Will Linux Mint work with nVidia GeForce GT555M Cuda?

[fuzzyghost]

Heya All,

I am thinking of switching to Linux Mint 13, because unfortunately Ubuntu 12.04 is not working with my graphics processor (nVidia GeForce GT555M CUDA). I have seen various threads about Ubuntu 12.04 having issues with nVidia, and tried multiple approaches (apt-get install nvidia-current, Additional Drivers, downloading the driver from nVidia's site and running it), but none have worked.
The reason I'm thinking of switching, is because I haven't seen much on the net to suggest that Mint 13 will have these issues, but not 100% certain since it is a fork of Ubuntu. So I figured I would ask how well Mint and nVidia work together. If Mint wouldn't be the best solution, which distro would you recommend? Should I go back to Ubuntu 10.10, or 11.04/11.10?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[viking777]

IF ubuntu 12.04 has these issues the Mint 13 will have them as well - guaranteed - the code base is 90% ubuntu (my estimate, unofficial).

Maybe look here?

http://driverscollection.com/?H=GeForce ... x%20x86_64

IMHO if you want to use new technology in Linux then it needs to be at least 1 year old (to give the gurus time to reverse engineer its software). The alternative is to upgrade now and wait a year to find a fix for your new kit. Actually I have no idea how old a GT555M is but it sounds quite new.

[fuzzyghost]

I was afraid of that, but I tried to install Mint 13 anyway. Unfortunately, Mint has failed before I it even began; I got through the install process, then told the installer to reboot. The computer hung there, so I turned it off, then back on, and got this:

Code: Select all

error symbol not found 'grub_divmod64_full' .
grub rescue>


I've tried Ubuntu 10.10, 12.04, OpenSuSE (installer failed), Linux Mint 13, and so far, the closest one to being stable, still doesn't do what I want. The last time I had this much trouble getting video drivers to work, I was using Ubuntu 4.10. How did it get this bad? Who dropped the ball? Will it get better any time soon?

I'll try 12.04 along with the link you provided, but it is starting to seem that I need to wait months, maybe years before this issue is resolved.

Thanks for the assistance.

[fuzzyghost]

I found out that the laptop I bought uses nVidia Optimus technology, and from what I read, that has been causing some issues. I feel like an idiot now.

Is there any solution to this problem yet, or should I just return the laptop?

Thanks in advance.

[fuzzyghost]

I found two solutions; Bumblebee, and IronHide. They are both easy installs, and both provide 3D acceleration. I've found that IronHide works better for my situation, but it is a only a slight difference (maybe an extra 15FPS in Doom 3, 1600x900 resolution, Ultra-High Quality Textures, defaults for everything else).

Here are links to installation instructions:

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/610

http://bumblebee-project.org/

I hope this helps other people as well.

[mint-me]

i would NOT use Ironhide as suggested above, there are potential power-management issues, it is old and no longer developed or supported.

use Bumblebee, it works perfect in Linux Mint 13 on 99% of machines.
first make sure to remove any other versions of nvidia drivers, then

Easy install like so:

Open a Terminal, or hit <Ctrl>+<Alt>+T
then enter
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia

REBOOT, enjoy.

more info: http://bumblebee-project.org

if you have a problem, report issues here - https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bu ... ing-Issues

[fuzzyghost]

Exactly what kind of power management issues, and of what severity? If they're not too bad, then I'm just going to stick with IronHide. It works for me, but it will likely vary from machine to machine.

[mint-me]

Exactly what kind of power management issues, and of what severity? If they're not too bad, then I'm just going to stick with IronHide. It works for me, but it will likely vary from machine to machine.

in particular the ACPI calls, which at worst, may cause hardware damage. read the history here:

https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bu ... he-project

[fuzzyghost]

I've rebooted a few times already, and the modules load.

Is it an error that happens randomly? If not, then my IronHide install seems to work at the moment.

I will say that it is a fairly severe issue, but at the moment, I'm going to keep IronHide.

UPDATE: It is still working fine. Just had to say that no where in your post does it mention actual hardware damage. It mentions modules failing to load, hanging on boot, etc., but not actual damage to the hardware.

[AlbertP]

If you still have problems, I'd switch to Bumblebee. That's the recommended way to do it since Bumblebee 3 is released. That version automatically switches off the GPU if unused so power management is working well with it.

Edit. Upgrading from Ironhide to the latest Bumblebee: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bu ... -on-Ubuntu

[mint-me]

fuzzyghost, study it a bit more, you will understand the possibilities, you have been warned.

good luck with it.

[ecsnead69]

What is the terminal command to remove all nvidia before installing bumblebee, thanks

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[AlbertP]

If you have used the ppa:mj-casalogic/ironhide PPA, then the commands to remove that (to replace it with Bumblebee) are on https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bu ... -on-Ubuntu

[mint-me]

handy links

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee#Installation
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bu ... leshooting
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bu ... -on-Ubuntu
http://askubuntu.com/questions/132275/w ... ts-working