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After trying to install the Nvidia drivers and got them working and then got them broken, I would like to check one important thing:

One of the main problems I run into was "Kernel version and Nvidia Driver version mismatch!". How to avoid this? How do I know that the newest NVidia driver out there is compatible with what I have already installed or have?

For example right now, I started with a fresh XUbuntu 13.04, Kernel: 3.8.0-21-generic. I know that there is a new NVidia driver for Linux: 319.17. So do I go with the "./*.run" file approach or do I set-up one of those external repositories, for example "xorg-edgers", what should be the correct approach?

Also, once I install them, how do I ensure that the NVidia drivers will not break with a Kernel update?

Thanks.

mbilyanov
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2 Answers2

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I think there is already automatic updating for lasted nvidia drivers directly in update menu (look for additional drivers menu)

user158988
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There are three kinds of drivers:

  • tested and stable drivers
  • tested and presumably stable drivers
  • brand new bleeding edge drivers

As the name says drivers from the bleeding edge side (be it from the xorg-edgers ppa, or downloaded binaries from the manufacturer) are not meant to be stable. They are there for us to test them, and to report or fix bugs we may find.

Only after these tests turned out to be successful and bugs were fixed the drivers gradually mature to stable (found in ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates) and finally get their way into the official repositories.

Therefore in case we do not want to install drivers which may break our system, or are incompatible with our kernel, or other kernel modules we should refrain from installing bleeding edge drivers.

A misbehaving alpa or beta driver may be easier to purge if we had installed them from a ppa rather than from a binary.

Takkat
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