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This document explains how to make use of NVIDIA video hardware for ["Debian"] GNU/Linux users, who are the primary target. However, most (if not all) of Debian derivatives, including Libranet, Mepis, Ubuntu, and Xandros, should work in the same way. The following section shortly describes the ["free"] drivers while the rest of the document covers the non-free but 3D-accelerated drivers.

= free drivers =
Two free drivers in Debian support NVIDIA cards. You are probably reading this page using one of these drivers. The '''vesa''' driver is a generic video driver. You should get better results with the '''nv''' driver. You can see which one is in use .........................
You can simply [wiki:Self:ConfigureX configure X] to change the free driver to use.

However, both of these drivers do not support 3D acceleration. Only the ["non-free"] '''nvidia''' driver supports this. If you are willing to use this driver despite the fact that it is non-free, read the following section. If you do, keep in mind that using the non-free drivers is considerably more complex and things are much more likely to break. If this happens and you give up trying to get X working again due to the '''nvidia''' driver, remember that simply switching back to one of the free drivers should let you run X again until you find a way to get 3D acceleration working again.

= non-free drivers =
== Why a Debian-specific method? ==

To install the NVIDIA drivers, you can use either NVIDIA's official installer or the Debian driver packages. Each method has its advantages, as described below. NVIDIA's installer used to be easier to use; but with the advent of module-assistant, the Debian way is probably easier. Even if you choose to build your driver module manually, in the long run you'll probably find that the Debian way will save you work. The Debian way is of course the most reliable.

Unless you had issues with the Debian way, you probably just want to skip to the '''Installation''' section. NVIDIA's installer is already documented at other places (such as [http://www.gmpf.de/index.php/NVidia:Basic_Installation this one]), so the Installation section of this HOWTO is all about the Debian way. Either way, you may find the Troubleshooting section to be of interest.

=== Comparison of nvidia-installer and the Debian way ===
..............
The method described here is "the Debian way": you install Debian packages as usual, for your specific kernel. This method has some advantages, compared to using NVIDIA's official installer:

    * It's more automated once it's set up, so it saves you work if you rebuild your kernel very often, as I do.
    * It uses the Debian package management tools, so it's cleaner.
    * If you're already using make-kpkg to build your kernel, it fits easily into your existing build procedure.
    * It will also save you work if you build other kernel modules (e.g. lm-sensors or fuse) outside of the kernel tree, because all of the driver packages get built at the same time with a single invocation of make-kpkg.
    * module-assistant has now taken much of the grunt work out of this task, making it about as easy as using the official installer.

However, you don't have to build your drivers this way. Many people prefer just to get and run an official installer from nVidia. This method also has advantages:

    * You may get more recent versions of the NVIDIA drivers, since the Debian packages tend to lag by a month or two, which can be needed if the version in Debian didn't support your hardware. You can compare the [http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html current version] and the [http://packages.debian.org/nvidia-glx version in your Debian release] to see how much difference there is.
    * The official installer is easy to use, although you will probably get tired of rerunning it if you rebuild your kernel more than a few times. (Every time you rebuild your kernel you have to wait until you reboot, wait for your X server to die, navigate the installer menus, and then restart X. It gets old. That's why this guide was writen :)
    * You won't have to learn about module-assistant, or make-kpkg. Wait, is this an advantage?
    * People have occasionally reported that even after some work, they just couldn't get their drivers to work using the Debian way. Once they used the NVIDIA installer everything worked smoothly.

== Target audience ==
The following method should work with any 2.4 or 2.6 Linux kernel, with either stock or custom kernels, and with ["Sarge"], ["Etch"] and ["Sid"] (assuming Sid works). Although there are Debian packages for the drivers in ["Woody"], if you are looking to make some fun gaming, consider the fun of upgrading to Sarge first.
#language en
~-[[DebianWiki/EditorGuide#translation|Translation(s)]]: English - [[es/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Español]] - [[fr/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Français]] - [[it/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Italiano]] - [[ru/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Русский]] - [[zh_CN/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|简体中文]]-~
----
= NVIDIA Proprietary Driver =

This page describes how to install the NVIDIA proprietary display driver on Debian systems.

NOTE: For Apple systems, follow these steps first to prevent a black screen after installing the drivers: http://askubuntu.com/a/613573/134848

<<TableOfContents(4)>>

== Identification ==

The NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU) series/codename of an installed video card can usually be identified using the {{{lspci}}} command. For example:
 {{{
$ lspci -nn | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation G80 [GeForce 8800 GTS] [10de:0193] (rev a2)
}}}

See [[HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI]] for more information. The PCI ID can be used to verify device support.

=== nvidia-detect ===

The {{{nvidia-detect}}} script (DebianPkg:nvidia-detect package in [[http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-archive#s-non-free|non-free]]) can also be used to identify the GPU and required driver:
 {{{
$ nvidia-detect
Detected NVIDIA GPUs:
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 430] [10de:0de1] (rev a1)
Your card is supported by the default drivers.
It is recommended to install the
    nvidia-driver
package.
}}}

== Drivers ==

The proprietary "NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver" provides optimized hardware acceleration of OpenGL applications via a direct-rendering X server. It is a binary-only [[Xorg]] driver requiring a Linux kernel module for its use.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for [[DebianJessie|Debian 8 "Jessie"]]:

 * [[#jessie-352|Version 352.79]] ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/352.79/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * For Kepler/Maxwell/newer GPUs.
  * Note that 352.79 is currently only available in unstable, but it is installable directly from unstable on Jessie and the [[https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=787582#10|maintainer has committed to ensuring that this remains possible]].
 * [[#jessie|Version 340.65]] ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.65/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * For !GeForce 8xxx through 7xx GPUs.
 * [[#jessie-304xx|Version 304.125 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/304.125/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * For !GeForce 6xxx and 7xxx GPUs.

Four driver versions are available for [[DebianWheezy|Debian 7 "Wheezy"]]:

 * [[#wheezy-backports|Version 340.65]] ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.65/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * For !GeForce 8xxx and higher GPUs.
 * [[#wheezy|Version 304.125]] ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/304.125/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * For !GeForce 6xxx and higher GPUs.
 * [[#wheezy-173xx|Version 173.14.35 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_32667.html|supported devices]])
  * For !GeForce 5xxx / !GeForce FX GPUs.
 * [[#wheezy-96xx|Version 96.43.23 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_32667.html|supported devices]])
  * For !GeForce 2, !GeForce 3 and !GeForce 4 GPUs.

All versions above are available only for the x86 and x86-64 architectures (Debian [[i386]] and [[DebianAMD64|AMD64]] ports respectively).
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= About this document =
The Links page has links to nVidia driver packages, support forums, other HOWTOs, and anything else I find that can help you to get your nVidia hardware working under Debian.

For problems, comments, or questions about the information in this HOWTO, you can write to me. I'm no expert, but I'll do my best to make the information useful.
=== Debian 8 "Jessie" ===
As of jessie, the need for the proprietary drivers is pretty much over - nouveau now works quite well and works with dual-headed displays by simple and easy configuring from within your desktop(for KDE see ''System_Settings/Hardware/Display_and_Monitor/Display_Configuration'') . The proprietary drivers don't provide normal logging and can be a hidden source of problems. If you are doing a distribution upgrade - you should at the very least remove all the nvidia packages from wheezy - get your desktop working with nouveau - then reinstall the nvidia packages if there is a pressing reason.

<<Anchor(jessie-352)>>
==== Version 352.79 (via jessie-backports) ====

1. Add jessie-backports to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:
{{{
# jessie-backports
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-backports main contrib non-free
}}}

2. Then we can install the package `nvidia-driver`.
{{{
# apt-get update
# apt-get install -t jessie-backports nvidia-driver
}}}
DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

3. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(jessie)>>
==== Version 352.55 64bit (nvidia site installer) ====
{{{#!wiki caution

'''Using the Nvidia installer script as recommended below is not supported by the Debian project and could break your system now or when you upgrade later. It also needs to be done again every time the kernel is updated. Use with caution at your own risk!'''
}}}

2015.10.14 driver, for GTX 970 and higher ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/352.55/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

1. Download the installer from nvidia site (md5 hash: e97025c351e420fa62431a1774d84f40 NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run)

(sha1 hash: 68b0da3ddc9599618520062f48efdd55df3f458d NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run)

2. Install the build tools and the kernel headers: {{{
# aptitude install linux-headers-3.16.0-4-amd64 build-essential
}}}
3. The installer complains if X server is started, so go in runlevel 3: {{{
# init 3
}}}
4. Make the installer executable: {{{
chmod u+x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run
}}}
5. Run it: {{{
./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run
}}}
6. Accept the licence

7. Then a little warning appears about 32bit library. OK

8. Say "Yes" to run the nvidia xconfig

9. Reboot

10. Enjoy

==== Version 352.55 64bit (SteamOS repository) ====

{{{#!wiki caution

'''Using third-party repositories as recommended below is not supported by the Debian project and could break your system now or when you upgrade later. Use with caution at your own risk!'''
}}}

2015.10.14 driver, for GTX 970 and higher ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/352.55/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add SteamOS repository to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list.d/steamos.list}}}, for example: {{{
deb http://repo.steampowered.com/steamos brewmaster main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate nvidia driver and related packages from SteamOS repository: {{{
# aptitude update
# aptitude install -t brewmaster libegl1-nvidia:amd64 libgl1-nvidia-glx:amd64 libgl1-nvidia-glx:i386 libgl1-nvidia-glx-i386 libgles1-nvidia:amd64 libgles2-nvidia:amd64 libnvidia-eglcore:amd64 libnvidia-ml1:amd64 libxnvctrl0 nvidia-alternative nvidia-driver nvidia-driver-bin nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-modprobe nvidia-settings nvidia-vdpau-driver:amd64 xserver-xorg-video-nvidia
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:jessie/nvidia-driver|nvidia-driver]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

==== Version 340.96 ====

For support of !GeForce 8xxx and higher GPUs ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.65/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#jessie-304xx|Version 304.125 (legacy GPUs)]].

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 8 "Jessie"
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages: {{{
# aptitude update
# aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-dkms
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:jessie/nvidia-driver|nvidia-driver]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]].
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(jessie-304xx)>>
==== Version 304.131 (legacy GPUs) ====

For support of !GeForce 6xxx and 7xxx GPUs ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/304.125/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 8 "Jessie"
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages: {{{
# aptitude update
# aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-legacy-304xx-kernel-dkms
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:jessie/nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver|nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]].
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

=== Debian 7 "Wheezy" ===

<<Anchor(wheezy-backports)>>
==== Version 340.96 (via wheezy-backports) ====

For support of !GeForce 8xxx and higher GPUs ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.65/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). This is made available from [[Backports|wheezy-backports]].

 1. Add wheezy-backports to your {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# wheezy-backports
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages: {{{
# aptitude update
}}}
 1. Install the appropriate linux-headers package: {{{
# aptitude install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,')
}}}
 1. Install the kernel module package from wheezy-backports: {{{
# aptitude -t wheezy-backports -r install nvidia-kernel-dkms
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:wheezy-backports/nvidia-driver|nvidia-driver]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]].
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(wheezy)>>
==== Version 304.125 ====

For support of !GeForce 6xxx and higher GPUs ([[http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/304.125/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#wheezy-173xx|Version 173.14.35 (legacy GPUs)]] and [[#wheezy-96xx|Version 96.43.23 (legacy GPUs)]].

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 7 "Wheezy"
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages: {{{
# aptitude update
# aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-dkms
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:wheezy/nvidia-glx|nvidia-glx]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]].
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(wheezy-173xx)>>
==== Version 173.14.35 (legacy GPUs) ====

For support of !GeForce 5xxx / !GeForce FX GPUs ([[http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_32667.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 7 "Wheezy"
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages: {{{
# aptitude update
# aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-legacy-173xx-dkms
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:wheezy/nvidia-glx-legacy-173xx|nvidia-glx-legacy-173xx]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]].
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(wheezy-96xx)>>
==== Version 96.43.23 (legacy GPUs) ====

For support of !GeForce 2, !GeForce 3 and !GeForce 4 GPUs ([[http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_32667.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 7 "Wheezy"
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages: {{{
# aptitude update
# aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-dkms
}}}
 This will also install the recommended [[DebianPkg:wheezy/nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx|nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx]] package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.
 1. Create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]].
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(configure)>>
== Configuration ==

As the nvidia driver is not autodetected by [[Xorg]], a configuration file is required to be supplied. However, the configuration described below should '''not''' be applied to Nvidia Optimus systems; on such systems, the primary X display is driven by your Intel GPU, which is autodetected by X. See [[Bumblebee]] for more details on how to configure an Optimus system.

=== Automatic ===
Install the {{{nvidia-xconfig}}} package, then run it with {{{sudo}}}. It will automatically generate a Xorg configuration file at {{{/etc/X11/xorg.conf}}}.

=== Manual ===
For example:

{{{/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf}}}
 {{{
Section "Device"
 Identifier "My GPU"
 Driver "nvidia"
EndSection
}}}

The configuration file above can be created using these commands:
 {{{
# mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
# echo -e 'Section "Device"\n\tIdentifier "My GPU"\n\tDriver "nvidia"\nEndSection' > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf
}}}

Please note that this configuration will break Xorg on Optimus systems. For such hardware, see [[Bumblebee]] instead.

'''Restart your system at this point to enable the nouveau driver blacklist.'''

[[/Configuration|Additional configuration information]] is available.

== Troubleshooting ==

 * The NVIDIA driver conflicts with the nouveau DRM driver (DebianBug:580894). The nouveau kernel module is blacklisted by the DebianPkg:glx-alternative-nvidia or DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-common packages.
  * Restart your system after [[#configure|configuring Xorg]] for the NVIDIA driver.
  * From [[DebianPkg:xserver-xorg-video-nouveau]]'s README.Debian: {{{
If you decide to switch to the proprietary driver, it is highly
recommended to reboot because it is incompatible with nouveau, and
unloading the latter is not easy and may lead to a blank console.
}}}
 * If you can't change the screen brightness, open your Xorg configuration file ({{{/etc/X11/xorg.conf}}} or {{{/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf}}} depending on which method you used) and add {{{
    Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1;"
}}} to the {{{Device}}} section.
 * [[/Troubleshooting|Additional troubleshooting information]] is available.

== See Also ==

 * [[/Configuration]]
 * [[/Troubleshooting]]
 * [[Xorg]]

----
CategoryProprietarySoftware

Translation(s): English - Español - Français - Italiano - Русский - 简体中文


NVIDIA Proprietary Driver

This page describes how to install the NVIDIA proprietary display driver on Debian systems.

NOTE: For Apple systems, follow these steps first to prevent a black screen after installing the drivers: http://askubuntu.com/a/613573/134848

Identification

The NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU) series/codename of an installed video card can usually be identified using the lspci command. For example:

  • $ lspci -nn | grep VGA
    01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation G80 [GeForce 8800 GTS] [10de:0193] (rev a2)

See HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI for more information. The PCI ID can be used to verify device support.

nvidia-detect

The nvidia-detect script (nvidia-detect package in non-free) can also be used to identify the GPU and required driver:

  • $ nvidia-detect
    Detected NVIDIA GPUs:
    02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 430] [10de:0de1] (rev a1)
    Your card is supported by the default drivers.
    It is recommended to install the
        nvidia-driver
    package.

Drivers

The proprietary "NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver" provides optimized hardware acceleration of OpenGL applications via a direct-rendering X server. It is a binary-only Xorg driver requiring a Linux kernel module for its use.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for Debian 8 "Jessie":

Four driver versions are available for Debian 7 "Wheezy":

All versions above are available only for the x86 and x86-64 architectures (Debian i386 and AMD64 ports respectively).

Installation

Debian 8 "Jessie"

As of jessie, the need for the proprietary drivers is pretty much over - nouveau now works quite well and works with dual-headed displays by simple and easy configuring from within your desktop(for KDE see System_Settings/Hardware/Display_and_Monitor/Display_Configuration) . The proprietary drivers don't provide normal logging and can be a hidden source of problems. If you are doing a distribution upgrade - you should at the very least remove all the nvidia packages from wheezy - get your desktop working with nouveau - then reinstall the nvidia packages if there is a pressing reason.

Version 352.79 (via jessie-backports)

1. Add jessie-backports to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

# jessie-backports
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-backports main contrib non-free

2. Then we can install the package nvidia-driver.

# apt-get update
# apt-get install -t jessie-backports nvidia-driver 

DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

3. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 352.55 64bit (nvidia site installer)

Using the Nvidia installer script as recommended below is not supported by the Debian project and could break your system now or when you upgrade later. It also needs to be done again every time the kernel is updated. Use with caution at your own risk!

2015.10.14 driver, for GTX 970 and higher (supported devices).

1. Download the installer from nvidia site (md5 hash: e97025c351e420fa62431a1774d84f40 NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run)

(sha1 hash: 68b0da3ddc9599618520062f48efdd55df3f458d NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run)

2. Install the build tools and the kernel headers:

# aptitude install linux-headers-3.16.0-4-amd64 build-essential

3. The installer complains if X server is started, so go in runlevel 3:

# init 3

4. Make the installer executable:

chmod u+x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run

5. Run it:

./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-352.55.run

6. Accept the licence

7. Then a little warning appears about 32bit library. OK

8. Say "Yes" to run the nvidia xconfig

9. Reboot

10. Enjoy

Version 352.55 64bit (SteamOS repository)

Using third-party repositories as recommended below is not supported by the Debian project and could break your system now or when you upgrade later. Use with caution at your own risk!

2015.10.14 driver, for GTX 970 and higher (supported devices).

  1. Add SteamOS repository to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steamos.list, for example:

    deb http://repo.steampowered.com/steamos brewmaster main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate nvidia driver and related packages from SteamOS repository:

    # aptitude update
    # aptitude install -t brewmaster libegl1-nvidia:amd64 libgl1-nvidia-glx:amd64 libgl1-nvidia-glx:i386 libgl1-nvidia-glx-i386 libgles1-nvidia:amd64 libgles2-nvidia:amd64 libnvidia-eglcore:amd64 libnvidia-ml1:amd64 libxnvctrl0 nvidia-alternative nvidia-driver nvidia-driver-bin nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-modprobe nvidia-settings nvidia-vdpau-driver:amd64 xserver-xorg-video-nvidia

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-driver package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  3. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 340.96

For support of GeForce 8xxx and higher GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 304.125 (legacy GPUs).

  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Debian 8 "Jessie"
    deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages:

    # aptitude update
    # aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-dkms

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-driver package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  3. Create an Xorg server configuration file.

  4. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 304.131 (legacy GPUs)

For support of GeForce 6xxx and 7xxx GPUs (supported devices).

  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Debian 8 "Jessie"
    deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages:

    # aptitude update
    # aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-legacy-304xx-kernel-dkms

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  3. Create an Xorg server configuration file.

  4. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Debian 7 "Wheezy"

Version 340.96 (via wheezy-backports)

For support of GeForce 8xxx and higher GPUs (supported devices). This is made available from wheezy-backports.

  1. Add wheezy-backports to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # wheezy-backports
    deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages:

    # aptitude update
  3. Install the appropriate linux-headers package:

    # aptitude install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,')
  4. Install the kernel module package from wheezy-backports:

    # aptitude -t wheezy-backports -r install nvidia-kernel-dkms

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-driver package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  5. Create an Xorg server configuration file.

  6. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 304.125

For support of GeForce 6xxx and higher GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 173.14.35 (legacy GPUs) and Version 96.43.23 (legacy GPUs).

  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Debian 7 "Wheezy"
    deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages:

    # aptitude update
    # aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-dkms

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-glx package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  3. Create an Xorg server configuration file.

  4. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 173.14.35 (legacy GPUs)

For support of GeForce 5xxx / GeForce FX GPUs (supported devices).

  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Debian 7 "Wheezy"
    deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages:

    # aptitude update
    # aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-legacy-173xx-dkms

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-glx-legacy-173xx package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  3. Create an Xorg server configuration file.

  4. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 96.43.23 (legacy GPUs)

For support of GeForce 2, GeForce 3 and GeForce 4 GPUs (supported devices).

  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Debian 7 "Wheezy"
    deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the appropriate linux-headers and kernel module packages:

    # aptitude update
    # aptitude -r install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') nvidia-kernel-legacy-96xx-dkms

    This will also install the recommended nvidia-glx-legacy-96xx package. DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system.

  3. Create an Xorg server configuration file.

  4. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Configuration

As the nvidia driver is not autodetected by Xorg, a configuration file is required to be supplied. However, the configuration described below should not be applied to Nvidia Optimus systems; on such systems, the primary X display is driven by your Intel GPU, which is autodetected by X. See Bumblebee for more details on how to configure an Optimus system.

Automatic

Install the nvidia-xconfig package, then run it with sudo. It will automatically generate a Xorg configuration file at /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

Manual

For example:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

  • Section "Device"
            Identifier "My GPU"
            Driver "nvidia"
    EndSection

The configuration file above can be created using these commands:

  • # mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
    # echo -e 'Section "Device"\n\tIdentifier "My GPU"\n\tDriver "nvidia"\nEndSection' > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

Please note that this configuration will break Xorg on Optimus systems. For such hardware, see Bumblebee instead.

Restart your system at this point to enable the nouveau driver blacklist.

Additional configuration information is available.

Troubleshooting

  • The NVIDIA driver conflicts with the nouveau DRM driver (580894). The nouveau kernel module is blacklisted by the glx-alternative-nvidia or nvidia-kernel-common packages.

    • Restart your system after configuring Xorg for the NVIDIA driver.

    • From xserver-xorg-video-nouveau's README.Debian:

      If you decide to switch to the proprietary driver, it is highly
      recommended to reboot because it is incompatible with nouveau, and
      unloading the latter is not easy and may lead to a blank console.
  • If you can't change the screen brightness, open your Xorg configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf or /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf depending on which method you used) and add

        Option         "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1;"

    to the Device section.

  • Additional troubleshooting information is available.

See Also


CategoryProprietarySoftware