Nvidia proprietary drivers confusion

sudden_defrag

Today, I attempted to install the proprietary nvidia drivers after messing with solus a week or so. Later on I discovered that the driver manager provides only the 390 driver. Going into the software center and searching manually for a package returned this result: nvidia-glx-driver (430.34), with a label under it stating that this driver belongs to the LTS kernel. Which is 4.9.182 at the time of writing this. The software center also provides the 390 driver which is labeled with (current).

So now my understanding is that the current kernel does not support the latest nvidia drivers and in order to switch to the newer ones I have to switch to the lts kernel. But the question is: Should I?

Kiakra

eopkg info nvidia-glx-driver-current
this shows info about your nvidia-glx-driver-current package which is not lts driver.
'nvidia-glx-driver' is lts driver
i found these with -> eopkg sr nvidia-glx-driver

Edit: You can see what driver loaded in your machine with: linux-driver-management status

Harvey

For every nvidia driver packaged by Solus there is a LTS and Current version so no, don't switch to LTS just to get a specific nvidia driver.

Hardware Drivers application in your system menu takes away the need to understand what driver you need and will only display the recommended driver for your system. Installing the wrong driver can result in you booting to a blank screen with a blinking _

It's important to note nvidia drop support for cards all the time, thats why there are so many driver branches. If Hardware Drivers application only shows 390 to you, its likely your card isn't supported by newer driver branches. You didn't mention what card you have, so I have no idea.

Drivers for the LTS kernel:
nvidia-glx-driver - NVIDIA Binary Driver (LTS Kernel)
nvidia-developer-driver - NVIDIA Developer Binary Driver (LTS Kernel)
nvidia-beta-driver - NVIDIA Beta Binary Driver (UNSUPPORTED)
nvidia-390-glx-driver - NVIDIA 390xx Binary Driver (LTS Kernel)
nvidia-340-glx-driver - NVIDIA 340xx Binary Driver (LTS Kernel)

Drivers for the current kernel:
nvidia-glx-driver-current - NVIDIA Binary Driver (Current Kernel)
nvidia-developer-driver-current - NVIDIA Developer Binary Driver (Current Kernel)
nvidia-beta-driver-current - NVIDIA Beta Binary Driver (Current Kernel) (UNSUPPORTED)
nvidia-390-glx-driver-current - NVIDIA 390xx Binary Driver (Current Kernel)
nvidia-340-glx-driver-current - NVIDIA 340xx Binary Driver (Current Kernel)

(UNSUPPORTED) just means its not supported by Solus, you're basically on your own if you run that driver, but its there to play with if you want to.

If you're going to install a driver other than the one recommended by Hardware Drivers, make sure it supports your card.

Dean

Harvey
I know long time has passed since this post, but I have a question regarding LTS and Current. I have a current kernel and I install via terminal the driver current, the common and the 32bit (same as doflicky do it).
Now looking as the software center I realized that there is no 32bit version for current kernel, only LTS kernel. Can I encounter an issue but leaving the 32bit verson for LTS on my current kernel?

Staudey

Dean The 32-bit package is the same for both current and LTS (i.e. there is only one 32bit package for each driver branch), so everything is fine like that.

Dean

Staudey
Ok thanks, I just ask because when you click on it, the description says: NVIDIA Binary Driver (LTS Kernel) . But thanks for clarification.

Staudey

Dean Oh, I see now what you mean. I will try to clean up the descriptions with the next update.