NVIDIA GPUS in DEVUAN 🔼

context 🔼

• @ Nouveau site.
• @ wkp / Nouveau
• @ Releases table of Devuan's versions
• @ wiki.debian.org/Firmware
• @ debian wiki / NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
• @ wikipedia / nvidia gpu list
• @ nvidia / unix drivers
• @ nouveau/codenames
• @ Devuan forum / Nouveua vs Nvidia benchmarks on GM206
• @ Devuan forum / How to install nvidia drivers in daedalus?
• @ envytools / nvidia gpu docs

INSTALL the NOUVEAU driver 🔼

Installing Devuan on a pc with a nvidia gpu will result in installation of nouveau driver.

Unfortunately for various nvidia gpu models the firmware dont allow reclocking thus nouveau uses the gpu in lower frequencies which means very low performance for 3d acceleration (see my benchmarks below)

The package xserver-xorg-video-nouveau is installed probably during the Devuan installation by the kernel? probing our gpu.

Most propably trying to start X server will will result in an error about firmware missing that we can see with # dmesg.

But we'll need a non-free firmware deb package also.

1.  apt-install firmware-nvidia-graphics

For what it's worth an effort trying to communicate with a piece of silicon whos owners dont care to communicate with you here is how we could see the source code of the nouveau driver. $ sudo apt-get source xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

INSTALL PROPRIETARY driver 🔼

• Add "contrib", "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list.
• $ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list (that step maybe not necessary if we enabled non-free during installation)
• # deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged daedalus main contrib non-free
• # apt update
• Gather related info
• devuan version and it's corresponding debian version (usefull for accessing and using related info available in the debian wiki since different step are taken for different releases of debian and thus devuan. ref : devuan releases table @
• identify installed gpu card
  • $ lspci -v
  • $ inxi -G
• install nvidia-detect
• execute nvidia-detect (that utility will recommend a package to install to kickstart the building and installation of the proprietary driver)
• install nvidia-driver
• $ sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver
• A message will appear about 'Configuring xserver-xorg-video-nvidia Conflicting nouveau kernel module loaded The free nouveau kernel module is currently loaded and conflicts with the non-free nvidia kernel module.The easiest way to fix this is to reboot the machine once the installation has finished.
• update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-40-amd64.Errors were encountered while processing:nvidia-persistencedE: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
• disable secure boot . According to the debian wiki : -> If you have SecureBoot enabled: you need to enroll your machine owner's key (MOK) to use DKMS modules.
• $ sudo mokutil --sb-state // check secure boot state

In Daedalus i didnt succeed in enrolling my machine keys so i disabled secure boot in the uefi bios. How that is done is not standard across uefi-bioses.

linux headers 🔼

Do we need linux headers ? What is linux headers? linux-headers-amd64

install non-free firmware 🔼

 firmware-nvidia 

install nvidia-driver 🔼

ISSUES 🔼

persistance daemon 🔼

$ sudo apt-cache show nvidia-driver Recommends: nvidia-settings (>= 535), libnvidia-cfg1 (= 535.216.01-1~deb12u1), nvidia-persistenced (>= 535) During installation in Daedalus

UTILITIES 🔼

• nvdia-settings
• nvidia-detect
• nvidia-smi
• nvidia-detect recommends a driver version.
• nvidia-smi

 nvidia-smi (also NVSMI) provides monitoring and management capabilities for each of
 NVIDIA's Tesla, Quadro, GRID and GeForce devices from Fermi and higher architecture families

$ nvidia-smi -q -d TEMPERATURE

BENCHMARKS 🔼

benchmarsk / programs 🔼

programs in devuan 🔼

glmark2 🔼

$ sudo apt install glmark2-x11

programes from third parties 🔼

Unigine Benchmarks 🔼

benchmarking GM206 🔼

 Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0

• glmark2 Score: 842 (with dual screen 705)
• glmark2 Score: 17719 (with dual screen 10257)

secured boot 🔼