Can't install CUDA on Ubuntu 20.04 with old driver 390.144

Accelerated Computing CUDA CUDA Setup and Installation
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Dear All,
I’m struggling with getting working CUDA installation on my Ubuntu 20.04 system.

I’m not an expert in CUDA and nvidia technologies at all. Previously I was installing CUDA from Ubuntu package with no problem, but starting from the latest Ubuntu version official nvidia-cuda-toolkit package forces the driver 470.x, which is not compatible with my old video card (GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost), which results in broken system.

That is why I’m forced to use the driver 390.144 (the last one in Ubuntu repos which supports my card).

I’ve tried to install CUDA 9.1 as one which seems to match this driver. I followed all installation instructions with runfile installer (the toolkit only), but after reboot no CUDA runtime is detected.
nvcc works and shows correct version number, the cuda libraries are in place and detected correctly when compiling my computational software (Gromacs), but compiled program don’t see the GPU because the runtime is somehow broken.

I also tried CUDA 11.5 with the same result - no runtime is detected.

I have no idea how to fix this problem. Google and Ubuntu forums doesn’t help at all.

Is it possible to get functional CUDA on Ubuntu 20.04 with old 390.144 driver? I really don’t want to downgrade the system to Ubuntu 18.04 and there is no possibility to buy a new GPU right now.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

1 Like
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Really would like to know as well, as I’m in the same boat. Hard to believe this works in Windows 10 but not Ubuntu. Have you tried backporting CUDA 9.1, which is supported by the R390 driver? That’s my next step.

Edit, tried just installing on top of the R390 driver and telling the installer to skip installing 387.x, bombed out. I’m at a loss other than going back to an old version of Ubuntu.

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GeForce GTX 650 Ti has compute capability 3.0. This means that you can upgrade CUDA toolkit up to version 10.2. CUDA 11.5 will not work.

I compiled CUDA minimum compute capability and minimum compatible driver version here: CUDA Compatibility of NVIDIA Display / GPU Drivers | Amikelive | Technology Blog

In the past, installation using deb (network) usually worked smoothly without issues. Maybe you can also give a try if such install option is still available.