Re: [gentoo-user] Nvidia driver plus kernel info questions

[Dale]

Wynn Wolf Arbor wrote:
> Hi,
>
>> I'm currently using the 390 slot since when I installed that card,
>> that is what it showed.  I'm almost 100% certain I checked this when
>> installing this card. My question is, is it normal for nvidia to
>> change the series of drivers for cards like this?
>
> A driver series is not necessarily bound to a specific card, so it is
> normal to see newer driver series supporting older devices. I'd assume
> that 390 was the current stable series back when you checked it. The
> current series is 440.
>
> For the current series, you also have drivers separated into a
> "long-lived" and a "short-lived" branch - as far as I know that only
> marks how long a driver receives official support, but don't quote me
> on that.
>
> The most recent driver is 440.82 in the long-lived branch. You can
> find a list of all Unix drivers at [1] without having to fill out any
> forms.
>
> Then there's also the legacy driver series specifically for devices
> that the current driver no longer supports. A GTX 480 card, for
> example, would need the 390 series. There's a list at [2] and more
> info about support timeframes at [3].
>
>> According to that the 440 series supports the 5.6 series of kernel.
>> It doesn't indicate a specific version tho. Does that mean I can go
>> to the very latest version or do I need to look elsewhere to see what
>> is supported?
>
> In this case you can go with the very latest release, yes. Any future
> 440.* driver will work for you.
>
> Once a new series is released (I don't know how frequent that is) you
> might want to check whether your card still supports that, however.
>
> Hope this helped clear up the confusion.
>
> [1] https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/
> [2] https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/legacy-gpu/
> [3] https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3142
>


That does make sense.  Maybe it was something I recall from a long time
ago but I thought a series of drivers was designed for certain cards and
those drivers were the only ones to be used.  Either I recall that
wrongly or it changed.  Either way.  At least now I can get the latest
kernel and the latest nvidia and give it a go.  I might add, I'm bad to
use older cards.  I buy used or new but on a really good sale.  ;-)  I'm
not to demanding on video cards really.  The biggest thing, it outputs
to my monitor like I look at when typing now and it also outputs to my
TV which is playing Bones at the moment.  Next week it may be Columbo or
Scooby Doo.  ROFL 

Thanks much.  Helped a lot. 

Dale

:-)  :-)