NVIDIA Driver Installation Guide on Debian Sid

This article provides a detailed introduction to the process of installing NVIDIA drivers on Debian sid, including key steps and precautions.

Preparation#

Preparation steps before installation:

Confirm the graphics card model
```
lspci | grep -E "VGA|3D"
```
This command displays the graphics card information.
Backup important data
It is recommended to back up important files before performing any system operations.
Disable UEFI Secure Boot
If the system has UEFI Secure Boot enabled, it needs to be disabled first. Alternatively, refer to sign in nvidia kernel module for signing the NVIDIA driver kernel.
Download the driver
Download the NVIDIA 560.35.03 version Linux driver from the NVIDIA driver page.

Clean up old drivers
If NVIDIA drivers were previously installed, it is recommended to clean them up:

sudo apt autoremove $(dpkg -l nvidia-driver-* | grep ii | awk '{print $2}')
sudo apt autoremove $(dpkg -l *nvidia* | grep ii | awk '{print $2}')

Install dependencies

sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r) gcc make acpid dkms libglvnd-core-dev libglvnd0 libglvnd-dev dracut libc-dev

Installation Steps#

Disable Nouveau driver
Disable the open-source NVIDIA driver Nouveau:

echo "blacklist nouveau" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

Modify the GRUB configuration:

sudo vim /etc/default/grub
# Add rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
sudo update-grub2

Update initramfs

sudo cp /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)-nouveau.img
sudo dracut -q /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)

Switch to multi-user mode and reboot

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target
sudo reboot

Install NVIDIA driver
After rebooting, log in and run:
```
sudo /path/to/nvidia-linux-*.run
```

Switch back to graphical mode and reboot

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
sudo reboot

Optimization Configuration#

Optimization steps after installation:

Enable NVIDIA DRM KMS
```
echo "options nvidia_drm modeset=1" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf
```
Modify the GRUB configuration to add nvidia-drm.modeset=1, then update GRUB.

Configure dracut

cat <<EOF | sudo tee -a /etc/dracut.conf.d/nvidia.conf
add_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm"
install_items+=" /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf"
EOF

Update initramfs

sudo dracut -qf /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)

Configure Plymouth (optional)
Change the boot screen:

plymouth-set-default-theme -l
plymouth-set-default-theme moonlight

Configure Wayland (optional)
Try Wayland:

sudo apt install xwayland libxcb1 libnvidia-egl-wayland1

After completing these steps, reboot the system to use the newly installed NVIDIA driver.

Conclusion#

This article provides a detailed introduction to the steps for installing NVIDIA drivers on Debian sid. If you encounter any issues, you can refer to relevant documentation or seek help in technical forums.

References#

debian-ubuntu-linux-mint-nvidia-guide