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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 | <html><head><title>Proprietary Devices</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="help:/common/kde-default.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="help:/common/kde-docs.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="help:/common/kde-localised.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="help:/common/kubuntu.css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.76.1"><link rel="home" href="index.html" title="Hardware"><link rel="up" href="index.html" title="Hardware"><link rel="prev" href="index.html" title="Hardware"><link rel="next" href="disks.html" title="Disks and Partitions"><link rel="copyright" href="legal.html" title="Credits and License"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><meta name="GENERATOR" content="KDE XSL Stylesheet V1.14 using libxslt"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div id="content"><div id="header"><div id="header_content"><div id="header_left"><div id="header_right"><img src="help:/common/top-kde.jpg" width="36" height="34"> Proprietary Devices</div></div></div></div><div class="navCenter"><table class="navigation"><tr><td class="prevCell"><a accesskey="p" href="index.html">Prev</a></td><td class="upCell"> </td><td class="nextCell"><a accesskey="n" href="disks.html">Next</a></td></tr></table></div><div id="contentBody"><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="proprietary"></a>Proprietary Devices</h2></div></div></div><p>
Some devices attached to the computer may need proprietary drivers in order to
work properly. Most often, these devices are used for video and wireless
networking.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>A proprietary driver is a hardware management software application
that is not free and open-source. Typically, the software is concealed and
controlled by the company selling the hardware.</em></span>
</p><p>
Most of the devices (hardware) attached to computers should function properly
in <span>Kubuntu</span>. The devices are likely to have <span class="emphasis"><em>free</em></span>
drivers. These drivers can be freely modified by developers, and any problems or
incompatibilities with Linux can be fixed.
</p><p>
Some hardware does not have free drivers, usually because the hardware
manufacturer has not released details of their hardware which would make it
possible to create such a driver for a Linux system. If such a manufacturer has
not created Linux drivers, the hardware may have limited functionality or
may not work at all.
</p><p>
If an appropriate <span class="emphasis"><em>proprietary driver</em></span> is available for a
certain device, it can be installed in order to allow that device to function
properly or to add new features. For example, installing proprietary drivers
for certain graphics cards allows for the use of advanced visual effects.
</p><p>
Some computers may not have any devices that can use proprietary drivers, either
because all of the devices are fully supported by free drivers or because
proprietary drivers are not yet available.
</p><div class="caution" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Caution</h3><p>
Proprietary drivers are usually maintained by the hardware manufacturer, and so
cannot be modified by developers if there is a problem.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="proprietary-jockey"></a>Managing proprietary drivers</h3></div></div></div><p>
<span>Kubuntu</span> ships with an application developed by Ubuntu developers that
maintains proprietary drivers. This application is known as
<span class="application">Jockey</span> and in <span>Kubuntu</span> is named
<span class="application">jockey-kde</span>>. It can be opened by going to
<span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guimenu">Kickoff Application Launcher</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guisubmenu">Applications</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guisubmenu">System</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guimenuitem">Hardware Deivers</span></span>.
</p><div class="procedure"><a name="idp241864"></a><p class="title"><b>Procedure 1. To use a proprietary driver for a device:</b></p><ol class="procedure" type="1"><li class="step"><p>
Open <span class="application">Jockey</span> by going to <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guimenu">Kickoff Application Launcher</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guisubmenu">Applications</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guisubmenu">System</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guimenuitem">Hardware Deivers</span></span>.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
Find the driver to be enabled and verify the description.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
<span class="mousebutton">Press</span> <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guibutton">Activate</span></span> to enable the
driver. A password may be required.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
The proprietary driver may have to be downloaded and installed.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
It may be necessary to restart the computer to finish enabling the driver; the
driver installation process will not always indicate this requirement.
</p></li></ol></div><div class="procedure"><a name="idp1727328"></a><p class="title"><b>Procedure 2. Disabling a proprietary driver for a device:</b></p><ol class="procedure" type="1"><li class="step"><p>
Open <span class="application">Jockey</span> by going to <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guimenu">Kickoff Application Launcher</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guisubmenu">Applications</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guisubmenu">System</span></span> → <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guimenuitem">Hardware Deivers</span></span>.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
Find the driver to be disabled and verify the description.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
<span class="mousebutton">Press</span> <span xmlns:doc="http://nwalsh.com/xsl/documentation/1.0" class="guiitem"><span class="guibutton">Remove</span></span> to disable the
driver and continue using a free driver, if available. A password may be
required.
</p></li><li class="step"><p>
It may be necessary to restart the computer to finish disabling
the driver.
</p></li></ol></div></div></div></div><div id="footer"><div class="navCenter"><table class="navigation"><tr><td class="prevCell"><a accesskey="p" href="index.html">Prev</a></td><td class="upCell"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td class="nextCell"><a accesskey="n" href="disks.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td class="prevCell">Hardware </td><td class="upCell"> </td><td class="nextCell"> Disks and Partitions</td></tr></table></div><div id="footer_text"><br><a href="mailto:ubuntu-docs@lists.ubuntu.com" class="footer_email">
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