host-bridge and of the AGP card.

ID Description
status if AGP is enabled or disabled
driver which driver is being used
rate the programmed AGP rate
fw if fast-writes are enabled or disabled
sba if side-band-addressing is enabled or disabled

hw.nvidia.registry.*

Low-level kernel module configuration options. Changing these is typically not necessary and potentially dangerous. If you do need to change any of these options, you will need to do so before you start the X server.

ID Description
status if AGP is enabled or disabled
driver which driver is being used
rate the programmed AGP rate
fw if fast-writes are enabled or disabled
sba if side-band-addressing is enabled or disabled