The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers (IEGD) are developed specifically for embedded Intel® Architecture-based platforms, offering a flexible alternative to drivers designed for the desktop, mobile and MID market segments. IEGD offers Intel's embedded customers extended life support that correlates with the extended life support of embedded silicon products. IEGD differentiates itself through its configuration and support of unique embedded market segment requirements, including an unprecedented support of advanced display combinations and non-standard display dimensions (Intel® Dynamic Display Configuration Technology) and embedded operating systems such as Microsoft XP Embedded* and Windows Embedded CE*, while delivering comparable 3D performance to that of the GMA graphics solution, and performance advantages to open source graphics solutions.
Yes. Starting with the IEGD 7.0 release, the errata doc has been expanded to be a Software Spec Update format adding additional details on any known issues. It is also simplified to contain just the known open issues. It is available from the Intel Download Center along with the driver release, or from your IEGD enabled Premier Support account in the downloads section.
CED is a Graphical User Interface "Point and click" configuration editor for the IEGD. It replaces the more cumbersome and manual PCF configuration method of configuring and building IEGD. It helps make setting up and building the various driver elements including VBIOS much easier. It replaces the PCF / PCF2IEGD configuration process. Online help and logically grouped features, plus error checking assure your configuration is right the first time built.
Yes, but the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers are not replacements for the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator drivers. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers were specifically designed to address the unique needs of embedded graphics market segments, thus offer a unique functionality that may be different than that of the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator drivers.
Roadmaps and future releases are forward looking plans subject to adjustments for new technologies and customer/market requests. Contact your Intel representative for more information.
If the chipset or O/S is an older one, there may be an older IEGD version that supports it. If the chipset is in the same family as one currently listed as being supported, please contact an Intel representative to discuss your "on-roadmap" vs. "off-roadmap" chipset support options.
The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers offer Intel's embedded customers extended life support that correlates with the extended life support of on-roadmap Embedded and Communications Group silicon products . This roadmap is available by contacting your Intel representative.
Yes, most if not all chipsets are supported on Linux 2.6 kernel Linux distributions, and in Windows as detailed in the User's Guide, POR Update and Product Brief.
No, the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers were designed so that Intel graphics chipset customers would not need access to the source code.
Intel has developed a comprehensive user's manual, technical specification document, as well as a product brief, which are available at Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers.
Detailed information is available in the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide. For an overview, please reference the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers Software Product Specification or the Technical Product Specification. The Product Specifications include a complete listing of supported features, and can be found on the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers website, Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers. Additional detailed information is available through your Intel representative.
The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers were designed to enable the customer to configure the driver to support the platform. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers can support many flat panel configurations without driver changes.
Extended Display Information Data, one of the VESA standard body of standards that allow for a display to provide information to the driver for setup and configuration.
The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers achieve EDID-like support for EDID-less panels via configuration (via CED) and .inf files. More information is available in the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide.
The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers have run-time APIs that allow for configuration changes in both Windows and Linux versions of the driver. Intel can also provide on request an IEGD API document / sample code that utilizes these APIs. Contact your Intel representative to request details.
We will be supporting our customers through the traditional Intel® Premier Support mechanism.
Yes. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers support multiple generations of Intel chipsets over the extended support span of Embedded Intel® Architecture-based platforms, from the Mobile Intel® 910GMLE Express chipset forward, based on the Embedded Intel® Architecture roadmap.
The earliest chipset with integrated graphics that is supported by the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers is the Intel® 815 chipset. The last release that supports the Intel 815 chipset was the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers release 5.1, which remains available for download. The last release that supports the Intel® 845 chipset was the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers release 6.1, which remains available for download. The last release that supports the Intel 852/855 chipset was the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers release 8.1, which also remains available for download. Please use the most recent release of the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers for later Embedded Intel chipsets with integrated graphics.
The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers:
- Has Dual Independent Display capability on supported chipsets
- Has Render extension acceleration
- Has Xinerama* support on supported chipsets
- Supports image rotation
- Supports advanced 3D performance
- Is supported over an extended lifecycle
This condition can occur if CED is not properly shut down. It will leave a semaphore lock file that is designed to prevent multiple copies running. Go to the folder of the IEGD that you are running and go into the \workspace folder and delete the ".lock" file you will find there. IEGD will run after you remove that lock file.
You probably have a virus scanner set to operate at run time. CED has many files involved in loading and the virus scan will greatly slow down the launch of CED. You can either live with the delays (safest), or instruct your virus scan program to ignore everything in the IEGD directory but that should be done only at your own risk.
As of IEGD 8.0 Microsoft Windows 2000 is no longer validated. For older versions of IEGD, to get extended desktop on a Windows 2000 system, you should have a dual-pipe GMCH chipset for example, 83x, 85x. Ensure that "Func1" is enabled in SysBIOS. This option is available either under "Video Parameters" or "Intel GMCH settings". Configure the .inf file according to the directions in the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide and install the driver for two display adaptors. After installing and rebooting, go to "Display properties". There you will see two displays. Enable the second display for extended desktop.
On a Microsoft Windows XP*/eXP system it is optional. But if you enable on an XP system, you have to install the driver on both adaptors.
Integrated LVDS ports are available on the Mobile Intel® chipsets. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers support the following Intel Mobile chipsets: Intel® 852GM chipset, Intel® 852GME chipset, Intel® 855GME chipset, Intel® 910GMLE, Intel® 915GME chipset, Intel® 945GME chipset, and Intel® GME965. You can get this display by properly setting the "PortOrder" to include the value for LVDS port. Based on your settings, LVDS display can be either primary display or secondary (known as extended desktop). Refer to the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information. The new Configuration Editor also allows you to easily select and configure the integrated LVDS ports on the Intel Mobile chipsets.
No, internal LVDS in all current mobile chipsets only support SPWG data formats. Other transmitters that support LVDS can support both via port driver attribute 49.
Yes. GMCH drives DVO-output via DVO-ports. Based on the chipset type, the numbers of available DVO-ports are different. If your GMCH chipset has multiple DVO ports, these DVO ports can drive multiple DVO devices (for example TV encoder, DVI encoder, LVDS controller, etc.). For dual SDVO, it is necessary to specify the addresses of the two devices in your configuration.
Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers supports a variety of SDVO devices for HDMI, DVI, TVOut , LVDS, etc. control. Refer to the Intel Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide, POR update, and IEGD Product Brief for a specific list of supported devices.
Yes, but the "Data Address Byte" of the sDVO devices should be different. Check the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information how to configure them. Please note that for two transmitter support it is critical to specify the I2CDAB hardware address option in the configuration for each one. Typically sDVO devices will be found on port 70h and 72h but your hardware may vary. In CED, the configuration option will be found on the sDVO Configuration page under the "I2C Settings" button an the I2C Bus Configuration section. Specify your addresses in each device's "Device Address Byte" box.
Yes. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers support this configuration if the GMCH has two pipes. Each pipe drives a different timing and eventually outputs to a display device. Check CLONE sections of the configurations in "Intel Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide".
TWIN display is a display configuration in which two displays are driven by the same set of timings. Both display devices should support those timings (resolution, refresh etc), where CLONE display is a display configuration in which 2 displays can have a different set of timings; that is, each display can have different timings. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers support both TWIN and CLONE modes. See the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information.
Yes, starting with IEGD 7.0 on certain chipsets, a second overlay is available as a driver feature. Note: GMCH has only one dedicated hardware overlay surface. This overlay can be attached to either one of the displays but not to both. The one exception is if you are running in TWIN, you can see the overlay image on both displays. This is because the TWIN displays share the same timings and a single pipe is driving both displays. The latest IEGD drivers simulates the hardware overlay capability on a second independent or clone display.
See the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information.
On a Microsoft Windows XP/eXP* system, this can be done from SysBIOS. For XServer* this should be done from XFree86Config or X.conf file. See the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information.
When installing or re-installing the graphics driver, switch off the extended display mode.
The .inf file needs to be configured to select which display to be used as the primary display. Refer to the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for configuration instructions.
This hardware limitation was eliminated starting with the 7.0 release. This used to occur because Intel chipsets have only one overlay surface to be able to display the XVideo overlay on one graphics pipe at a time. The XFree86 driver allocates the XVideo overlay to the primary display when operating with a cloned display enabled. With 7.0 driver and up, a second overlay capability has been added such that XVideo should be able to display on multiple displays. Another solution is that the XVideoBlend overlay does support multiple graphics pipes and will work when in a cloned display. In your XF86Config file, you can disable XVideo with the line 'Option "XVideo" "No"' in the driver device section. Enable XVideoBlend with the line 'Option "XVideoBlend" "Yes"'. The same restrictions apply when using a dual-independent head configuration. XVideoBlend can be enabled and display an overlay on both displays.
This is an older configuration capability that was available for configuring the Linux version of the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers. Although this is backwards compatible with the newer releases, it is recommended that you use more current configuration mechanisms. See the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information on the most current ways to configure the Linux version of the driver.
This is typically a configuration issue. The DVO port must be properly configured prior to installation of the driver. There also are settings that allow you to specify certain attributes, depending on what DVO device you are using. See the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers User's Guide for more information.
Yes, this is possible. The Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers provide the capability using the Configuration Editor to configure both the OS level driver and the Video BIOS with the same settings. Although the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers will utilize settings of the embedded Video BIOS, the OS level drivers are not dependent on the Video BIOS settings. This allows users that may not have the ability to update their system firmware to install and use the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers with their operating system. Note that the Configuration Editor will not create settings for the standard desktop Video BIOS. If you require specific capability in the Video BIOS, and want to use the standard desktop Video BIOS in conjunction with the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers, you must configure both the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers for the OS, as well as the use the BIOS Modification Program (BMP) to configure the desktop Video BIOS. Contact your Intel representative for more details.
Although not always required, it is generally a good idea to upgrade both the VBIOS and driver when an update occurs. We only test using the latest of both VBIOS and driver so there may be surprises that occur. Often there are code changes that you will want. Sometimes there are new features that require both to be updated. If you see a negative change in operation of the driver after updating just the driver and not the VBIOS, it is a good idea to try the new VBIOS also to see if there is an unexplained interaction between the old and new code.
No, the standard desktop drivers are dependent on the settings in the Video BIOS, and must use the associated desktop video BIOS. The Intel Embedded VBIOS will only work with the Intel Embedded Graphics Drivers.
The IEGD 9.1.1 release contains the following new features and capabilities in addition to those in 9.0:
- Additional stability and reliability through the closure of known errata
- Intel® Q45 Express Chipset Full support
- Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset Full support
- Intel® Q35 Express Chipset Full Support
- OpenGL 2.0 support on all supported Chipsets
- OpenGL ES 1.1 support on the Intel® System Controller Hub (US15W)
- Improved 3D Performance
- Hardware-enabled Video decode on the Intel® System Controller Hub (US15W)
(Note: offload performance for high-definition video is dependent upon video content being played. Intel is making continued improvements on hardware-enabled video decode performance.)
- Certified Output Protection Protocol (COPP) Support on Microsoft Windows XP*
- Microsoft Vista* (XPDM Mode) Support
- Support for the Chrontel CH7022* (VGA + TV)
- OpenGL support for Windows on US15W chipset.
OS support changes
- Adds Ubuntu 8.04 for Mid* support (US15W only)
The IEGD 9.0 release contains the following new features and capabilities in addition to those in 8.0:
- Additional stability and reliability through the closure of known errata
- Intel® System Controller Hub US15W support
- Mobile Intel® GM45 Express chipset support (2D only)
- Mobile Intel® GLE960 Express chipset support
- Power management in Linux*
- Integrated HDMI with HDCP (on capable chipsets)
- UEFI video driver (US15W and GM45 only)
OS Support Changes:
- Adds WindRiver Linux* support (US15W only)
- Adds Red Hat Embedded Linux* support (US15W only)
- Adds Red Flag Linux* support (US15W only)
The IEGD 8.0 release contains the following new features and capabilities in addition to those in 7.0:
- Additional stability and reliability through the closure of known errata
- Improved 3D performance
- Intel® Q35 Express chipset support (2D only)
- Microsoft Windows CE* software vertex processing support
- D3DM on Microsoft Windows CE 5.0 and 6.0 for Q965 and GME965
- Second overlay support added for Q965, GME965 and Q35
- Text Enhancement/Tuning option for SDVO
- VGA Bypass for second CRT with CH7021 (+HD TV) and CH7317
- Preliminary HDMI support with CH7315 (no HDCP or audio sync)
- Dual DVI with CH7319/CH7320 (no HDCP)
- SETUP "silent install" option with "setup -s"
OS Support Changes:
- Adds Fedora Core* 6 and 7
- Adds SUSE* 10+ (SP1 and others)
- Adds IEGD Kernel Module for Linux* (kernel agnostic GART and DRM interface)
- Drops Windows* 2000 (no longer validated)
The IEGD 7.0 release contains the following new features and capabilities in addition to those in 6.1:
- Greatly improved stability, reliability, and performance
- Adds support for Mobile Intel® GME965 chipset
- Adds OGL 1.5 on Q965
- Adds support for Mobile Intel® 910GMLE chipset
- Internal LVDS 24 bit support for chipsets that support it
- D3D Mobile for Microsoft Windows CE* 5.0 & 6.0
- Vertex processing is currently not supported
- Second overlay
- Supported platforms: 852, 855, 910, 915, & 945
- Module/configuration file names changed to better identify the driver as IEGD
- New configuration format (see the User's Guide for details) expands the versatility of the configuration format (backwards compatibility is maintained)
- Drops Intel® 845 family chipsets
- Drops PCF2IEGD utility and PCF file configuration method
OS Support Changes:
- Adds Microsoft Windows CE 6.0
- Adds Novell* Linux Point of Service (POS) 9
- Adds Damn Small Linux* (DSL) for all supported chipsets
- Drops validated support for Microsoft Windows CE 4.2, Red Hat 9, and Fedora Core 2
The IEGD 6.1 release contains the following new features and capabilities in addition to those in 6.0:
- New Configuration Editor (CED) that allows easier pre-installation configuration and generation of the drivers and VBIOS
- Adds D3D support on Intel® 945G Express chipset and Mobile Intel® 945GM Express chipset
- Three display capability
- Render scaling
- Adds rotation support for Microsoft Windows CE
- OpenGL 1.4 support for Mobile Intel® 945GM Express and Intel® 945G Express chipsets
OS Support Changes:
- Adds Support for Linux Fedora Core 5
The IEGD 6.0 release contains the following new features and capabilities:
- Support for the Intel® Q965 chipset (Gen4 graphics support)
- New Configuration Editor GUI (Beta version, available to qualified OEMs through your Premier Support account: premier.intel.com) that allows pre-installation configuration of the IEGD
OS Support Changes:
- Support for Damn Small Linux (DSL)
The IEGD 5.1 release contains the following new features and capabilities:
- New Configuration Editor GUI (Beta version, available to qualified OEMs through your Premier Support account: premier.intel.com) that allows pre-installation configuration of the IEGD
- Support for Texas Instruments* TFP410 encoder
- Triple independent display with external PCI device
- Overlay support through new PCF parameter
- Centering & scaling enhancements for the following:
- Upscaling support for Chrontel* CH7017 & 7308
- EDID LVDS
- Alignment in Clone Mode
- DVO as Primary
- New No_DFB PCF parameter that improves performance in certain situations
- Color Control API on Internal LVDS and External Encoder
- GangDVO (for NS387R encoder)
OS Support Changes:
- Support for Microsoft Windows Embedded for Point of Service* OS (WEPOS)
- Support for SUSE Enterprise Server (SLES) 10 with kernel 2.6.13.15 and XFree86 6.8.2 X-Server with KDE
- OpenGL functionality for all Linux: OGL 1.3 for Intel 845, 852 and 855 family chipsets and OGL 1.4 for Intel 915 family chipsets
The 5.0 release contains the following new features and capabilities:
- Support for the Intel® 945G and 945GM Chipsets (2D capabilities only)
- Support for the Intel® 852GM Chipset
- Support for the Silicon Image* Sil 1362 and Sil 1364 Serial SDVO transmitters
- Dual Digital Transmitter Support on Serial DVO
- Enhanced Clone mode support for use with different sized displays
- Ability to use PCI based graphics as the primary display and integrated graphics as a secondary display
- Ability to configure port names used in the Runtime GUI
- Ability to change resolution/refresh rates for Clone displays in the Runtime GUI
- Expanded 2D acceleration in Microsoft Windows CE.NET* (4.2 and 5.1)
- Support for SUSE Enterprise Server* (SLES) 9
- Support for Microsoft Windows XP* SP2
The IEGD 4.1 release has the same features and capabilities as the 4.0 release, with numerous errata corrected, primarily focused on issues with Microsoft Direct3D* support. The 4.1 release primarily contains fixes to errata in the 4.0 release. See the errata document included with the release packages for details on specific fixes.
This release contains the following new features and capabilities:
- Support for Intel® 915GV and 915GM Chipsets
- Support for Chrontel CH7307 and CH7308 Serial SDVO transmitters
- Improved 2D and 3D Performance
- Advanced configuration options for support of EDID and EDID-less displays
- Driver control of default VGA modes
- Auto-enabled Bus Mastering system BIOS setting
- Support for Microsoft Windows CE .NET version 5.1
- Vertically extended display support in Microsoft Windows CE. NET