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I have recently installed Ubuntu 12.04 alongside Windows 7.

After completing the Software Update process, I thought that my nVidia drivers also would have been updated, but after restarting the system and checking the version, it still was showing as version 173.14.35. I have nvidia geforce 7025 / 630a integrated in my ASUS motherboard

Can someone tell me how can I update my drivers with the most latest and stable release?

Also when searching a lot I went through couple of pages which showed something like PPA. Can someone please explain me what is a PPA?

Sathyajith Bhat
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sud_the_devil
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3 Answers3

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Regarding: most latest and stable release

Open dash with the super key.

Start typing addi

It will show an icon with additional drivers underneath. Check what drivers it shows and pick one that works best.

Example:

enter image description here

Installing drivers with a PPA tends to be bleeding edge and unstable versions or give support to abandoned drivers or old cards etc. Keep away from those if you are not 100% sure how to fix problems that arise from those drivers.

Rinzwind
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COMMENT DELETED: it's not a good idea to install these manually, use the instructions below that others have given because you will run into an issue with the DKMS added Kernel support in 304.22 and it will break your Ubuntu installation if you attempt to revert back to your previous installation of the Nvidia drivers. It's very complex to fix a bad install of these so I no longer recommend doing it this way.

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I don't know your graphics card model, so my answer is based on assumption.

Its looks like your graphics card is old and use legacy 173 driver from nvidia.

If so, for your graphics card, there was no development done from nivida in terms of version. So whatever you have is the best and latest driver. If you forcefully install new drivers it will cause lag/crash to your system.

A ppa is a package bundle provided by 3rd party (meaning any other than Ubuntu official). Adding a ppa and installing an app/driver from it means you will be receiving updates for them when the ppa owner updates a page.

Basically ppa s are for easy install and update process.

See more details from this discussion What are PPAs and how do I use them?

-- Update --

If you want stable an updated driver. Please use x-swat ppa. This team provide latest & stable drivers for ubuntu. Issue the following commands,

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get install nvidia-current
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