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After being a little quiet for a while, NVIDIA released Beta driver 545.23.06 which includes a bunch of new features and a few bug fixes too. This is a Beta driver, so it's not meant for those of you who need things stable as it may contain other issues. However, generally, the Beta drivers are okay.

Nice to see so many improvements, and at least they put up the correct changelog this time after putting up the wrong changelog for two recent stable driver releases…they still haven't put up the corrected changelog for the stable release of 535.104.05, which is exactly the same as 535.98 (and 535.98 initially had the wrong one too).

Here's all the changes for 545.23.06 Beta:

  • Added experimental HDMI 10 bits per component support; enable by loading nvidia-modeset with `hdmi_deepcolor=1`.
  • Added support for the CTM, DEGAMMA_LUT, and GAMMA_LUT DRM-KMS CRTC properties. These are used by features such as the "Night Light" feature in GNOME and the "Night Color" feature in KDE, when they are used as Wayland compositors.
  • Added beta-quality support for GeForce and Workstation GPUs to open kernelmodules. Please see the "Open Linux Kernel Modules" chapter in the README for details.
  • Added initial experimental support for runtime D3 (RTD3) power management on Desktop GPUs. Please see the 'PCI-Express Runtime D3 (RTD3) Power Management' chapter in the README for more details.
  • Added support for the EGL_ANDROID_native_fence_sync EGL extension and the VK_EXTERNAL_SEMAPHORE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT and VK_EXTERNAL_FENCE_HANDLE_TYPE_SYNC_FD_BIT Vulkan external handle types when the nvidia-drm kernel module is loaded with the modeset=1 parameter.
  • Added experimental support for framebuffer consoles provided by nvidia-drm. On kernels that implement drm_fbdev_generic_setup and drm_aperture_remove_conflicting_pci_framebuffers, nvidia-drm will install a framebuffer console when loaded with both `modeset=1` and `fbdev=1` kernel module parameters. This will replace the Linux boot console driven by a system framebuffer driver such as efifb or vesafb.
    Note that when an nvidia-drm framebuffer console is enabled, unloading nvidia-drm will cause the screen to turn off.
  • Updated nvidia-installer to allow installing the driver while an existing NVIDIA driver is already loaded.
  • Added support for virtual reality displays, such as the SteamVR platform, on Wayland compositors that support DRM leasing. Support requires xwayland version 22.1.0 and wayland-protocols version 1.22, or later. Tested on sway, minimum version 1.7 with wlroots version 0.15, and also on Kwin, minimum version 5.24.
    Note: Before xwayland 23.2, there is a known issue with HDMI displays where the headset will fail to start a second time after closing SteamVR. This can be worked around by unplugging and replugging in the headset.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) from working with Wayland.
  • Added support to the NVIDIA VDPAU driver for running in Xwayland. Please refer to the "Xwayland support in VDPAU" section of the README for further details.
  • Added libnvidia-gpucomp.so to the driver package. This is a helper library used for GPU shader compilation.
  • Removed libnvidia-vulkan-producer.so from the driver package. This helper library is no longer needed by the Wayland WSI.
  • Fixed a bug that intermittently caused the display to freeze when resuming from suspend on some Ada GPUs.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause monitors to flicker when the performance state changes on Turing GPUs.

See their driver page for all the info.

The most recent stable release was 535.113.01 on September 21st that noted:

  • Fixed a bug that could cause GPU memory utilization to be reported incorrectly for Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) partitions on Grace Hopper systems.
  • Fixed a bug that intermittently caused the display to freeze when resuming from suspend on some Ada GPUs.
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15 comments

neffo Oct 17, 2023
Anyone have any idea if this fixes Starfield? (If by now anyone still cares about it.)
ExpandingMan Oct 17, 2023
Yes, I'm pretty sure this fixes starfield (unless it introduces a new bug that breaks it again). Note that starfield was already fixed in a 535 beta branch (which, confusingly, has a lower number than the regular latest).

Yes, I still care about this. Most anticipated game in years for me has been literally the *only* game (having tested *hundreds*) I have not been able to get running at all on manjaro latest with nvidia, very frustrating.


Last edited by ExpandingMan on 17 October 2023 at 1:49 pm UTC
CatKiller Oct 17, 2023
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Note that when an nvidia-drm framebuffer console is enabled, unloading nvidia-drm will cause the screen to turn off.
I wonder if that's the cause of the upgrade bug that's been present for each driver on the 535 branch, where upgrading the driver turns the screen off?
rcrit Oct 17, 2023
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With the last stable release, 535.113.01, eglinfo core-dumped on me on Fedora 37. It broke ksysstats (used by plasma-systemmonitor) so I backed down to 535.104.05.
sniper_nine Oct 17, 2023
 535.43.13 vulkan beta drivers work fine with 3090ti gpu. Not sure about the normal beta branch drivers though I am thinking the the fix needed for starfield didn't make in the normal beta branch drivers. I couldn't get any of the dlss mods to work. So for me fps are like 24-40 mostly around 30-35 though. But that is at 4k with the graphics maxed out. I haven't done much testing though. I spent some time trying to get the dlss mods to work but couldn't seem to get them working yet.
rcrit Oct 17, 2023
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 535.43.13 vulkan beta drivers work fine with 3090ti gpu. Not sure about the normal beta branch drivers though I am thinking the the fix needed for starfield didn't make in the normal beta branch drivers. I couldn't get any of the dlss mods to work. So for me fps are like 24-40 mostly around 30-35 though. But that is at 4k with the graphics maxed out. I haven't done much testing though. I spent some time trying to get the dlss mods to work but couldn't seem to get them working yet.

DLSS 3 requires a RTX-40 series card AFAIK.
Slackdog Oct 17, 2023
Note that when an nvidia-drm framebuffer console is enabled, unloading nvidia-drm will cause the screen to turn off.
I wonder if that's the cause of the upgrade bug that's been present for each driver on the 535 branch, where upgrading the driver turns the screen off?

Are you on duel monitors? I had this until I switched my second screen off before rebooting...
CatKiller Oct 17, 2023
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Are you on duel monitors? I had this until I switched my second screen off before rebooting...
No, single monitor here. I think Liam's on single monitor, too, and the other people I've seen mention it. The screen turns off during any update of the driver on that branch, and the computer appears unresponsive - although one can SSH into it still.
massatt212 Oct 17, 2023
what is Nvidia missing for Gamescope-session to work?
sniper_nine Oct 17, 2023
 535.43.13 vulkan beta drivers work fine with 3090ti gpu. Not sure about the normal beta branch drivers though I am thinking the the fix needed for starfield didn't make in the normal beta branch drivers. I couldn't get any of the dlss mods to work. So for me fps are like 24-40 mostly around 30-35 though. But that is at 4k with the graphics maxed out. I haven't done much testing though. I spent some time trying to get the dlss mods to work but couldn't seem to get them working yet.

DLSS 3 requires a RTX-40 series card AFAIK.


I was not speaking about frame generation which only on 40 series. Here is a brake down of current dlss version and related techs that they introduced.

DLSS 2+ Super Resolution and
Deep Learning Anti-aliasing
(All GeForce RTX GPUs)

DLSS 3+ Frame Generation
(GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs)

DLSS 3.5+ Ray Reconstruction
(All GeForce RTX GPUs)
TactikalKitty Oct 17, 2023
Allows installing of future Nvidia drivers while the current driver is loaded. This is a BIG improvement and will make upgrading NVidia drivers much easier to the less tech savvy people. This is a big positive in my opinion!
Eike Oct 18, 2023
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Allows installing of future Nvidia drivers while the current driver is loaded. This is a BIG improvement and will make upgrading NVidia drivers much easier to the less tech savvy people. This is a big positive in my opinion!

I don't understand this point. When I installed a new driver version, of course the old one was running, because, what else?!? Or is this something the Debian package solved for me?
sniper_nine Oct 18, 2023
can confirm that both saved games and new games are working with starfield. fps has not improved or got worse than the beta vulkan driver but I guess some tweaks in graphics can make it somewhat playable my system is 3090ti with a older xeon w-3175x. so maybe some others with newer cpu's maybe can get better fps.
MadWolf Oct 18, 2023
let's hope the new driver will install properly when I try to install libnvidia-gl-535:i386 I get

 
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libnvidia-cfg1-535 libnvidia-decode-535 libnvidia-encode-535 libnvidia-extra-535 libnvidia-fbc1-535 nvidia-compute-utils-535 nvidia-dkms-535 nvidia-firmware-535-535.113.01
  nvidia-kernel-common-535 nvidia-kernel-source-535 nvidia-prime nvidia-settings nvidia-utils-535 screen-resolution-extra xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-535
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED
  libnvidia-gl-535 nvidia-driver-535
The following NEW packages will be installed
  libnvidia-gl-535:i386
0 to upgrade, 1 to newly install, 2 to remove and 8 not to upgrade.
Need to get 35.6 MB of archives.
After this operation, 324 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 
TactikalKitty Nov 29, 2023
Allows installing of future Nvidia drivers while the current driver is loaded. This is a BIG improvement and will make upgrading NVidia drivers much easier to the less tech savvy people. This is a big positive in my opinion!

I don't understand this point. When I installed a new driver version, of course the old one was running, because, what else?!? Or is this something the Debian package solved for me?

Many of us at one time had to uninstall and purge anything NVIDIA first, then set nomodeset 3 in grub to keep X11 from loading up and install the new .run driver from command line. This new method, you can install the new driver and if you have a system that support kernel unloading, you don't have to delete anything. the .Run install will handle it fine now. Mind you, this is pertaining to the manual installation of NVIDIA drivers provided by Nvidia themselves and not the ones handled by your package manager. For instance, let's say you are running Ubuntu 23.10 that has the NVIDIA 535 driver. If you want HDR support and VRR you need the newer 545 driver. Instead of waiting on Ubuntu to release the new driver in a new dot release, you can now manually install the driver provided by NVIDIA with much less hassle.


Last edited by TactikalKitty on 29 November 2023 at 8:22 pm UTC
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