D. R. Evans composed on 2026-04-23 09:55 (UTC-0600):
> Šarūnas Burdulis wrote:
>> You can check with `lspci -v`. Look for the entry for your VGA
>> controller and then for:
>> Kernel driver in use
>> Kernel modules
> Thank you very much.
> ----
> 04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 430]
> (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 3505
> Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 147, IOMMU group 1
> Memory at de000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
> Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
> Memory at d8000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
> I/O ports at b000 [size=128]
> Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
> Capabilities: <access denied>
> Kernel driver in use: nouveau
> Kernel modules: nouveau
> ----
> So looks like I'm already using the open source driver.
>> Also in `lsmod`, the relevant kernel module would be either 'nvidia'
>> (proprietary) or `nouveau` (open source).
> ----
> [ZB:~] lsmod | grep nouveau
> nouveau 3055616 16
> mxm_wmi 12288 1 nouveau
> drm_gpuvm 45056 1 nouveau
> drm_exec 12288 2 drm_gpuvm,nouveau
> gpu_sched 65536 1 nouveau
> drm_display_helper 274432 1 nouveau
> drm_ttm_helper 16384 2 nouveau
> ttm 106496 2 drm_ttm_helper,nouveau
> drm_kms_helper 253952 3 drm_display_helper,drm_ttm_helper,nouveau
> button 24576 1 nouveau
> drm 774144 19
> gpu_sched,drm_kms_helper,drm_exec,drm_gpuvm,drm_display_helper,drm_ttm_helper,ttm,nouveau
> i2c_algo_bit 16384 2 igb,nouveau
> video 81920 1 nouveau
> wmi 28672 4 video,intel_wmi_thunderbolt,mxm_wmi,nouveau
> [ZB:~]
> That seems to confirm the fact.
> So it seems that the nouveau driver in trixie has a bug that wasn't present
> before. I'll see if I can figure out where to report that.
> Thank you for your help.
>> Lately I'm quite happy using Intel's ARC video cards — kernel module
>> `xe` (i.e. "driver") is in standard Linux kernel.
> I've made a note of that, in case the nouveau bug doesn't get fixed
> reasonably
> quickly.
Pretty much everything one typically needs or wants to know about a GPU and its
drivers is available in one command:
# inxi -GSaz --hostname --vs
inxi 3.3.40-00 (2025-11-25)
System:
Host: k9msi Kernel: 6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
compiler: gcc v: 14.2.0 clocksource: acpi_pm parameters: ro
root=LABEL=pat5p13deb13 net.ifnames=0 ipv6.disable=1 noresume
consoleblank=0 mitigations=off
Desktop: TDE (Trinity) v: R14.1.5 tk: Qt v: 3.5.0 wm: Twin v: 3.0
with: kicker vt: 7 dm: 1: TDM 2: XDM Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GF108 [GeForce GT 630] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nouveau
v: kernel non-free: series: 390.xx+ status: legacy (EOL~2022-11-22) last:
release: 390.157 kernel: 6.0 xorg: 1.21 arch: Fermi code: GF1xx
process: 40/28nm built: 2010-2016 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
ports: active: DVI-I-1,HDMI-A-1 empty: VGA-1 bus-ID: 04:00.0
chip-ID: 10de:0f00 class-ID: 0300 temp: 39.0 C
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 compositor: Twin v: 3.0 driver: X:
loaded: N/A unloaded: modesetting alternate: 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: right model: Dell P2213 serial: <filter>
built: 2013 res: mode: 1680x1050 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2
size: 473x296mm (18.62x11.65") diag: 558mm (22") ratio: 16:10 modes:
max: 1680x1050 min: 720x400
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 pos: primary,left model: NEC EA243WM
serial: <filter> built: 2011 res: mode: 1920x1200 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
dpi: 94 gamma: 1.2 size: 519x324mm (20.43x12.76") diag: 612mm (24.1")
ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1920x1200 min: 640x480
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau platforms: device: 0 drv: nouveau
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nouveau surfaceless: drv: nouveau x11:
drv: nouveau inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 4.3 vendor: mesa v: 25.0.7-2 glx-v: 1.4
direct-render: yes renderer: NVC1 device-ID: 10de:0f00 memory: 982.4 MiB
unified: no
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 4 device: 0 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM
19.1.7 128 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.0.7-2 (LLVM 19.1.7)
device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo x11: xdriinfo,
xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
#
All good on my GF108. The GT 630 is a re-release/re-branding of the GF108 GT
430.
Current inxi is available in backports.
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based on faith, not based on science.
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