615 release feedback & discussion

615.71.09

  • Added support for VK_NV_low_latency revision 2, to enable out-of-the-box Proton support for NVIDIA Reflex in Vulkan-native games which use NvLowLatencyVk.dll.

  • Fixed a bug which prevented VK_NV_low_latency2 from reducing latency on swapchains created from VK_KHR_wayland_surface and VK_KHR_display surfaces.

  • Fixed multiple startup and alt-tab hangs that occurred with NVIDIA Smooth Motion enabled.

  • Fixed a bug that caused a file descriptor leak when the Vulkan loader unloads libGLX_nvidia.so.0 after a call to vkDestroyInstance.

  • Added support for the VK_EXT_cluster_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension.

  • Fixed an Xid 109 error when loading PRAGMATA on Wayland.

  • Added support for cgroups-based memory partitioning.

  • Added a new token, RmDisableDisplayGlitchPerfLimit, to the NVreg_RegistryDwords nvidia.ko kernel module parameter. This may reduce idle power consumption in some multi-monitor configurations, at the risk of changing memory clocks while display is using the memory, potentially resulting in momentary display glitches.

    Example usage:
    modprobe nvidia "NVreg_RegistryDwords=RmDisableDisplayGlitchPerfLimit=1"

  • Fixed a bug that could cause corruption when display output scaling is used on Blackwell GPUs.

  • Fixed a bug that caused resume from suspend to fail if the system was previously hibernated:

  • Fixed a rare correctness issue on Blackwell GPUs affecting kernels with two or more nested levels of thread divergence, where reconvergence could fail. Kernels with only a single level of divergence are unaffected, as are applications already built with NVCC 13.2.2 or newer. This fix guarantees correct execution, though it may come with a modest performance cost. Recompiling with NVCC 13.2.2 or newer will resolve the possible slowdown. If you are unable to recompile your application for any reason, the runtime behavior of this fix is controllable on a per-process-launch basis through the environment variable CUDA_SELECTIVE_DEVICE_CODE_RECOMPILE as follows:

    • CUDA_SELECTIVE_DEVICE_CODE_RECOMPILE=DEFAULT
      Default behavior: attempt JIT recompilation for 15 seconds, runtime patch remaining code
    • CUDA_SELECTIVE_DEVICE_CODE_RECOMPILE=FORCED
      Re-finalize every eligible module, ignoring the time budget
    • CUDA_SELECTIVE_DEVICE_CODE_RECOMPILE=DISABLED
      Driver patching only, never re-finalize.
  • Enabled the NVreg_UseKernelSuspendNotifiers=1 option by default.

Debian-13’s cuda-drivers=615.71.09-1 DC meta-package does not have any deps and installing it has virtually no effect:

$ apt show cuda-drivers 
Package: cuda-drivers
Version: 615.71.09-1
Priority: optional
Section: NVIDIA
Source: nvidia-graphics-drivers
Maintainer: NVIDIA <cudatools@nvidia.com>
Installed-Size: 153 kB
Homepage: http://www.nvidia.com
Download-Size: 131 kB
APT-Sources: http://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/debian13/x86_64  Packages
Description: CUDA Driver meta-package, branch-specific
 Meta-package containing all the available packages related to the NVIDIA driver.
 This package is branch-specific.

Notice: There are 8 additional records. Please use the '-a' switch to see them.
$ sudo apt install cuda-drivers
Installing:                     
  cuda-drivers

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 1, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 2
  Download size: 131 kB
  Space needed: 153 kB / 79.5 GB available

Get:1 http://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/debian13/x86_64  cuda-drivers 615.71.09-1 [131 kB]
Fetched 131 kB in 0s (0 B/s)
Selecting previously unselected package cuda-drivers.
(Reading database ... 341430 files and directories currently installed.)
(...)
$ apt list --installed 'nvidia*'
$

UPDATE: an attempt to replace nvidia-open with cuda-drivers + nvidia-kernel-dkms results in removing nvidia-driver:

$ sudo apt install cuda-drivers nvidia-kernel-dkms 
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  firmware-nvidia-gsp  libgbm1:i386          libllvm19:i386                libnvidia-egl-xlib1:i386  libopengl0:i386          libxcb-present0:i386  mesa-libgallium:i386
  libatomic1:i386      libgl1-mesa-dri:i386  liblzma5:i386                 libnvidia-eglcore:i386    libpciaccess0:i386       libxcb-randr0:i386    mesa-vulkan-drivers:i386
  libbsd0:i386         libgles-nvidia1       libmd0:i386                   libnvidia-fbc1            libsensors5:i386         libxcb-shm0:i386      nvidia-driver-cuda
  libcudadebugger1     libgles-nvidia1:i386  libnvidia-allocator1          libnvidia-glcore:i386     libstdc++6:i386          libxcb-sync1:i386     nvidia-driver-libs
  libdrm-amdgpu1:i386  libgles-nvidia2       libnvidia-allocator1:i386     libnvidia-glvkspirv:i386  libtinfo6:i386           libxcb-xfixes0:i386   nvidia-driver-libs:i386
  libdrm-intel1:i386   libgles-nvidia2:i386  libnvidia-api1                libnvidia-ml1:i386        libvulkan1:i386          libxcb1:i386          nvidia-egl-icd
  libdrm2:i386         libgles1              libnvidia-egl-gbm1            libnvidia-ngx1            libwayland-client0:i386  libxdmcp6:i386        nvidia-powerd
  libedit2:i386        libgles1:i386         libnvidia-egl-gbm1:i386       libnvidia-opticalflow1    libwayland-server0:i386  libxext6:i386         nvidia-vulkan-icd:i386
  libegl-nvidia0       libgles2:i386         libnvidia-egl-wayland21       libnvidia-present         libx11-6:i386            libxml2:i386          nvidia-xconfig
  libegl-nvidia0:i386  libglvnd0:i386        libnvidia-egl-wayland21:i386  libnvidia-sandboxutils    libx11-xcb1:i386         libxshmfence1:i386    zlib1g:i386
  libelf1t64:i386      libglx-mesa0:i386     libnvidia-egl-xcb1            libnvidia-tileiras        libxau6:i386             libxxf86vm1:i386
  libexpat1:i386       libglx-nvidia0:i386   libnvidia-egl-xcb1:i386       libnvidia-vksc-core       libxcb-dri3-0:i386       libz3-4:i386
  libffi8:i386         libglx0:i386          libnvidia-egl-xlib1           libnvoptix1               libxcb-glx0:i386         libzstd1:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.

Installing:
  cuda-drivers  nvidia-kernel-dkms

REMOVING:
  nvidia-driver  nvidia-kernel-open-dkms  nvidia-open

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 2, Removing: 3, Not Upgrading: 2
  Download size: 262 kB
  Freed space: 118 MB

Is this intentional? Have I missed the news that the proprietary flavor was dropped?

CC: @kmittman

I have the feeling that something went wrong with the packaging for Ubuntu:

(Index of /compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64)

nvidia-kernel-source_615.71.09-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb = 12 KB

and

nvidia-kernel-source_610.57.04-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb = 89 MB

Nothing about the xid 56 problem?

Does this allow reflex to work on wayland windows not just XWayland?

I’m also wondering if the Steam UI / Big Picture performance issue on NVIDIA + Wayland has been addressed in 615.

On my setup, CachyOS + KDE Plasma Wayland + RTX 4070, Steam Big Picture does not feel smooth. Animations and navigation look noticeably choppy, almost as if the UI is running at a much lower refresh rate than the display, while the rest of the desktop can be perfectly smooth.

I’ve seen similar reports from other NVIDIA users, including Steam client stuttering and frame drops on KDE Wayland.

I don’t see anything in the 615.71.09 changelog specifically mentioning Steam/CEF, Big Picture, frame pacing, or refresh-rate related issues, so I’m assuming this was not an explicit fix in this release.

Has anything changed internally in 615 that could affect this, or is the Steam UI / Wayland stuttering issue still being tracked?

I’m on a 144 Hz display, so the difference is very noticeable.

Does this come with a new GSP version also? Hope so, otherwise I will still be getting hard, system wide freezes with

wrz 08 13:09:54 CachyOS kernel: NVRM: Xid (PCI:0000:01:00): 79, GPU has fallen off the bus.
wrz 08 13:09:54 CachyOS kernel: NVRM: GPU 0000:01:00.0: GPU has fallen off the bus.
wrz 08 13:09:54 CachyOS kernel: NVRM: _threadNodeCheckTimeout: API_GPU_ATTACHED_SANITY_CHECK failed!

they never said anything about steam big picture mode as far as I know in the changelog for their drivers, but it got better with every driver so I guess they just don’t mention all the changes

Yes GSP is updated with every driver update.

falling off the bus is a known issue and likely not related to the driver, search the forum for more info

I searched and even did some “research” with AI-assisted system logs analysis. The only reasonable culprit for this is the nVidia driver.

Hi @morgwai666
We are no longer providing proprietary flavor RPM/Debian driver packages, starting in 615 only OpenGPU.

Please apt install nvidia-open on supported hardware, older hardware needs 580 proprietary driver.

any way you can confirm or deny if Reflex now works in native Wayland windows?

@morgwai666 it should work:

# apt-get -V dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
   nvidia-kernel-dkms (610.57.04-1)
The following NEW packages will be installed:
   nvidia-kernel-open-dkms (615.71.09-1)
The following packages will be upgraded:
   cuda-drivers (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   firmware-nvidia-gsp (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libcuda1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libcudadebugger1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libegl-nvidia0 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libgles-nvidia1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libgles-nvidia2 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libglx-nvidia0 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvcuvid1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-allocator1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-api1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-cfg1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-eglcore (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-encode1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-fbc1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-glcore (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-glvkspirv (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-gpucomp (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-ml1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-ngx1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-nvvm4 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-nvvm704 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-opticalflow1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-pkcs11-openssl3 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-present (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-ptxjitcompiler1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-rtcore (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-sandboxutils (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-tileiras (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvidia-vksc-core (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libnvoptix1 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   libxnvctrl0 (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-driver (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-driver-cuda (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-driver-libs (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-egl-icd (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-kernel-support (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-modprobe (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-opencl-icd (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-persistenced (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-powerd (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-settings (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-vdpau-driver (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-vulkan-icd (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   nvidia-xconfig (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
   xserver-xorg-video-nvidia (610.57.04-1 => 615.71.09-1)
46 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 348 MB of archives.
After this operation, 48.8 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]

Thanks for cg groups i got it working in my DE also drivers where easy to update and build!

i have found zero issues with any of my games this time or VRR or HDR so far a soild release on my end and cuda has been much more stable on render times with Resolve and my own video editor i made. thanks again

Probably something worth a heads up sometime in advance…

Would be good to update the release notes as @morgwai666 mentioned and also update the relevant README section, as that still mentions that both proprietary and open flavours are provided: Chapter 44. Open Linux Kernel Modules

ya let’s go edit the release notes for that one shall we!

Also regarding the Kernel Open-only change: the GSP Firmware section of the README should be updated to indicate that it cannot be disabled: Chapter 43. GSP Firmware
Currently, the README says disabling GSP is an option.