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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.

[[TableOfContents]]

= 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.

== Installation ==
Here are the instructions for building and installing your nVidia drivers, the Debian way.
=== Overview ===
The NVIDIA driver consists of two parts: a kernel module, and a collection of user-space libraries. The libraries (sometimes called the "binary driver" or GLX libraries) are distributed in binary form by NVIDIA, and packaged for Debian in the nvidia-glx package. The kernel module (aka the "kernel interface to the binary driver") is distributed in source form (though with one binary component), and packaged for Debian in the nvidia-kernel-source and nvidia-kernel-common packages. The version of the kernel module has to match the version of the libraries. The user libraries and kernel module source only have to be installed once. Then the kernel module has to be rebuilt every time you change or rebuild your kernel. So, here's what you have to do:

   1. Build and install the kernel module.
   2. Install the user-space libraries.
   3. Configure X to use the '''nvidia''' driver and add the '''nvidia''' module to /etc/modules

Step 2 has to be performed after step 1 because of some dependencies, as explained below.

Steps 2 and 3 have to be performed only once. Step 1 has to be repeated every time you change your kernel, but with the help of module-assistant, apt-get, and make-kpkg, it's hardly any work at all. We'll come back to this at the end of the installation section.

=== Steps ===
==== Build and install the kernel module ====
===== Stock or Custom Kernel? =====
Some of the installation methods below depend on whether you're running a stock kernel, i.e. a prebuilt kernel from the Debian distribution. If you know which kind of kernel you have, you can skip to the following section.

By default, Debian comes with a stock kernel. If you don't know what kind of kernel you're running, then it's probably a stock kernel. If you're not sure, run
{{{
$ uname -r
}}}
and check if the output looks like 2.*.*-small number-architecture (e.g. 2.4.27-2-386 or 2.6.8-2-k7). If it does, you're most likely running a stock kernel.

===== Methods =====

There are four different methods that you can use to install the kernel module. If that sounds like a lot, don't worry—they're listed in order of difficulty. So start with the first one, and if it doesn't work for you, go on down the list.

====== Use module-assistant ======
This method is very easy, and should work for most people, with either a stock or custom kernel.

Install module-assistant if you don't have it, and nvidia-kernel-common. To do it with apt-get:
{{{
apt-get install module-assistant nvidia-kernel-common
}}}
Then run:
{{{
m-a prepare
m-a auto-install nvidia
}}}
And that's it. If all went well, your '''nvidia''' kernel module is now built and installed; you may proceed to step 2.

Note: you must use the same version of gcc to build your nvidia kernel module as was used to build your kernel. This might be a problem if you are running a stock kernel. If module-assistant fails, read its log output and look for messages suggesting that you need, for example, gcc-3.4 instead of gcc-3.3.

====== Install a pre-built module ======
This method is easy if you're running a recent stock kernel for which a pre-built module is available; it will not work at all if you're running a custom kernel. If the module-assistant method doesn't work for you and there are pre-built modules available for your kernel, use this method.

As of this writing, pre-built modules are only available for kernel 2.4.27, Sarge's default kernel. There are no pre-built modules for 2.6.8. If you don't know your kernel version, run
{{{
uname -r
}}}
If there is a pre-built module for your kernel, install its package (the name starts with "nvidia-kernel-". To do it with apt-get:
{{{
apt-get install nvidia-kernel-$(uname -r)
}}}

If this step succeeds, you may now proceed to step 2. If not, try a different installation method.

====== Build manually, with a stock kernel ======
Use this method if you're running a stock kernel and the two previous methods failed or didn't apply to you. module-assistant should automate this process. In other words, if the first method failed but this one works, you should probably submit a bug report against module-assistant.

The following procedure is adapted from the instructions in /usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-source/README.Debian and is known to be potentially inexact.

         1. Save the release number of your kernel (e.g. 2.4.27-2-k7 or 2.6.8-1-686) in a couple of environment variables:

                export KVERS=$(uname -r)
                export KSRC=/usr/src/kernel-headers-$KVERS

            Note that these variables are used by the build commands below, so you really do need to set and export them, as in the above commands.
         2. Install the kernel module source: run

                apt-get install nvidia-kernel-source nvidia-kernel-common

            This will give you a source tarball /usr/src/nvidia-kernel-source.tar.gz. Unpack it with

                cd /usr/src
                tar -zxf nvidia-kernel-source.tar.gz

            This will unpack the kernel module sources into /usr/src/modules/nvidia-kernel.
         3. Install the header files for your kernel:

                apt-get install kernel-headers-$KVERS

            This will give you kernel header files in /usr/src/kernel-headers-$KVERS. Be sure to check that the installed kernel image and kernel header packages have the same version number: run

                apt-cache policy kernel-image-$KVERS kernel-headers-$KVERS

            and check that the version number listed as Installed is the same for both packages. If it isn't, find the distribution that has the version of kernel-headers that you need, e.g. testing, and rerun the above installation command, adding '-t testing' (or whichever).
         4. Build the kernel module package:

                cd /usr/src/modules/nvidia-kernel
                debian/rules binary_modules

            The result will be a package file /usr/src/nvidia-kernel-*.deb, which contains your kernel module.

            Note: several users have told me recently that their nvidia package file ends up in /usr/src/modules, instead of /usr/src. I don't know yet why this happens. If this is your case, please adjust the next command appropriately.
         5. Install the kernel module:

                dpkg -i /usr/src/nvidia-kernel-*.deb

            Use the fileglob as above if you want, but watch out that you don't have more than one nvidia-kernel package file lying around in /usr/src. If you do you'll get a blizzard of error messages. It's probably better to explicitly type all of the version information that I rendered as * above.
      Now proceed to step 2, below.

====== Build manually, with a custom kernel ======
Use this method if you're configuring and building a custom kernel.

1. Install the kernel module source. To do it with apt-get:
{{{
apt-get install nvidia-kernel-source nvidia-kernel-common
}}}
This will give you a source tarball /usr/src/nvidia-kernel-source.tar.gz. Unpack it with:
{{{
cd /usr/src
tar -zxf nvidia-kernel-source.tar.gz
}}}
This will unpack the kernel module sources into /usr/src/modules/nvidia-kernel.

2. Configure your kernel. This step isn't documented here; if you need to learn how, see the kernel-package documentation. But in summary, what you have to do is
{{{
cd /usr/src/linux
make xconfig
}}}
and then choose the options you want. Note, however, that each of the following kernel options has been reported to cause trouble with the '''nvidia''' driver:
 * Graphics Support –> nVidia Riva support (FB_RIVA)
 * Processor Type and Features –> Local APIC support on uniprocessors (X86_UP_APIC) (not available if you have an SMP kernel, including hyperthreading)
It is therefore recommended that you disable all of the above options in your kernel configuration. If for some reason you don't disable them, and then your X display doesn't work properly with the '''nvidia''' driver, you should suspect these options as the likely cause of the trouble. For more details, see the troubleshooting page.

3. Build the kernel and the nvidia kernel module:
{{{
cd /usr/src/linux
make-kpkg clean
make-kpkg kernel_image modules_image
}}}
For an introduction to using make-kpkg to build kernel packages, see "Creating custom kernels with Debian's kernel-package system", or "Compiling Kernels the Debian Way". See also the make-kpkg man page, for a description of other options and targets that you can use in this command.

The result of the above command will be two Debian package files, { kernel | linux }-image-*.deb and nvidia-kernel-*.deb, both in /usr/src or /usr/src/modules. The first file contains your kernel, and the second contains your '''nvidia''' kernel module.

At the same time, if you have sources for any other add-on kernel modules in /usr/src/modules, then the "modules_image" target will cause make-kpkg to build Debian package files for them, too. For example, if you install the fuse-source package you'll get a source archive /usr/src/fuse.tar.gz, which you can unpack to get fuse module sources in /usr/src/modules/fuse. If you've done this, then this same invocation of make-kpkg will also build a fuse module package file, /usr/src/fuse-*.deb, that's specific to your new kernel.

4. Install the new kernel and kernel module:
{{{
cd /usr/src
dpkg -i /path/kernel-image-*.deb /path/nvidia-kernel-*.deb
}}}
Use the fileglobs as above if you want, but watch out that you don't have more than one kernel-image or nvidia-kernel package file lying around in /usr/src. If you do you'll get a blizzard of error messages. It's probably better to explicitly type all of the version information rendered as * above.

=== Redo step1 ===

***contrib non-free***

= 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. 		#language en
##TAG:TRANSLATION-HEADER-START
~-[[DebianWiki/EditorGuide#translation|Translation(s)]]:
[[NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|English]] - [[es/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Español]] - [[fr/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Français]] - [[it/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Italiano]] - [[ru/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|Русский]] - [[zh_CN/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers|简体中文]]-~
##TAG:TRANSLATION-HEADER-END

----
= NVIDIA Proprietary Driver =

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

Commands in this article prefixed with a {{{#}}} indicate they must be run as root. Replace this character with {{{sudo}}} or switch user to {{{root}}} in your terminal beforehand as necessary.

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

<<TableOfContents(5)>>

== 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 | egrep -i "3d|display|vga"
07:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] [10de:1401] (rev a1)
}}}

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

'''Note''': if this `lspci` command returns more than one line of output, you have an [[https://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html|Optimus]] (hybrid) graphics chipset. After you install the necessary driver package, you'll still need to choose one of the methods on the [[NVIDIA Optimus]] page in order to activate and make use of your NVIDIA card.

=== nvidia-detect ===

The {{{nvidia-detect}}} script (found in the DebianPkg:nvidia-detect package in the [[https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-archive#s-non-free|non-free]] section) can also be used to identify the GPU and the recommended driver package to install:
 {{{
$ nvidia-detect
Detected NVIDIA GPUs:
07:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] [10de:1401] (rev a1)

Checking card: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] (rev a1)
Your card is supported by all driver versions.
Your card is also supported by the Tesla 440 drivers series.
Your card is also supported by the Tesla 418 drivers series.
It is recommended to install the
    nvidia-driver
package.
}}}
----
== Desktop Drivers ==

The proprietary "NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver" provides optimized hardware acceleration of OpenGL and Vulkan applications through either Xorg or Wayland. It is a binary-only driver requiring a Linux kernel module for its use.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for [[DebianSid|Debian Unstable "Sid"]]:
 * [[#sid-470|Version 470.103.00]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/470.103.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, Turing, and all current Ampere GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.2 and OpenGL 4.6.
 * [[#sid-390|Version 390.144]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.144/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and most Pascal GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.0 on Kepler and newer, supports up to OpenGL 4.5 depending on your card.
 * [[#sid-340|Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.108/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Older legacy driver, for !GeForce 8 series through !GeForce 300 series. No Vulkan support, supports up to OpenGL 3.3 depending on your card.
  * '''Use of the 340-series driver is strongly discouraged.''' It is not included in stable releases of Debian anymore, has serious unfixable security vulnerabilities, and may not be updated for new kernels in a timely manner. You are highly recommended to use the built-in Nouveau driver if security is a priority.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for [[DebianBookworm|Debian 12 "Bookworm"]]:
 * [[#bookworm-470|Version 470.103.01]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/470.103.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, Turing, and all current Ampere GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.2 and OpenGL 4.6.
 * [[#bookworm-390|Version 390.144]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.144/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and most Pascal GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.0 on Kepler and newer, supports up to OpenGL 4.5 depending on your card.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for [[DebianBullseye|Debian 11 "Bullseye"]]:
 * [[#bullseye-470|Version 470.103.01]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/470.103.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, Turing, and all current Ampere GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.2 and OpenGL 4.6.
 * [[#bullseye-460|Version 460.91.03]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.91.03/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, Turing, and all current Ampere GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.2 and OpenGL 4.6.
 * [[#bullseye-390|Version 390.144]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.144/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and most Pascal GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.0 on Kepler and newer, supports up to OpenGL 4.5 depending on your card.
  
Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for [[DebianBuster|Debian 10 "Buster"]]:

 * [[#buster-460|Version 460.73.01]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.73.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, Turing, and all current Ampere GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.2 and OpenGL 4.6.
  * Note that 460.73.01 is only available in buster-backports.
 * [[#buster-418|Version 418.197.02]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/418.113/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, and most Turing GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.1 and OpenGL 4.6.
 * [[#buster-390|Version 390.143]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.143/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and most Pascal GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.0 on Kepler and newer, supports up to OpenGL 4.5 depending on your card.
 * [[#buster-340|Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.108/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Older legacy driver, for !GeForce 8 series through !GeForce 300 series. No Vulkan support, supports up to OpenGL 3.3 depending on your card.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for [[DebianStretch|Debian 9 "Stretch"]]:

 * [[#stretch-418|Version 418.152]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/418.113/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, and most Turing GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.1 and OpenGL 4.6.
  * Note that 418.152 is only available in stretch-backports.
 * [[#stretch-390|Version 390.138]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.138/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Supports Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and most Pascal GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.0 on Kepler and newer, supports up to OpenGL 4.5 depending on your card.
 * [[#stretch-340xx|Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/340.108/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Older legacy driver, for !GeForce 8 series through !GeForce 300 series. No Vulkan support, supports up to OpenGL 3.3 depending on your card.
 * [[#stretch-304xx|Version 304.137 (legacy GPUs)]] ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/304.137/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]])
  * Even older legacy driver, for !GeForce 6 series and !GeForce 7 series. Only supports OpenGL 2.1.

All driver versions up to, and including, the 418-series, are only available for the x86, x86-64, and 32-bit ARMv7 architectures (Debian [[i386]], [[DebianAMD64|AMD64]], and [[ArmHardFloatPort|ARMHF]] ports respectively).

The 450-series and newer has dropped support for 32-bit architectures, now only supporting x86-64 and ARMv8 (Debian [[DebianAMD64|AMD64]] and [[Arm64Port|ARM64]] ports respectively).
----
=== Prerequisites ===

==== Kernel headers ====

Before installing the drivers, you '''must''' obtain the proper kernel headers for the NVIDIA driver to build with.

For a typical 64-bit system using the default kernel, you can simply run:
{{{
# apt install linux-headers-amd64
}}}

For 32-bit systems with the non-PAE kernel, you'd instead install:
{{{
# apt install linux-headers-686
}}}
Or, for 32-bit systems with the PAE kernel:
{{{
# apt install linux-headers-686-pae
}}}
If you're using the kernel from [[Backports|Debian Backports]], you must run the same command but with the {{{-t}}} flag followed by the name of your backports source. For instance, if you're using backports on a 64-bit Debian 10 system, you might run:
{{{
# apt install -t buster-backports linux-headers-amd64
}}}

----

==== Kernel ====

In some cases, if you're aiming to install the bleeding-edge version of the NVIDIA driver from Debian Backports, you may
also need to install the kernel from backports to match it. For Debian 10, you might do this with:
{{{
# apt install -t buster-backports linux-image-amd64
}}}
Exchange "buster-backports" with your own version's backports repository as necessary.

----

=== Installation ===
==== Debian Unstable "Sid" ====

<<Anchor(sid-470)>>
===== Version 470.103.01 =====
For support of !GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/470.103.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#sid-390|Version 390 (legacy GPUs]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian Sid
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'': if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

<<Anchor(sid-390)>>
===== Version 390.144 =====
For support of !GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/390.144/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian Sid
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

<<Anchor(sid-340)>>
===== Version 340.108 =====
For support of !GeForce 8 series through !GeForce 300 series GPUs([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/340.108/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

'''Use of the 340-series driver is strongly discouraged.''' It is not included in stable releases of Debian anymore, has serious unfixable security vulnerabilities, and may not be updated for new kernels in a timely manner. You are highly recommended to use the built-in Nouveau driver if security is a priority.

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian Sid
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

----

==== Debian 12 "Bookworm" ====

<<Anchor(bookworm-470)>>
===== Version 470.103.01 =====
For support of !GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/470.103.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#bookworm-390|Version 390 (legacy GPUs]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian Bookworm
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

<<Anchor(bookworm-390)>>
===== Version 390.144 =====
For support of !GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/390.144/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian Bookworm
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

----

==== Debian 11 "Bullseye" ====
<<Anchor(bullseye-470)>>
===== Version 470.103.01 =====
For support of !GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/470.103.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#bullseye-390|Version 390 (legacy GPUs]]).


 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian Bullseye
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free
}}}

 1. Add bullseye-backports as an additional new line to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: {{{
# bullseye-backports
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-backports main contrib non-free
}}}

 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware, from the backports repository:{{{
# apt update
# apt install -t bullseye-backports nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Reboot your system to load the updated driver.

<<Anchor(bullseye-460)>>
===== Version 460.91.03 =====
For support of !GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.91.03/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#bullseye-390|Version 390 (legacy GPUs]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 11 "Bullseye"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

<<Anchor(bullseye-390)>>
===== Version 390.144 =====
For support of !GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/390.144/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 11 "Bullseye"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

----

==== Debian 10 "Buster" ====

<<Anchor(buster-460)>>
===== Version 460.73.01 (via buster-backports) =====

For support of !GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.73.01/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#buster-390|Version 390 (legacy GPUs)]] and [[#buster-340|Version 340 (legacy GPUs)]].

 1. Add buster-backports as an additional new line to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: {{{
# buster-backports
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports main contrib non-free
}}}

 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware, from the backports repository:{{{
# apt update
# apt install -t buster-backports nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Reboot your system to load the updated driver.

<<Anchor(buster-418)>>

===== Version 418.197.02 =====

For support of !GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/418.113/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#buster-390|Version 390 (legacy GPUs)]] and [[#buster-340|Version 340 (legacy GPUs)]].

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 10 "Buster"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

<<Anchor(buster-390)>>
===== Version 390.138 (legacy GPUs) =====

For support of !GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/390.138/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 10 "Buster"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware:{{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. Restart your system to load the new driver.

<<Anchor(buster-340)>>
===== Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs) =====

For support of !GeForce 8 series through !GeForce 300 series GPUs. ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/340.108/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 10 "Buster"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver package:{{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms package.
  * ''Note about Secureboot'' : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available [[SecureBoot#Using_your_key_to_sign_modules|here]].
 1. After, create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]] and then restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.
----
==== Debian 9 "Stretch" ====
As of stretch, you don't need nvidia-xconfig anymore, and a xorg.conf file is not needed either in most situations. Also, the 340 series has been forked into its own series of packages to support older cards.

In some situations running `nvidia-xconfig` is still required for screen-locking and suspend/resume to work properly (DebianBug:922679 Xfce/lightdm/light-locker)

<<Anchor(stretch-418)>>
===== Version 418.152 (via stretch-backports) =====

For support of !GeForce 700 series and newer GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/418.152/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#stretch-340xx|Version 340 (legacy GPUs)]] and [[#stretch-304xx|Version 304 (legacy GPUs)]].

 1. Add stretch-backports as an additional new line to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: {{{
# stretch-backports
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian stretch-backports main contrib non-free
}}}

 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware, from the backports repository:{{{
# apt update
# apt install -t stretch-backports nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(stretch-390)>>
===== Version 390.138 =====

For support of !GeForce 400 series and higher GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.138/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]). For older devices, see [[#stretch-340xx|Version 340 (legacy GPUs)]] and [[#stretch-304xx|Version 304 (legacy GPUs)]].

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 9 "Stretch"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-kernel-dkms package.
 1. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(stretch-340xx)>>
===== Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs) =====

For support of !GeForce 8 series through !GeForce 300 series GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/340.108/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 9 "Stretch"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver package: {{{
# apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms package.

 After, create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]] and then restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

<<Anchor(stretch-304xx)>>
===== Version 304.137 (legacy GPUs) =====

For support of !GeForce 6 series and !GeForce 7 series GPUs ([[https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/304.137/README/supportedchips.html|supported devices]]).

 1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to {{{/etc/apt/sources.list}}}, for example: {{{
# Debian 9 "Stretch"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
}}}
 1. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver package:
{{{
# apt install nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver
}}}
 DKMS will build the {{{nvidia}}} module for your system, via the DebianPkg:nvidia-legacy-304xx-kernel-dkms package.

 After, create an [[#configure|Xorg server configuration file]] and then restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

----

<<Anchor(multiarch-install)>>
=== Installing 32-bit libraries on a 64-bit system ===

In many cases, such as when running proprietary 32-bit games from [[Steam]] or in [[Wine]], you may need 32-bit graphics libraries on your 64-bit system in order for them to function properly. This has been made much easier since [[DebianStretch|Debian 9/Stretch]] and now requires minimal extra work.

Note that the following instructions assume that {{{sudo}}} is configured on your system. If it isn't, either follow the instructions on the [[sudo]] wiki page or omit the {{{sudo}}} and run these commands as root.

After installing the drivers, enable 32-bit multiarch and update your repository listing by running:
{{{
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update
}}}
Afterwards, to install the 32-bit version of the NVIDIA libraries package, run:
{{{
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-libs:i386
}}}
Restarting the relevant applications may be necessary before they function correctly.

'''WARNING:''' If you're forced to use a legacy driver, you will want to instead install one of {{{nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-libs:i386}}}, {{{nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver-libs:i386}}}, or {{{nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver-libs:i386}}}.
----
== Wayland ==
The NVIDIA driver supports Wayland, with caveats. The 495-series driver
(or newer) is recommended for the best experience, as older versions only
support Wayland through an NVIDIA-specific API which is not supported by
all desktops, and is generally less reliable.

The NVIDIA driver also lacks support for accelerated XWayland
applications in current stable Debian versions.
This means that if you run a Xorg-only application on your NVIDIA Wayland
desktop (often proprietary video games), they will only be able to render
on the CPU without taking advantage of GPU acceleration, leading to
incredibly poor performance. [[https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/xserver/-/merge_requests/587|Patches have been merged to resolve this]], however this support will only be available in [[DebianBookworm|Debian 12/Bookworm]].

In terms of specific desktop support, GNOME supports NVIDIA Wayland sessions
in both Debian 10 and Debian 11, though they call their support "preliminary".
KDE Plasma supports NVIDIA Wayland sessions starting with Debian 11,
though it requires some extra hoops to enable, and generally is not recommended.
Refer to the Wayland section of the Debian KDE wiki page for up-to-date information:
https://wiki.debian.org/KDE#Wayland.2C_touchscreens.2C_autorotation.2C_hi-DPI

In Debian 12 (currently Debian Testing), almost all issues should be resolved
and most Wayland sessions should "just work" with the 495-series driver,
however some major issues remain with KDE Plasma. These will require merging
KDE's Qt 5 patch collection to fix: https://salsa.debian.org/qt-kde-team/qt/qtwayland/-/merge_requests/5

----

== Tesla Drivers ==

The NVIDIA line-up of programmable "Tesla" devices, used primarily for simulations and large-scale calculations, also require separate driver packages to function correctly compared to the consumer-grade !GeForce GPUs that are instead targeted for desktop and gaming usage.

In [[DebianBuster|Debian 10/Buster]], the default DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package is based on the Tesla release. This was done in order to resolve several critical security issues, but it means that there is no need to install the separate package for Tesla devices to work. If you need a newer release, the 450-series driver is available in backports via the DebianPkg:nvidia-tesla-450-driver package.

In [[DebianBullseye|Debian 11/Bullseye]], the major 418, 440, and 450 releases of the Tesla driver are available and distinct from the default driver. They can be found in the DebianPkg:nvidia-tesla-418-driver, DebianPkg:nvidia-tesla-440-driver, and DebianPkg:nvidia-tesla-450-driver packages respectively.

The 32-bit libraries can be obtained by installing {{{nvidia-tesla-418-driver-libs:i386}}}, {{{nvidia-tesla-440-driver:i386}}}, or {{{nvidia-tesla-450-driver:i386}}} based on the version of your driver. [[Multiarch/HOWTO|Multiarch]] must be enabled.

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

As the NVIDIA driver is not autodetected by [[Xorg]], a configuration file is required to be supplied. Modern Debian packages for the NVIDIA driver '''should not require you to do anything listed here''' as they handle this automatically during installation, but if you run into issues, or are using a much older version of Debian, you may try going through these steps.

=== 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 -p /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 [[NVIDIA Optimus]] instead.

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

[[/Configuration|Additional configuration information]] is available.
----
== CUDA ==

=== Debian Unstable "Sid" ===

CUDA 11.4.3 is available from the non-free repository:
{{{
# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}
This installs {{{nvcc}}} and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named DebianPkg:nvidia-visual-profiler.

=== Debian 12 "Bookworm" ===

CUDA 11.4.3 is available from the non-free repository:
{{{
# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}
This installs {{{nvcc}}} and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named DebianPkg:nvidia-visual-profiler.


=== Debian 11 "Bullseye" ===

CUDA 11.2.2 is available from the non-free repository:
{{{
# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}
This installs {{{nvcc}}} and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named DebianPkg:nvidia-visual-profiler.

=== Debian 10 "Buster" ===

CUDA 9.2.148 is available from the non-free repository:
{{{
# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}
And, if [[Backports]] are enabled, CUDA 11.2.1 is available similarly:
{{{
# apt -t buster-backports install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}
This installs {{{nvcc}}} and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named DebianPkg:nvidia-visual-profiler.

=== Debian 9 "Stretch" ===

CUDA 8.0.44 is available from the non-free repository:

{{{
# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}

And, if [[Backports]] are enabled, CUDA 9.1.85 is available similarly:
{{{
# apt -t stretch-backports install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit
}}}

This installs {{{nvcc}}} and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named DebianPkg:nvidia-visual-profiler.

CUDA 8 only supports gcc 5.3.1, which is not available for Stretch. To compile you need to add `-ccbin clang-3.8` to the nvcc command line.

The Debian CUDA packages unfortunately do not include the Toolkit samples. To install these yourself you need to download the "Ubuntu 16.04" `.run` install file for CUDA 8 from https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads. Execute the `.run` file and (after accepting the license and agreeing to run on a non-supported system) skip the driver and toolkit installation and just select "Samples". Note before this step you must
{{{
export PERL5LIB=.
}}}
To compile the samples, you first need to set
{{{
export HOST_COMPILER=clang++-3.8
}}}

----

== Troubleshooting ==
=== Build failures ===
The NVIDIA driver can fail to build for several potential reasons.

1. You've installed a kernel from backports without installing
the NVIDIA driver from backports. This can, in some cases, mean
that the kernel is too new for the driver version you're attempting to use.
Check this by viewing the package description for the NVIDIA driver where
it will mention something along the lines of, "Building the kernel module
has been tested up to Linux X.X" to figure out what's supported.

2. Particularly if you're on Debian Testing or Debian Unstable,
the driver might not support your kernel yet. Often, new versions
of the Linux kernel will explicitly require an update to the driver
in order to be supported, so if the kernel package updates before
the driver has a chance to be patched for it, you won't be able to use
the NVIDIA driver. Solutions for this, from most to least recommended,
are temporarily using an older kernel until the driver is updated,
installing a newer version of the driver from Debian Experimental if
one is available that supports your kernel version, or finding a patch
for the build failure online that can be added to DKMS. The last two
options are for advanced users
'''and may break your system or, in the
case of adding a third-party patch, introduce security issues, forcing you to potentially reinstall completely or spend hours recovering your system. Caveat emptor.'''

3. Legacy versions of the NVIDIA driver may not always support the latest kernel.
For instance, the 304xx series driver, though available in the Debian Unstable
repository, does not support Linux 5.0 or newer. As necessary, you might consider
using an older Debian version, or using Nouveau instead. Nouveau has decent
performance with GPUs that are old enough to no longer be supported by the
proprietary driver.

=== Driver stops working after upgrading Debian ===
When going between two major Debian releases (e.g., upgrading
from Debian 9/Stretch to Debian 10/Buster), it's possible that the
driver will stop functioning despite the build succeeding and no other
issues being easily visible. This is most often caused by the
DebianPkg:nvidia-driver package updating to a newer major release that
no longer supports your hardware, as NVIDIA regularly drops support for
older hardware generations. You will need to uninstall all your existing
NVIDIA packages (refer to the section below for instructions on how to do so),
and instead install the most recent legacy driver that still supports your GPU.

=== GPU isn't functional, even with a compatible driver version installed ===
If you have an extremely modern NVIDIA GPU that was manufactured after the release of your
Debian version, it may not work even after installing the newest backported driver
that claims to support your card. If so, you likely need to upgrade the non-free firmware
package on your system as well by installing the DebianPkg:firmware-misc-nonfree package
from backports. For instance, on a Debian 10 system with backports enabled:
{{{
# apt install -t buster-backports firmware-misc-nonfree
}}}
After rebooting, the driver should be able to load the appropriate firmware.

=== Miscellaneous ===
 * 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. In some case (eg. !GeForce GT 650M Mac Edition) it may cause screen flickering during boot time (just after grub screen), and system will not boot. In this case you should use instead add the following: {{{
setpci -v -H1 -s 00:01.00 BRIDGE_CONTROL=0
}}} to the file: {{{/etc/rc.local}}}
 * You can check whether or not the kernel module for the NVIDIA driver has been loaded, in addition to what version is currently loaded, by running {{{/sbin/modinfo -F version nvidia-current}}}
 * [[/Troubleshooting|Additional troubleshooting information]] is available.

----

== Uninstallation ==
If you run into issues with the drivers, switch to a different card, or simply want to use the open-source Nouveau drivers instead, uninstallation is made easy with recent versions of the drivers.

Also note that if issues with the driver prevent you from accessing a desktop, you can access a full-screen TTY with Ctrl-Alt-F3 (or almost any of the "F" keys).

You can remove all packages on your system with {{{nvidia}}} in the name by running:
{{{
# apt purge "*nvidia*"
}}}
And then reboot the system with:
{{{
systemctl reboot
}}}
This should leave you with a functioning system in '''almost all cases'''. If it seems to still be having issues, you may also try running:
{{{
# apt install --reinstall xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
}}}
Or:
{{{
# X -configure
}}}
== See Also ==

 * [[/Configuration]]
 * [[/Troubleshooting]]
 * [[NVIDIA Optimus]]
 * [[Xorg]]

----

CategoryProprietarySoftware CategoryHardware CategoryVideo

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.

Commands in this article prefixed with a # indicate they must be run as root. Replace this character with sudo or switch user to root in your terminal beforehand as necessary.

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

Contents

  1. NVIDIA Proprietary Driver
    1. Identification
      1. nvidia-detect
    2. Desktop Drivers
      1. Prerequisites
        1. Kernel headers
        2. Kernel
      2. Installation
        1. Debian Unstable "Sid"
          1. Version 470.103.01
          2. Version 390.144
          3. Version 340.108
        2. Debian 12 "Bookworm"
          1. Version 470.103.01
          2. Version 390.144
        3. Debian 11 "Bullseye"
          1. Version 470.103.01
          2. Version 460.91.03
          3. Version 390.144
        4. Debian 10 "Buster"
          1. Version 460.73.01 (via buster-backports)
          2. Version 418.197.02
          3. Version 390.138 (legacy GPUs)
          4. Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)
        5. Debian 9 "Stretch"
          1. Version 418.152 (via stretch-backports)
          2. Version 390.138
          3. Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)
          4. Version 304.137 (legacy GPUs)
      3. Installing 32-bit libraries on a 64-bit system
    3. Wayland
    4. Tesla Drivers
    5. Configuration
      1. Automatic
      2. Manual
    6. CUDA
      1. Debian Unstable "Sid"
      2. Debian 12 "Bookworm"
      3. Debian 11 "Bullseye"
      4. Debian 10 "Buster"
      5. Debian 9 "Stretch"
    7. Troubleshooting
      1. Build failures
      2. Driver stops working after upgrading Debian
      3. GPU isn't functional, even with a compatible driver version installed
      4. Miscellaneous
    8. Uninstallation
    9. See Also

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 | egrep -i "3d|display|vga"
07:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] [10de:1401] (rev a1)

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

Note: if this lspci command returns more than one line of output, you have an Optimus (hybrid) graphics chipset. After you install the necessary driver package, you'll still need to choose one of the methods on the NVIDIA Optimus page in order to activate and make use of your NVIDIA card.

nvidia-detect

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

  • $ nvidia-detect 
Detected NVIDIA GPUs:
07:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] [10de:1401] (rev a1)

Checking card:  NVIDIA Corporation GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] (rev a1)
Your card is supported by all driver versions.
Your card is also supported by the Tesla 440 drivers series.
Your card is also supported by the Tesla 418 drivers series.
It is recommended to install the
    nvidia-driver
package.

Desktop Drivers

The proprietary "NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver" provides optimized hardware acceleration of OpenGL and Vulkan applications through either Xorg or Wayland. It is a binary-only driver requiring a Linux kernel module for its use.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for Debian Unstable "Sid":

  • Version 470.103.00 (supported devices)

    • Supports Kepler, Maxwell, Pascal, Turing, and all current Ampere GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.2 and OpenGL 4.6.

  • Version 390.144 (supported devices)

    • Supports Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell, and most Pascal GPUs. Supports Vulkan 1.0 on Kepler and newer, supports up to OpenGL 4.5 depending on your card.

  • Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs) (supported devices)

    • Older legacy driver, for GeForce 8 series through GeForce 300 series. No Vulkan support, supports up to OpenGL 3.3 depending on your card.

    • Use of the 340-series driver is strongly discouraged. It is not included in stable releases of Debian anymore, has serious unfixable security vulnerabilities, and may not be updated for new kernels in a timely manner. You are highly recommended to use the built-in Nouveau driver if security is a priority.

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for Debian 12 "Bookworm":

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for Debian 11 "Bullseye":

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for Debian 10 "Buster":

Multiple precompiled driver versions are available for Debian 9 "Stretch":

All driver versions up to, and including, the 418-series, are only available for the x86, x86-64, and 32-bit ARMv7 architectures (Debian i386, AMD64, and ARMHF ports respectively).

The 450-series and newer has dropped support for 32-bit architectures, now only supporting x86-64 and ARMv8 (Debian AMD64 and ARM64 ports respectively).

Prerequisites

Kernel headers

Before installing the drivers, you must obtain the proper kernel headers for the NVIDIA driver to build with.

For a typical 64-bit system using the default kernel, you can simply run: 

# apt install linux-headers-amd64

For 32-bit systems with the non-PAE kernel, you'd instead install: 

# apt install linux-headers-686

Or, for 32-bit systems with the PAE kernel: 

# apt install linux-headers-686-pae

If you're using the kernel from Debian Backports, you must run the same command but with the -t flag followed by the name of your backports source. For instance, if you're using backports on a 64-bit Debian 10 system, you might run: 

# apt install -t buster-backports linux-headers-amd64

Kernel

In some cases, if you're aiming to install the bleeding-edge version of the NVIDIA driver from Debian Backports, you may also need to install the kernel from backports to match it. For Debian 10, you might do this with: 

# apt install -t buster-backports linux-image-amd64

Exchange "buster-backports" with your own version's backports repository as necessary.

Installation

Debian Unstable "Sid"

Version 470.103.01

For support of GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 390 (legacy GPUs).

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

    # Debian Sid
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot: if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Version 390.144

For support of GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs (supported devices).

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

    # Debian Sid
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Version 340.108

For support of GeForce 8 series through GeForce 300 series GPUs(supported devices).

Use of the 340-series driver is strongly discouraged. It is not included in stable releases of Debian anymore, has serious unfixable security vulnerabilities, and may not be updated for new kernels in a timely manner. You are highly recommended to use the built-in Nouveau driver if security is a priority.

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

    # Debian Sid
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Debian 12 "Bookworm"

Version 470.103.01

For support of GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 390 (legacy GPUs).

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

    # Debian Bookworm
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Version 390.144

For support of GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs (supported devices).

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

    # Debian Bookworm
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Debian 11 "Bullseye"

Version 470.103.01

For support of GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 390 (legacy GPUs).

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

    # Debian Bullseye
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free

  2. Add bullseye-backports as an additional new line to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: 

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

  3. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware, from the backports repository:

    # apt update
# apt install -t bullseye-backports nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  4. Reboot your system to load the updated driver.

Version 460.91.03

For support of GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 390 (legacy GPUs).

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

    # Debian 11 "Bullseye"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Version 390.144

For support of GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs (supported devices).

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

    # Debian 11 "Bullseye"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Debian 10 "Buster"

Version 460.73.01 (via buster-backports)

For support of GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 390 (legacy GPUs) and Version 340 (legacy GPUs).

  1. Add buster-backports as an additional new line to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: 

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

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware, from the backports repository:

    # apt update
# apt install -t buster-backports nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Reboot your system to load the updated driver.

Version 418.197.02

For support of GeForce 600 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 390 (legacy GPUs) and Version 340 (legacy GPUs).

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

    # Debian 10 "Buster"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Version 390.138 (legacy GPUs)

For support of GeForce 400 series and newer GPUs (supported devices).

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

    # Debian 10 "Buster"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver package, plus the necessary firmware:

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. Restart your system to load the new driver.

Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)

For support of GeForce 8 series through GeForce 300 series GPUs. (supported devices).

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

    # Debian 10 "Buster"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver package:

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms package.

    • Note about Secureboot : if you have SecureBoot enabled, you need to sign the resulting modules. Detailed instructions are available here.

  3. After, create an Xorg server configuration file and then restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Debian 9 "Stretch"

As of stretch, you don't need nvidia-xconfig anymore, and a xorg.conf file is not needed either in most situations. Also, the 340 series has been forked into its own series of packages to support older cards.

In some situations running nvidia-xconfig is still required for screen-locking and suspend/resume to work properly (922679 Xfce/lightdm/light-locker)

Version 418.152 (via stretch-backports)

For support of GeForce 700 series and newer GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 340 (legacy GPUs) and Version 304 (legacy GPUs).

  1. Add stretch-backports as an additional new line to your /etc/apt/sources.list, for example: 

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

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware, from the backports repository:

    # apt update
# apt install -t stretch-backports nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

  3. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 390.138

For support of GeForce 400 series and higher GPUs (supported devices). For older devices, see Version 340 (legacy GPUs) and Version 304 (legacy GPUs).

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

    # Debian 9 "Stretch"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-driver package, plus the necessary firmware: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-kernel-dkms package.

  3. Restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 340.108 (legacy GPUs)

For support of GeForce 8 series through GeForce 300 series GPUs (supported devices).

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

    # Debian 9 "Stretch"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver package: 

    # apt update
# apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver

    DKMS will build the nvidia module for your system, via the nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms package.

    After, create an Xorg server configuration file and then restart your system to enable the nouveau blacklist.

Version 304.137 (legacy GPUs)

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

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

    # Debian 9 "Stretch"
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free

  2. Update the list of available packages, then we can install the nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver package: 

# apt install nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver

Installing 32-bit libraries on a 64-bit system

In many cases, such as when running proprietary 32-bit games from Steam or in Wine, you may need 32-bit graphics libraries on your 64-bit system in order for them to function properly. This has been made much easier since Debian 9/Stretch and now requires minimal extra work.

Note that the following instructions assume that sudo is configured on your system. If it isn't, either follow the instructions on the sudo wiki page or omit the sudo and run these commands as root.

After installing the drivers, enable 32-bit multiarch and update your repository listing by running: 

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update

Afterwards, to install the 32-bit version of the NVIDIA libraries package, run: 

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-libs:i386

Restarting the relevant applications may be necessary before they function correctly.

WARNING: If you're forced to use a legacy driver, you will want to instead install one of nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-libs:i386, nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver-libs:i386, or nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver-libs:i386.

Wayland

The NVIDIA driver supports Wayland, with caveats. The 495-series driver (or newer) is recommended for the best experience, as older versions only support Wayland through an NVIDIA-specific API which is not supported by all desktops, and is generally less reliable.

The NVIDIA driver also lacks support for accelerated XWayland applications in current stable Debian versions. This means that if you run a Xorg-only application on your NVIDIA Wayland desktop (often proprietary video games), they will only be able to render on the CPU without taking advantage of GPU acceleration, leading to incredibly poor performance. Patches have been merged to resolve this, however this support will only be available in Debian 12/Bookworm.

In terms of specific desktop support, GNOME supports NVIDIA Wayland sessions in both Debian 10 and Debian 11, though they call their support "preliminary". KDE Plasma supports NVIDIA Wayland sessions starting with Debian 11, though it requires some extra hoops to enable, and generally is not recommended. Refer to the Wayland section of the Debian KDE wiki page for up-to-date information: https://wiki.debian.org/KDE#Wayland.2C_touchscreens.2C_autorotation.2C_hi-DPI

In Debian 12 (currently Debian Testing), almost all issues should be resolved and most Wayland sessions should "just work" with the 495-series driver, however some major issues remain with KDE Plasma. These will require merging KDE's Qt 5 patch collection to fix: https://salsa.debian.org/qt-kde-team/qt/qtwayland/-/merge_requests/5

Tesla Drivers

The NVIDIA line-up of programmable "Tesla" devices, used primarily for simulations and large-scale calculations, also require separate driver packages to function correctly compared to the consumer-grade GeForce GPUs that are instead targeted for desktop and gaming usage.

In Debian 10/Buster, the default nvidia-driver package is based on the Tesla release. This was done in order to resolve several critical security issues, but it means that there is no need to install the separate package for Tesla devices to work. If you need a newer release, the 450-series driver is available in backports via the nvidia-tesla-450-driver package.

In Debian 11/Bullseye, the major 418, 440, and 450 releases of the Tesla driver are available and distinct from the default driver. They can be found in the nvidia-tesla-418-driver, nvidia-tesla-440-driver, and nvidia-tesla-450-driver packages respectively.

The 32-bit libraries can be obtained by installing nvidia-tesla-418-driver-libs:i386, nvidia-tesla-440-driver:i386, or nvidia-tesla-450-driver:i386 based on the version of your driver. Multiarch must be enabled.

Configuration

As the NVIDIA driver is not autodetected by Xorg, a configuration file is required to be supplied. Modern Debian packages for the NVIDIA driver should not require you to do anything listed here as they handle this automatically during installation, but if you run into issues, or are using a much older version of Debian, you may try going through these steps.

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 -p /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 NVIDIA Optimus instead.

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

Additional configuration information is available.

CUDA

Debian Unstable "Sid"

CUDA 11.4.3 is available from the non-free repository: 

# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

This installs nvcc and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named nvidia-visual-profiler.

Debian 12 "Bookworm"

CUDA 11.4.3 is available from the non-free repository: 

# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

This installs nvcc and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named nvidia-visual-profiler.

Debian 11 "Bullseye"

CUDA 11.2.2 is available from the non-free repository: 

# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

This installs nvcc and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named nvidia-visual-profiler.

Debian 10 "Buster"

CUDA 9.2.148 is available from the non-free repository: 

# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

And, if Backports are enabled, CUDA 11.2.1 is available similarly: 

# apt -t buster-backports install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

This installs nvcc and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named nvidia-visual-profiler.

Debian 9 "Stretch"

CUDA 8.0.44 is available from the non-free repository: 

# apt install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

And, if Backports are enabled, CUDA 9.1.85 is available similarly: 

# apt -t stretch-backports install nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

This installs nvcc and friends. The visual profiler is in a separate package named nvidia-visual-profiler.

CUDA 8 only supports gcc 5.3.1, which is not available for Stretch. To compile you need to add -ccbin clang-3.8 to the nvcc command line.

The Debian CUDA packages unfortunately do not include the Toolkit samples. To install these yourself you need to download the "Ubuntu 16.04" .run install file for CUDA 8 from https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads. Execute the .run file and (after accepting the license and agreeing to run on a non-supported system) skip the driver and toolkit installation and just select "Samples". Note before this step you must 

export PERL5LIB=.

To compile the samples, you first need to set 

export HOST_COMPILER=clang++-3.8

Troubleshooting

Build failures

The NVIDIA driver can fail to build for several potential reasons.

1. You've installed a kernel from backports without installing the NVIDIA driver from backports. This can, in some cases, mean that the kernel is too new for the driver version you're attempting to use. Check this by viewing the package description for the NVIDIA driver where it will mention something along the lines of, "Building the kernel module has been tested up to Linux X.X" to figure out what's supported.

2. Particularly if you're on Debian Testing or Debian Unstable, the driver might not support your kernel yet. Often, new versions of the Linux kernel will explicitly require an update to the driver in order to be supported, so if the kernel package updates before the driver has a chance to be patched for it, you won't be able to use the NVIDIA driver. Solutions for this, from most to least recommended, are temporarily using an older kernel until the driver is updated, installing a newer version of the driver from Debian Experimental if one is available that supports your kernel version, or finding a patch for the build failure online that can be added to DKMS. The last two options are for advanced users and may break your system or, in the case of adding a third-party patch, introduce security issues, forcing you to potentially reinstall completely or spend hours recovering your system. Caveat emptor.

3. Legacy versions of the NVIDIA driver may not always support the latest kernel. For instance, the 304xx series driver, though available in the Debian Unstable repository, does not support Linux 5.0 or newer. As necessary, you might consider using an older Debian version, or using Nouveau instead. Nouveau has decent performance with GPUs that are old enough to no longer be supported by the proprietary driver.

Driver stops working after upgrading Debian

When going between two major Debian releases (e.g., upgrading from Debian 9/Stretch to Debian 10/Buster), it's possible that the driver will stop functioning despite the build succeeding and no other issues being easily visible. This is most often caused by the nvidia-driver package updating to a newer major release that no longer supports your hardware, as NVIDIA regularly drops support for older hardware generations. You will need to uninstall all your existing NVIDIA packages (refer to the section below for instructions on how to do so), and instead install the most recent legacy driver that still supports your GPU.

GPU isn't functional, even with a compatible driver version installed

If you have an extremely modern NVIDIA GPU that was manufactured after the release of your Debian version, it may not work even after installing the newest backported driver that claims to support your card. If so, you likely need to upgrade the non-free firmware package on your system as well by installing the firmware-misc-nonfree package from backports. For instance, on a Debian 10 system with backports enabled: 

# apt install -t buster-backports firmware-misc-nonfree

After rebooting, the driver should be able to load the appropriate firmware.

Miscellaneous

  • 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. In some case (eg. GeForce GT 650M Mac Edition) it may cause screen flickering during boot time (just after grub screen), and system will not boot. In this case you should use instead add the following: 

    setpci -v -H1 -s 00:01.00 BRIDGE_CONTROL=0

    to the file: /etc/rc.local

  • You can check whether or not the kernel module for the NVIDIA driver has been loaded, in addition to what version is currently loaded, by running /sbin/modinfo -F version nvidia-current

  • Additional troubleshooting information is available.

Uninstallation

If you run into issues with the drivers, switch to a different card, or simply want to use the open-source Nouveau drivers instead, uninstallation is made easy with recent versions of the drivers.

Also note that if issues with the driver prevent you from accessing a desktop, you can access a full-screen TTY with Ctrl-Alt-F3 (or almost any of the "F" keys).

You can remove all packages on your system with nvidia in the name by running: 

# apt purge "*nvidia*"

And then reboot the system with: 

systemctl reboot

This should leave you with a functioning system in almost all cases. If it seems to still be having issues, you may also try running: 

# apt install --reinstall xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

Or: 

# X -configure

See Also

CategoryProprietarySoftware CategoryHardware CategoryVideo