[HowTo] Install latests community NvidiaGraphicsDrivers on LMDE6

[cpedretti]

Disclaimer: "This tutorial only focuses on the second way to install Nvidia's proprietary drivers, if the "sudo apt install nvidia-driver" way does not work on your installation, you can rely on this tutorial.To all those who use Plymouth with various scripts, there is a high risk of startup problems because Plymouth behaves badly with nvidia's proprietary drivers, so please do not follow this How-to. You can, however, find out more on the Plymouth Debian Wiki."


Prerequisites:

- make a backup with Timeshift (safety first)

- check graphics card compatibility
(if your graphics card does not appear in the list, it is not necessary to install the latest driver, the one installed by default will suffice)

- command line to check which GPU is installed:

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sudo lshw -numeric -C display

Output


If the prerequisites are satisfied, you can continue with the tutorial below.


First step add non-free-firmware sources befor install Linux Headers and compilation dependencies:

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sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list

Add the line below behind each debian source, be careful not to add it to the mint source:

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non-free-firmware

Perform the same operation for the source repository:

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sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-source-repositories.list

Then update and install Linux Headers and compilation dependencies:

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sudo apt update && sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential libglvnd-dev pkg-config dkms -y

Second step blacklist the nouveau driver, create a blacklist file:

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sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

In the file add the following and save the file:

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blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0

Then regenerate the kernel initramfs:

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sudo update-initramfs -u

Third step install the latests NvidiaGraphicsDrivers:

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sudo apt install firmware-misc-nonfree nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-driver nvidia-cuda-toolkit nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-settings nvidia-smi nvidia-xconfig nvidia-opencl-icd nvidia-opencl-common nvidia-detect -y

Reboot.


To view how version you have installed, just open an terminal and enter follow:

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nvidia-smi

Enjoy!

Source

[MiZoG]

C'mon, do some fact-checking before posting "tutorials".
Nothing of these is needed in LMDE6.
non-free-firmware is enabled by default "upstream"
and all other sources (backports included) not enabled by default in vanilla Debian are enabled in LMDE.
Installing the distro package of the nvidia proprietary driver is as simple as sudo apt install nvidia-driver.
Everything else is pulled automatically. Nouveau blacklisting is automated for years since... Stretch if I recall correctly maybe even earlier when installing proprietary nvidia drivers on a debian-based system.
You do not need to install compilation dependencies like build-essential for pre-compiled packages! Dkms is installed by default since... forever now?
Distro nvidia installer regenerates initframs automatically.
So this how-to does not serve any purpose other than confusing unassuming newbs.

[cpedretti]

C'mon, do some fact-checking before posting "tutorials".
Nothing of these is needed in LMDE6.
non-free-firmware is enabled by default "upstream"
and all other sources (backports included) not enabled by default in vanilla Debian are enabled in LMDE.
Installing the distro package of the nvidia proprietary driver is as simple as sudo apt install nvidia-driver.
Everything else is pulled automatically. Nouveau blacklisting is automated for years since... Stretch if I recall correctly maybe even earlier when installing proprietary nvidia drivers on a debian-based system.
You do not need to install compilation dependencies like build-essential for pre-compiled packages! Dkms is installed by default since... forever now?
Distro nvidia installer regenerates initframs automatically.
So this how-to does not serve any purpose other than confusing unassuming newbs.

This is not the first time that you have criticized my work, I actually checked my sources before posting this HowTo, based on Debian's recommendations here, LMDE being based on Debain,

I'll let you discover for yourself who of us both was wrong with the attached screenshot, my hello to Akropolis

[surfer57]

As those of us that request assistance, it is nice to see that the community provides "suggestions" to attempt to resolve issues. If one believes that there is an issue with a post. they can choose the exclamation mark icon, a moderator will review and take the appropriate action,

Besides, there are so many variables, including software, hardware, etc, that in my experience, the more suggestions, the better. Also, be sure to read all the release information and installation information provided by Linux Mint, and include man pages.

As Clem and his team are attempting to make the desktop experience between Linux Mint (Ubuntu based) and LMDE (Debian based) seamless, I am looking forward to the additional features that will resolve the NVIDIA drive issues through the use of a GUI interface, similar to the one that is used in Linux Mint versions (Ubuntu based).

For the moment, my own personal experience, using noveau drivers with NVIDIA GPUs has not been an issue, however, you are able to use SYNAPTIC and install NVIDIA drivers.

I would suggest using TIMESHIFT prior to making any changes to your system software, you will be glad you did. It is nice to be able to DO and UNDO.

Note: The previous comments above are simply my opinion. Readable, refutable Opines.

Restrictive EULAs allowed me to search for the perfect alternative. So, yeah, thanks for that..........

[foberle]

In the first step of cpedretti's sequence, I believe the directory name should actually be:

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/etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list

i.e. no "s" on the word "package(s)"

Having said that, I have an NVidia card on LMDE, and the specifics of how this particular brand differs from all others is a complete mystery. For example, setting gimp to use an Nvidia card versus the motherboard graphics support is generally reported (on the all-knowing web) to be dicey, though no one explains quite why that might be. As another example, trying to utilizing Plymouth scripts during boot simply doesn't work with an Nvidia card installed (I have multiple machines to play with and the scripts work on any non-NVidia machine I try), and playing with all the various grub parameters that are recommended on the all-knowing web don't seem to make any difference at all (apparently the Nvidia drivers don't "exist" until later in the process?).

So, this is certainly a subject about which I'd love to see more discussion ...

[Zapruder]

Thanks cpedretti for your how-to.
Really appreciate your work.

[cpedretti]

In the first step of cpedretti's sequence, I believe the directory name should actually be:

Code: Select all

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list

i.e. no "s" on the word "package(s)"

Having said that, I have an NVidia card on LMDE, and the specifics of how this particular brand differs from all others is a complete mystery. For example, setting gimp to use an Nvidia card versus the motherboard graphics support is generally reported (on the all-knowing web) to be dicey, though no one explains quite why that might be. As another example, trying to utilizing Plymouth scripts during boot simply doesn't work with an Nvidia card installed (I have multiple machines to play with and the scripts work on any non-NVidia machine I try), and playing with all the various grub parameters that are recommended on the all-knowing web don't seem to make any difference at all (apparently the Nvidia drivers don't "exist" until later in the process?).

So, this is certainly a subject about which I'd love to see more discussion ...

Hi, thanks for pointing out a typo, it has been corrected.

After some research it turns out that Plymouth does not work correctly with nvidia's proprietary drivers.

However, there is a tutorial under Linux Mint which solves the problem. I put the link below, instead of the ppa just install the "grub-customizer" package with apt and follow the tutorial, hoping that this can resolve the incident.

viewtopic.php?t=161341

A lead to follow on the debian wiki about Plymouth:

https://wiki.debian.org/plymouth#nvidiakms

[cpedretti]

Thanks cpedretti for your how-to.
Really appreciate your work.

Thanks for your feedback Zapruder

[SMG]

Moderator note: Discussion veering into topics not addressed in this tutorial can now be found here Discussion of Grub Customizer and Greek keyboards from NvidiaGraphicsDrivers on LMDE6.