Which GUI should I install on Debian for getting nVidia support straightaway?

-3

I have installed Debian without any additional packages or software. I would now like to install a X windowing system. I've tried out Gnome before but the resolution is really low and I can't set it higher, apparently because there's no Graphics card drivers...

Now I'm not completely sure it's the windowing system's fault, and I may need to tinker with Debian itself to get the resolution - but I remember installing Ubuntu a while ago and it had support for high resolutions straight away (I'm not completely sure if this was just because of Virtual box guest additions) so is there a windowing system that will also take care of this for me?

Aditya M P

Posted 2012-05-15T21:13:37.887

Reputation: 303

Question was closed 2012-07-24T13:50:52.360

Which graphics card? Do you want the proprietary drivers or the open source ones? Which Debian version? -1 for lack of relevant detail. – Daniel Andersson – 2012-05-16T05:33:58.407

I did a large edit of the question, but what's left is the actual question. The window manager has nothing to do with installing the drivers. – Daniel Andersson – 2012-05-16T05:34:51.433

The main reason for not getting the higher resolution was me using an older Kernel - I upgraded to 3.2 and my core i3's integrated graphics is now supported - so I have the higher resolutions available! – Aditya M P – 2012-07-16T19:09:46.710

Answers

4

The preferred way to get the non-free nvidia drivers on Debian is via DKMS packages these days. All you need to do is:

aptitude install linux-headers-`uname -r` nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-glx

(Assuming you have X.org and a desktop of your choice already installed).

This has the following advantages:

  • Kernel module gets rebuilt for kernel upgrades (compared to the non-Debian way which will likely leave you without a working X when you reboot into a newer kernel).
  • Debian specific patches are applied if required (occasionally Debian has jumped further forward in terms of kernels/compilers than the official drivers supported)
  • If it doesn't work it's a bug against Debian
  • Plays nicely with other versions of the GLX extension and libGL.so
  • Plays nicely with package dependencies (both things it needs to run and things that need specific drivers)
  • Cryptographically signed

Flexo

Posted 2012-05-15T21:13:37.887

Reputation: 1 897

-2

You need to install your graphics card drivers. This is not usually done by default.

you need to install kernel sources and trees.

apt-get install linux-source;

then you need to download the .run driver package from nvidia.

shutdown X and set run level to 3

/etc/init.d/gdm stop;
init 3;

then run the installer and restart. should be good to go

steve

Posted 2012-05-15T21:13:37.887

Reputation: 612

1That's terrible advice for Debian. It's far better to use the pre-packages Debian drivers which build using DKMS. – Flexo – 2012-05-15T21:23:13.353

ive noticed those horribly out of date many times. how it is bad advice to install official drivers is beyond me – steve – 2012-05-15T21:24:30.890

4@steve Using DKMS still installs the official drivers, but using the manual nVidia method is clunky and prone to breaking during system upgrades, whereas using the officially supported debian packages means the user gets better support, and upgrades/changes run smoother. – Darth Android – 2012-05-15T22:36:30.640

Asked: 2012-05-15T21:13:37.887

Viewed: 950 times

Active: 2012-07-16T19:08:36.120