Van Snyder composed on 2024-06-07 13:29 (UTC-0700): > Has anybody been able to install the NVidia 340.108 video driver in > Debian 12? > The messages I found said "Support for it ended in 2019. Use nouveau."
It should have said more. Some of what it should have included appears following. # aptitude search veau i A libdrm-nouveau2 - Userspace interface to nouveau-specific kernel DRM service p xserver-xorg-video-nouveau - X.Org X server -- Nouveau display driver # dpkg-query -W | grep veau libdrm-nouveau2:amd64 2.4.114-1+b1 # lsmod | sort | grep veau button 24576 1 nouveau drm 614400 7 drm_kms_helper,drm_display_helper,drm_ttm_helper,ttm,nouveau drm_display_helper 184320 1 nouveau drm_kms_helper 212992 2 drm_display_helper,nouveau drm_ttm_helper 16384 1 nouveau i2c_algo_bit 16384 1 nouveau mxm_wmi 16384 1 nouveau nouveau 2433024 2 ttm 94208 2 drm_ttm_helper,nouveau video 65536 1 nouveau wmi 36864 3 video,mxm_wmi,nouveau # A new nouveau module, 2433024 here, comes with every individual kernel, not any separate package. It is the base level nouveau for KMS to function using drm services. What you see that is not installed is the optional nouveau display driver that is "experimental", "reverse-engineered", and carries the baggage of unreliability. That baggage is optional, as above shows clearly I don't have it installed.... > But I seem to have trouble with nouveau. When I was running Debian 10 > on a Dell Vostro 1700 laptop with NVidia GeForce 8400M graphics, I had According to Wikipedia, 8400M is a code named G86 Tesla device on TSMC 80nm process. I have nearly the same, a Tesla G84 80nm, though not laptop variety. Output shown above and below is from it. Release date of mine was April 2007, one month before your 8400M. > been able to install the driver, and had no trouble. I made the mistake > of installing Debian 12.5 on the same partition, so I don't have the > Debian 10 install anymore. It freezes so completely that the keyboard > doesn't work, so I can't switch to a TTY screen. Even if I "ssh" to it > from my desktop, I can't kill and restart the graphics. I have a script > to restart KDE, but it does nothing. Even "init 3" doesn't do the > trick. I have to hold down the power key to reboot. I don't think it's > a hardware problem that amazingly manifested simultaneously with a new > install. # inxi -CMSz --vs --zl --hostname inxi 3.3.35-01 (2024-06-18) System: Host: big41 Kernel: 6.1.0-22-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: TDE (Trinity) v: R14.1.2 Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) Machine: Type: Desktop Mobo: BIOSTAR model: T41 HD serial: N/A BIOS: American Megatrends v: 080015 date: 09/22/2009 CPU: Info: dual core model: Intel Core2 Duo E7600 bits: 64 type: MCP cache: L2: 3 MiB Speed (MHz): avg: 1603 min/max: 1603/3066 cores: 1: 1603 2: 1603 # inxi -Gaz Graphics: Device-1: NVIDIA G84 [GeForce 8600 GT] vendor: XFX Pine driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: series: 340.xx status: legacy (EOL~2019-12-xx) last: release: 340.108 kernel: 5.4 xorg: 1.20 arch: Tesla process: 40-80nm built: 2006-2013 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DVI-I-1,DVI-I-2 empty: none bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0402 class-ID: 0300 temp: 70.0 C Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: Twin v: 3.0 driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: nouveau gpu: nouveau display-ID: :0 screens: 1 Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3600x1200 s-dpi: 120 s-size: 762x254mm (30.00x10.00") s-diag: 803mm (31.62") Monitor-1: DVI-I-1 pos: primary,left model: NEC EA243WM serial: <filter> built: 2011 res: 1920x1200 hz: 60 dpi: 94 gamma: 1.2 size: 519x324mm (20.43x12.76") diag: 612mm (24.1") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1920x1200 min: 640x480 Monitor-2: DVI-I-2 pos: right model: Dell P2213 serial: <filter> built: 2012 res: 1680x1050 hz: 60 dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2 size: 473x296mm (18.62x11.65") diag: 558mm (22") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1680x1050 min: 720x400 API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau platforms: device: 0 egl: 1.4 drv: nouveau device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: egl: 1.4 drv: nouveau surfaceless: egl: 1.4 drv: nouveau x11: egl: 1.4 drv: nouveau inactive: wayland API: OpenGL v: 3.3 vendor: nouveau mesa v: 22.3.6 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.0 direct-render: yes renderer: NV84 device-ID: 10de:0402 memory: 474.6 MiB unified: no # I count 9 instances of string "nouveau" in that output. Some of them represent duplication, but my point is "nouveau" does not have one single meaning. In my case, the unreliable "experimental", "reverse-engineered" nouveau is excluded from use. As result, my old NVidia cards, 3 Tesla and 2 Fermi, overall run X just as well as do my Intel and AMD/ATI GPUs do for their generations. When I see complaints about "nouveau", I usually wonder what the real problem is, and have often done as I'm doing here, trying to clarify: 1: nouveau does not have a monolithic meaning 2: based on my experience, "nouveau" need not be any impediment to competent X functionality xserver-xorg-video-nouveau is an optional fly in the X ointment. Don't install it, purge it if necessary, and your old NVidia GPU just might do OK. PS: Once an attempt to install an NVidia proprietary driver is made, whether actually supported or not, subsequent success using nouveau far more often than not fails prior to perfect purging of the NVidia software by following the installation instructions provided with it, and often fails anyhow. IOW, once NVidia driver installation is attempted, a clean Debian installation, absent xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, is the typical path to nouveau success. -- Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion, based on faith, not based on science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata