nvidia package 340xx

[Hans]

Dear debian team,

I just discovered the "nividia-legacy-340xx"-packages in debian sid.

However, as they were in buster, but NOT in bullseye, NOR in bookworm, I
wonder, if there is a chance, they will transfer from testing to bookworm some
day.

I tested them on bookworm, and they built (what a pleasent surprise!!), but I
could not load them on actual bookworm kernel 6.1.0.9. Ok, this might be, that
some other libs needed by the driver, are incompatible, because they need libs
from sid, but that does not matter for me.

My question is more: Will these packages be transferred to testing some day
and then from testing to stable? Or will they (when transferred to testing)
NEVER be transferred to stable (until the next big release, of course).

What is the policy with those (unfree and third party packages )and what are
the chances at all?

Thanks for your help, oh and thank you for the people, who got this package
buildable!

Best regards

Hans

[Richmond]

Post by Hans
Dear debian team,
I just discovered the "nividia-legacy-340xx"-packages in debian sid.
However, as they were in buster, but NOT in bullseye, NOR in bookworm,
I wonder, if there is a chance, they will transfer from testing to
bookworm some day.
I tested them on bookworm, and they built (what a pleasent
surprise!!), but I could not load them on actual bookworm kernel
6.1.0.9. Ok, this might be, that some other libs needed by the driver,
are incompatible, because they need libs from sid, but that does not
matter for me.
My question is more: Will these packages be transferred to testing
some day and then from testing to stable? Or will they (when
transferred to testing) NEVER be transferred to stable (until the next
big release, of course).
What is the policy with those (unfree and third party packages )and
what are the chances at all?
Thanks for your help, oh and thank you for the people, who got this
package buildable!
Best regards
Hans

As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I did
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.

(Nouveaux is no good to me).

[Marlin S. Petre]

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I did
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.
(Nouveaux is no good to me).

I am using the "nvidia-tesla-450-driver" on Debian 12 bookworm. You
need to install the linux-headers package that matches your kernel version
in order for the nvidia driver to build into the kernel. For Bullseye amd64,
I think this would be "linux-headers-5.10.0-22-amd64". For Bookworm, it is
"linux-headers-6.1.0-9-amd64".

If a point release of stable ships with a different kernel version, I learned that I
needed to install the headers package that matched, or the driver would build
for the old kernel.

[Greg Wooledge]

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I did
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.

It should, so long as you don't care about the newer kernel features.

https://www.debian.org/releases/buster/amd64/release-notes/ch-information.en.html#glibc-and-linux

Starting with glibc 2.26, Linux kernel 3.2 or later is required. To
avoid completely breaking the system, the preinst for libc6 performs
a check. If this fails, it will abort the package installation,
which will leave the upgrade unfinished. If the system is running
a kernel older than 3.2, please update it before starting the
distribution upgrade.

To the best of my knowledge, the Linux kernel 3.2 requirement is still
the same in bullseye as it was in buster.

[Marlin S. Petre]

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I did
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.
(Nouveaux is no good to me).

I am using the "nvidia-tesla-450-driver" on Debian 12 bookworm. You
need to install the linux-headers package that matches your kernel version
in order for the nvidia driver to build into the kernel. For Bullseye amd64,
I think this would be "linux-headers-5.10.0-22-amd64". For Bookworm, it is
"linux-headers-6.1.0-9-amd64".

If a point release of stable ships with a different kernel version, I
learned that I
needed to install the headers package that matched, or the driver would
build
for the old kernel.

Regards,
Marlin

[Richmond]

Post by Marlin S. Petre

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I did
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.
(Nouveaux is no good to me).

I am using the "nvidia-tesla-450-driver" on Debian 12 bookworm. You
need to install the linux-headers package that matches your kernel version
in order for the nvidia driver to build into the kernel. For Bullseye amd64,
I think this would be "linux-headers-5.10.0-22-amd64". For Bookworm, it is
"linux-headers-6.1.0-9-amd64".
If a point release of stable ships with a different kernel version, I
learned that I
needed to install the headers package that matched, or the driver
would build
for the old kernel.
Regards,
Marlin

I am referring to the legacy 340 driver which OP is using and I am
using. Nvidia doesn't support that driver above kernel 4. Tesla 450
doesn't look like legacy to me, it's in the Debian 11 repo.

[Hans]

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I did
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.
(Nouveaux is no good to me).

Hi Richmond,

regarding to debian/sid the package supports kernels up to 6.2.

However, there are some issues, so it will segfault any qt-windowmangers (at the moment) and
got some security issues.

I succcessfully could build the sources with kernel-headers 6.0.1-9 (which with former kernels
later than 5.10-22 did not work).

But sadly in the end I did not succced at all, as it did not load the kernel modul and additionally
it breaked my acceleration from the inbuilt gpu of the intel processor.

So it was more a disappointment. On the other hand it could be, I made some mistakes and
should upgrade additional libs from unstable.

There is another thing, I also might done wrong (I wrote about some weeks ago in this forum):
lspci says it is

NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [Quadro NVS 4200M] (rev a1)

and nvidia-detect (and some other sources, are telling me, that for this chipset NOT 340xx but
390xx should be used.

Thisis wrong, as I could prove, that only 340xx (with kernel 5.10-22) is working. Installing 390xx,
the kernel says: Wrong module, you have to use 340xx.

This is the state at the moment. As I have only this laptop and no spare harddrive at the
moment, I could not install debian/unstable for testing purposes. Maybe some time I will, or
maybe some other guy will do it.

Hope this makes some things clearer.

Best regards

Hans

[Richmond]

Post by Hans

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I

did

Post by Richmond
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.
(Nouveaux is no good to me).

Hi Richmond,
regarding to debian/sid the package supports kernels up to 6.2.
However, there are some issues, so it will segfault any
qt-windowmangers (at the moment) and got some security issues.
I succcessfully could build the sources with kernel-headers 6.0.1-9
(which with former kernels later than 5.10-22 did not work).
But sadly in the end I did not succced at all, as it did not load the
kernel modul and additionally it breaked my acceleration from the
inbuilt gpu of the intel processor.
So it was more a disappointment. On the other hand it could be, I
made some mistakes and should upgrade additional libs from unstable.
There is another thing, I also might done wrong (I wrote about some
weeks ago in this forum): lspci says it is
NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [Quadro NVS 4200M] (rev a1)
and nvidia-detect (and some other sources, are telling me, that for
this chipset NOT 340xx but 390xx should be used.
Thisis wrong, as I could prove, that only 340xx (with kernel 5.10-22)
is working. Installing 390xx, the kernel says: Wrong module, you have
to use 340xx.
This is the state at the moment. As I have only this laptop and no
spare harddrive at the moment, I could not install debian/unstable
for testing purposes. Maybe some time I will, or maybe some other guy
will do it.
Hope this makes some things clearer.

Not really, but I found this website which says the driver supports
kernels "up to" 5.4 which I guess means up to and including.

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3142/

But debian seems to drop after debian 10 because kernel is 5.10 ?

https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

I see here someone has patched the drivers:

https://github.com/MeowIce/nvidia-legacy

:-?

Ubuntu 20.04 supports kernel 5.4 until 2025. So I might try that after
debian 10 expires.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FocalFossa/ReleaseNotes#Linux_Kernel

My card:

nvidia-detect
Detected NVIDIA GPUs:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [GeForce 8400M GS] [10de:0427] (rev a1)

Checking card: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [GeForce 8400M GS] (rev a1)
Your card is only supported up to the 340 legacy drivers series.
It is recommended to install the
nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver
package.

[Hans]

Hi Richmond,

I found this from https://packages.debian.org/sid/nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver[1]

"Building the kernel module has been tested up to Linux 6.2."

Ok, building does not really mean, it is working, only it is buildable.

The other information I mentioned ("it segfaults with qt-libs") I could not find any more. Maybe I
saw it in the wiki and the wiki is now changed.

So, just stay with the Intel driver and NO Nvidia and No Optimus, sigh.

Best

Hans

Post by Richmond
Not really, but I found this website which says the driver supports
kernels "up to" 5.4 which I guess means up to and including.
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3142/
But debian seems to drop after debian 10 because kernel is 5.10 ?
https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
https://github.com/MeowIce/nvidia-legacy
:-?
Ubuntu 20.04 supports kernel 5.4 until 2025. So I might try that after
debian 10 expires.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FocalFossa/ReleaseNotes#Linux_Kernel
nvidia-detect
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [GeForce
8400M GS] [10de:0427] (rev a1)
Checking card: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [GeForce 8400M GS] (rev a1)
Your card is only supported up to the 340 legacy drivers series.
It is recommended to install the
nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver
package.

--------
[1] https://packages.debian.org/sid/nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver

[Anssi Saari]

Post by Richmond
Ubuntu 20.04 supports kernel 5.4 until 2025. So I might try that after
debian 10 expires.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FocalFossa/ReleaseNotes#Linux_Kernel

Off topic but they actually increased that to 2030 recently, at least on
x86-64. I thought I could benefit from it with my Raspberry Pi but no
luck.

[Richmond]

Post by Richmond

Post by Hans

Post by Richmond
As far as I remember the problem in Nvidia does not support kernels
above 4. This is why my laptop is stuck on Debian 10, although I

did

Post by Richmond
wonder if Debian 11 can run with kernel 4.
(Nouveaux is no good to me).

Hi Richmond,
regarding to debian/sid the package supports kernels up to 6.2.
However, there are some issues, so it will segfault any
qt-windowmangers (at the moment) and got some security issues.
I succcessfully could build the sources with kernel-headers 6.0.1-9
(which with former kernels later than 5.10-22 did not work).
But sadly in the end I did not succced at all, as it did not load the
kernel modul and additionally it breaked my acceleration from the
inbuilt gpu of the intel processor.
So it was more a disappointment. On the other hand it could be, I
made some mistakes and should upgrade additional libs from unstable.
There is another thing, I also might done wrong (I wrote about some
weeks ago in this forum): lspci says it is
NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [Quadro NVS 4200M] (rev a1)
and nvidia-detect (and some other sources, are telling me, that for
this chipset NOT 340xx but 390xx should be used.
Thisis wrong, as I could prove, that only 340xx (with kernel 5.10-22)
is working. Installing 390xx, the kernel says: Wrong module, you have
to use 340xx.
This is the state at the moment. As I have only this laptop and no
spare harddrive at the moment, I could not install debian/unstable
for testing purposes. Maybe some time I will, or maybe some other guy
will do it.
Hope this makes some things clearer.

Not really, but I found this website which says the driver supports
kernels "up to" 5.4 which I guess means up to and including.
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3142/
But debian seems to drop after debian 10 because kernel is 5.10 ?
https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
https://github.com/MeowIce/nvidia-legacy
:-?
Ubuntu 20.04 supports kernel 5.4 until 2025. So I might try that after
debian 10 expires.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FocalFossa/ReleaseNotes#Linux_Kernel
nvidia-detect
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation G86M
[GeForce 8400M GS] [10de:0427] (rev a1)
Checking card: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [GeForce 8400M GS] (rev a1)
Your card is only supported up to the 340 legacy drivers series.
It is recommended to install the
nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver
package.

I should read my own posts. I have now installed Ubuntu 22 with Kernel
5.4 and it is working with the above Nvidia card. But I have only kicked
the can down the road to April. I wonder if it will be possible to run
Debian 12 or 11 with a 5.4 kernel and nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver?

[Hans]

Post by Richmond
I should read my own posts. I have now installed Ubuntu 22 with Kernel
5.4 and it is working with the above Nvidia card. But I have only kicked
the can down the road to April. I wonder if it will be possible to run
Debian 12 or 11 with a 5.4 kernel and nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver?

Should work.

I am running 6.9.7+bpo-amd64 with 340xx. I made a description, how I did, this should also
work on 6.1. kernel. Although I aready sent it here, I repeat it (with some minor additions).


--------------------
Attention: Sometimes, nvidia-detect says, use 340xx-legacy, but I had some cases, where I in
real had to use 390xx.

So, if 340xx is not working, try 390xx.

Do it exactly in this order desribed below and you may read this site before.

https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers[1][2][1]



1. Install module-assistant

2. Enter the line for sid into your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/[2][1] sid main contrib non-free non-free- firmware

3. apt update

4. apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

This should install all necessary files and build the kernel module. Here it did work.

5. Do NOT upgrade any other files! Do NOT aot upgrade or aptitude upgrade now although it
will install many other packages. Ignore that! It will break your system!!

7. Remove the sid entry from sources.list! (Very important!!!)

8. Do again an apt update.

Thus you are not going into the danger, to install any more packages from sid.

9. If you need bumblebee or primusrun, because you have two GPUs (one in the CPU and
one extern), then use the packages from stable. This will work!

My notebook is a Lenovo T520 with Intel CPU (and internal Intel GPU) and also NVidia GPU
as external GPU (soldered on mainboard).

I have to use optimus, to get my external GPU (NVidis) running.


--------------------

Hope, this helps. Ah, and last but not least: Big thanks to the lads and guys, who made 340xx
and 390xx buildable again, great work! Big big thank you!!!
Here on my system, 390xx is working like a charm.

Please feel free to ask for more.

Good luck!

Hans



--------
[1] https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
[2] http://deb.debian.org/debian/

[Richmond]

I tried something similar, but it didn't work, although...

Post by Hans
1. Install module-assistant

I didn't do this.

Post by Hans
2. Enter the line for sid into your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/[1] sid main contrib non-free
non-free- firmware
3. apt update
4. apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

At this point many packages were installed, I didn't get a choice, I am
not sure why.

Then system failed to boot X, so I scrapped it all.

Post by Hans
My notebook is a Lenovo T520 with Intel CPU (and internal Intel GPU)
and also NVidia GPU as external GPU (soldered on mainboard).

I have a Dell Inspiron 1720. I may have another go in April.

[Hans]

Post by Richmond
I tried something similar, but it didn't work, although...

Post by Hans
1. Install module-assistant

I didn't do this.

Post by Hans
2. Enter the line for sid into your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/[1] sid main contrib non-free
non-free- firmware
3. apt update
4. apt install nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

At this point many packages were installed, I didn't get a choice, I am
not sure why.
Then system failed to boot X, so I scrapped it all.

Post by Hans
My notebook is a Lenovo T520 with Intel CPU (and internal Intel GPU)
and also NVidia GPU as external GPU (soldered on mainboard).

I have a Dell Inspiron 1720. I may have another go in April.

You need module-assistant for making sure, you got the kernel headers and
compilers you need.

Running module-assistant is the easiest way to make sure of it.

I could write a new step-by-step procedure for bloddy noobs, but I am sure, I
would annoying people with it.

Most problem is, people are installing other packages as recommended, because
they believe, there are dependencies. Apt does show them.

So as I advices, just install only the packages from sid for nvidia, nothing
else. If not sure, download them manually and install with dpkg.

Just to explain: Enteringt sid into sources list and do an apt update will
read the sourcs fropm list., then install only the two packages from sid (the
needed dependencies from sid will be automatically installed). After this
remove the entry of sid in sources.list and do an apt update again. This will
remove all entries from the package list of sid in the cache of apt.

Now you can eecute module-assistant and get the kernel headers and compilers
for compiling of your runninjg debian/stable.

As you have already downloaded the sources from sid, which has the higher
version, these will be compiled.

If it compiles correctly without any crashes, you are good. Compiling is the
main point here.

After compilation you must reboot, to unload nouveau driver an load kernel
module 340x.

To test, remove all login managers temporarly out of the way and in prompt do
"startx". If X is now starting you are good, other wise you see, what fails.

If you have two graphic cards (one in the CPU mostly Intel, and the other
NVidia), you need to switch it using bumblebee and primusrun. If bumblebee and
primusrun are installed, you need to reboot, to activate it.

Then, when X is started, check it with "primusrun glxgears" in kconsole or
xterm as normal user and see the output.

Note: If X is NOT started, you may try with 390xx, even when nvidia-detect and
also the NVidia website is telling, your chip is 340x. I have two graphic
cards, which di NOT run with 340xx (as recommended) but perfectly with 390xx.

Hope this helps.

Last time I compiled the 390xx is about a month ago, so it maybe something has
changed, I did not recheck in the last weeks!

Best

Hans

[Max Nikulin]

Post by Hans
2. Enter the line for sid into your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

[...]

Post by Hans
5. Do NOT upgrade any other files! Do NOT aot upgrade or aptitude
upgrade now although it will install many other packages. Ignore that!
It will break your system!!

It is rather fragile and so rather dangerous.

Use apt pinning to decrease priority of packages from sid, see
apt_preferences(5). Notice that APT::Default-Release is deprecated, set
Pin-Priority instead.