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
