How to select and install correct NVIDIA driver bin binary from help.ubuntu.com

[spazz2]

How to select and install correct NVIDIA driver bin binary from help.ubuntu.com

Hi All.
I inquired in another thread about installing proprietary NVIDIA graphics drivers.
I was initially trying to do it using the .run file from the NVIDIA website.

I was told not to do that by oldos2er , who referred me to this link,
to install these drivers using binaries.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

I know this is probably a dumb question, but I am entirely at a loss as to which bin package to download.
I have quickly read through the entire guide , trying to find an answer as to which bin to select,
but cannot find the info.
I have opened every single link at the top of the page, for all the various bins.
Almost all of them mention "Cosmic Cuttlefish" which I am running (ubuntu studio).

As far as I can tell, these only provide info for which OS / ubuntu version to install drivers for -- but not for which gfx card these are for in particular.

I am running
Description: Ubuntu Studio 18.10
Codename: cosmic
x86_64

The graphics card is
NVIDIA Corporation G71GL [Quadro FX 1500] (rev a1)

I apologise if this is a painfully obvious question, but I am a bit bewildered .
Would definitely prefer not to install the wrong thing for something like this.
Ta.

=================
EDIT :
My main problems with the default nouveau driver in Ubuntu and reasons for wanting the official NVIDIA driver over are :
1) The nvidia card fan speed is constantly at maximum speed, and very loud.
I cannot control the fan speed with the nouveau driver (as far as I know.)
2) If I put the computer to sleep or into hibernate, the display will go to a white / broken signal image, and I cannot bring it back.

Thanks.

[mikasu]

so I guess that you know that you need to use "sh" to run that .run binary... Next is, because I helped someone who had no choice but that to get a proper display in a standard boot, get in failsafe/recovery mode and execute "sh <file-driver-name>.run" and then it should work. The driver should install properly without errors. As opposed to when the OS is working where the driver installation will say "Could not install the driver" or something. If that was your issue. But you can try while the OS is running, if it works for you then good, reboot and then blacklist the nouveau driver and you have your Quadro setup and working. That's just about installation... but I don't know about all the other stuff... I never got my hands on a Quadro, not even a real GTX (I only got a laptop NVIDIA GPU but that gave me some experience with their drivers...). Also, by the way, your link goes nowhere...

[mikasu]

I probably got it wrong... were you looking for which driver version? If so, I would say always go with highiest number. Right now it should be 410 or 415. And use the graphics driver ppa for more up-to-date drivers. The most updated version right now should be the 415 so I believe what you would like to do is "sudo apt install nvidia-driver-415". Then, just a good old classic reboot and cross your fingers you don't have any issues. The "login loop" or "can't login" issue can be fixed by launching a terminal with F7(if I recall correctly) login into the terminal then delete the .ICEAuthority in your home directory (or something similar, it will end with Authority anyway) and login again like you do normally.

[CatKiller]

You don't download the driver from the wiki page; that simply gives instructions.

The automatic driver tool will tell you which is the recommended driver version for the particular card.

In this case, the version you want is 304, since support for that card was dropped from subsequent versions.

[Yellow Pasque]

The Nvidia 304.xx driver is officially EOL and was not included in Ubuntu 18.04. You can find an unofficial version patched to work with Ubuntu 18.xx using this PPA:https://launchpad.net/~graphics-driv...ive/ubuntu/ppa
There's no guarantee the 304.137 driver will continue to function with unofficial patches moving forward. If you intend to run the proprietary driver, you may be better off sticking with Ubuntu 18.04.1 where the kernel and Xserver versions stay stable for the next 4 years.

You could also try the open-source nouveau driver before assuming you need the proprietary 304 one. It does work well on some older Nvidia GPU's. nouveau ran well for me on an 8400GS, which is similar vintage (one gen newer) to your GPU.

[mikasu]

Is this card only for display? Because I don't see why you would use it for any kinds of workloads since it's age... if so, nouveau should do well... if nouveau is terrible for you, then Temüjin and CatKiller got you

[deadflowr]

The complexity of patching the 304 driver for Ubuntu 18.04:
https://adufray.com/blog/2018/06/02/...-127-on-bionic
But I would run with the open-source nouveau drivers unless the situation is unbearable (ie, locks up, freezes, tearing, etc)

[Yellow Pasque]

The complexity of patching the 304 driver for Ubuntu 18.04:

I would have thought that the PPA I linked would have taken care of that. If not, then they are not doing their job :\

[mikasu]

I just looked at the PPA on it's launchpad page, they still provide the 304 driver.

Here is the launchpad page (which also explains how to add the ppa) : https://launchpad.net/~graphics-driv...ive/ubuntu/ppa

[spazz2]

Hi Mikasu. Thanks !
No, I am ignorant and was unaware of everything you just mentioned, but it makes sense.
Still at the very beginning of learning linux command line !

Yes, I was actually looking for the correct driver version in that list / link I provided -- as it only mentions NVIDIA drivers for Ubuntu versions, nothing to do with what actual graphics cards I require the driver for.

All your other info was really generally useful though , and stuff I didn't know!

My main problems with the default nouveau driver in Ubuntu and reasons for wanting the official NVIDIA driver over are :
1) The nvidia card fan speed is constantly at maximum speed, and very loud.
I cannot control the fan speed with the nouveau driver (as far as I know.)
2) If I put the computer to sleep or into hibernate, the display will go to a white / broken signal image, and I cannot bring it back.

PS. I am unsure what you mean about "is it only for display" ?
Or do you mean for improving performance of system generally ?
Yes, it is for display and video editing and just having a better performing system.
I know there are other clever uses of graphics cards, but I'm not doing anything too fancy or clever with it.
Just the basics that it is for.
What other "workloads" would you be referring to ?

Some good general info you've given me there about .run files and logging directly into terminal on reboot, and about removing a bad install.
Thanks !