Ubuntu
nvidia-graphics-drivers-435 package

Settings>Detail does not report GPU Correctly

Asked by Gene Nicholson

I'm building a desktop using Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS. After installation of a minimal OS configuration, Nouveau drivers are installed, but they access only the GPU’s VGA capability (no acceleration is available). The GPU does not appear in the Additional Drivers tab of Software & Updates or the results of either "sudo lshw -c display" or "sudo vihw -c video" terminal commands. To install an appropriate driver, I removed any installed Nvidia drivers ("sudo apt-get purge nvidia*") and installed drivers from the command line ("sudo apt install nvidia-driver-435"). Installation was successful in that the GPU's capability are available, but Settings>Detail reports a generic name in the "Graphics" field. Additionally, applications restrict resolution to 1024×768.

When a downgrade to nvidia-graphics-drivers-430, Settings>Detail reports Graphics as "GeForce RTX 2060/PCIe/SSE2" even though my GPU is a GTX 1660 Super. However, applications now have access to many resolutions (and I suspect think the GPU has more capability than it does). Works good, but the discrepancy is unsettling.

The GPU does not appear in the Additional Drivers tab of Software & Updates for either version 430 or 435.

I expected both nvidia-driver-435 and nvidia-driver-430 to report the correct GPU in Settings>Detail. ( I was also hoping the repository would include driver version 440.)

Should I be installing the drivers differently?
Is there a way I can make the GPU appear in the Additional Drivers tab of Software & Updates?

mobo: ASUS TUF Gaming X570-PLUS (WiFi)
CPU: AMD Ryzen & 3700x 8-core processor x 16
GPU GeForce GTX 1660 Super
RAM 16GB

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Status:
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For:
Ubuntu nvidia-graphics-drivers-435 Edit question
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Solved by:
Manfred Hampl
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

What is the output of:

sudo lshw -C display; lsb_release -a; uname -a

Thanks

Revision history for this message
Gene Nicholson (efnicholson) said : 		#2

gene@Home-Server:~$ sudo lshw -C display; lsb_release -a; uname -a
[sudo] password for gene:
  *-display
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: NVIDIA Corporation
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:09:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0
       resources: irq:110 memory:f6000000-f6ffffff memory:e0000000-efffffff memory:f0000000-f1ffffff ioport:e000(size=128) memory:c0000-dffff
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS
Release: 18.04
Codename: bionic
Linux Home-Server 5.3.0-46-generic #38~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 31 04:17:56 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
gene@Home-Server:~$

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

The proprietary video driver is loaded so you should have accelleration. Are you planning to game with the system? Does the nouveau driver not fulfil your needs?

Revision history for this message
Gene Nicholson (efnicholson) said : 		#4

I do have acceleration and I do plan to game, among other uses. The nouveau driver does not provide acceleration. That is why I loaded the Nvidia drivers.

The driver that's loaded (v430) works as far as I've tested. However, it is not the latest (Nvidia provides v440 and the Ubuntu repository provides v435). However, when I loaded v435 it does not work properly (restricts resolution to 1024×768) and I'm concerned 430 will fail under circumstances I have not tested as yet.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#5

What's in the newer driver that you need?

Revision history for this message
Gene Nicholson (efnicholson) said : 		#6

I would like to have 435 loaded. However, when I loaded 435 ("sudo apt install nvidia-driver-435") from the Ubuntu repository, the only display resolution available was 1024×768.

The latest on the Nvidia page is 440.82. That would be desirable. However I understand there are pitfall loading a driver that in not in the Ubuntu repository.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#7

Why would you like it? For what reason?

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Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#8

A new package nvidia-driver-440 is already available in bionic-proposed.

I suggest that you either wait for its official publishing, or temporarily enable bionic-proposed (if you are aware of the risks related to that and accept them), or eventually search for a PPA.

Revision history for this message
Gene Nicholson (efnicholson) said : 		#9

Thanks Manfred Hampl, that solved my question.