verified on AWS cloud instance using version from oracular-proposed
1:0.9.7.10
1. call ubuntu-drivers list --help
2. observe the text
captured from the machine:
Usage: ubuntu-drivers list [OPTIONS] [LIST]...
Show all driver packages which apply to the current system.
Options:
--gpgpu Install drivers for use in a headless (aka General Purpose
GPU) environment. This results in a smaller installation
footprint by not installing packages that are only useful in
graphical environments.
--recommended Only show the recommended driver packages
--free-only Only consider free packages
--include-dkms Also consider DKMS packages
-h, --help Show this message and exit.
** Tags removed: verification-needed-noble
** Tags added: verification-done-noble
--
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to ubuntu-drivers-common in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2081881
Title:
nvidia driver installation modes are unclear and in conflict w/ the
server guide
Status in ubuntu-drivers-common package in Ubuntu:
Fix Released
Status in ubuntu-drivers-common source package in Jammy:
New
Status in ubuntu-drivers-common source package in Noble:
Fix Committed
Status in ubuntu-drivers-common source package in Oracular:
Fix Released
Status in ubuntu-drivers-common source package in Plucky:
Fix Released
Bug description:
(SRU template at the bottom)
The intended behavior of `ubuntu-drivers` has always been mysterious to me.
Here are a few examples:
(1) It is not clear to me what --gpgpu is intended to do. The help
output simply says:
Options:
--gpgpu gpgpu drivers
According to https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/nvidia-drivers-
installation:
> Check the available drivers for your hardware
> For desktop:
>
> sudo ubuntu-drivers list
> or, for servers:
>
> sudo ubuntu-drivers list --gpgpu
```
But both commands list the same set of packages - just in a different
order:
$ sudo ubuntu-drivers list
nvidia-driver-550-open, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-550-open-generic)
nvidia-driver-470-server, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-470-server-generic)
nvidia-driver-535-open, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-open-generic)
nvidia-driver-535-server-open, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-server-open-generic)
nvidia-driver-550, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-550-generic)
nvidia-driver-535-server, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-server-generic)
nvidia-driver-470, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-470-generic)
nvidia-driver-535, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-generic)
$ sudo ubuntu-drivers list --gpgpu
nvidia-driver-470-server, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-470-server-generic)
nvidia-driver-535-open, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-open-generic)
nvidia-driver-550, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-550-generic)
nvidia-driver-535-server, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-server-generic)
nvidia-driver-470, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-470-generic)
nvidia-driver-550-open, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-550-open-generic)
nvidia-driver-535, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-generic)
nvidia-driver-535-server-open, (kernel modules provided by
linux-modules-nvidia-535-server-open-generic)
But there's no indication that the order means anything. `sudo ubuntu-
drivers install --gpgpu` on this system will install nvidia-headless-
no-dkms-535-server. Which, notably, installs no kernel drivers
(neither DKMS nor signed) on my system. `sudo ubuntu-drivers install`,
OTOH, will install nvidia-driver-550 linux-modules-nvidia-550-generic.
(2) According to https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/nvidia-drivers-
installation, ubuntu-drivers "always tries to install signed drivers
which are known to work with Secure Boot." But, if there isn't an
l-r-m package available for the current kernel, it will fall back to a
-dkms package. It seems like that would be the case in the window
between pushing out a new nvidia-graphics-drivers package and l-r-m's
having been built against it. Maybe that archive state "shouldn't
happen" - but if this mode is documented to install signed drivers,
then unavailable signed drivers should be an error.
(3) There's no option to automatically install the best "-open"
variant. There is a `--free-only` option, but that filters out all
nvidia drivers.
Suggestions:
From what I can tell, the `--gpgpu` actually intends to install
drivers for a headless system. (Maybe it is just a bug that it
installs no driver on my system?) Assuming that is the intent, then
`--headless` seems like a better option name. Perhaps we could add
`--headless` as an alias for `--gpgpu`... and maybe deprecate --gpgpu?
Could we add a `--server|--desktop` flag so a user can explicitly
choose the server variant? I realize that `--server` and `--headless`
seem similar - but we do provide the full graphics stack for the
-server variant drivers, and that does make sense on some systems (DGX
A100 Station, for example). Again, documentation could clarify the
difference.
Could we allow the -open variants to be installed with --free-only? Or
could we add a flag to select the -open variant, and document the
difference between that and --free-only?
[ Impact ]
help for --gpgpu flag is vague and does not state what it is for
[ Steps to reproduce ]
call: ubuntu-drivers list --help
Expected result:
the help should say:
"Install drivers for use in a headless (aka General Purpose GPU) environment.
This results in a smaller installation footprint by not installing packages
that are only useful in graphical environments."
> instead of:
"gpgpu drivers"
[ Test plan ]
1. Install ubuntu-drivers on a machine with a modern NVIDIA card
2. Call ubuntu-drivers list --help
3. read the text
To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-drivers-common/+bug/2081881/+subscriptions
--
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages
Post to : [email protected]
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
