Ubuntu Documentation > Ubuntu 9.10 > Working with Hardware Devices > Proprietary drivers

Proprietary drivers

Some devices attached to your computer may need proprietary drivers to be installed in order to work properly.

Why are some drivers proprietary?

Proprietary drivers are drivers for your hardware which are not freely available or open-source.

Most of the devices (hardware) attached to your computer should function properly in Ubuntu. These devices are likely to have free drivers, which means that the drivers can be modified by the Ubuntu developers and problems with them can be fixed.

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. These devices may have limited functionality or may not work at all.

If a proprietary driver is available for a certain device, you can install it in order to allow your device to function properly, or to add new features. For example, installing a proprietary driver for certain graphics cards may allow you to use more advanced visual effects.

Some computers may not have any devices which can use proprietary drivers, either because all of the devices are fully supported by free drivers or because no proprietary drivers are yet available for the device.

[Caution]

Proprietary drivers are often maintained by the hardware manufacturer, and so cannot be modified by Ubuntu developers if there is a problem.

Enabling a proprietary driver

To use a proprietary driver for a device:

  1. Press System → Administration → Hardware Drivers.

  2. Find the driver which you would like to enable and read the description.

  3. Press Activate to enable the driver. You may be asked to enter your password.

  4. The proprietary driver may have to be downloaded and installed.

  5. You may need to restart your computer to finish enabling the driver.

Disabling a proprietary driver

If a proprietary driver is causing problems, or you would just like to turn it off, follow the procedure below:

  1. Press System → Administration → Hardware Drivers.

  2. Find the driver which you would like to disable and read the description.

  3. Press Remove to disable the driver and continue using a free driver, if available. You may be asked to enter your password.

  4. You may need to restart your computer to finish disabling the driver.

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