Driver release paths

Graphics / Linux Linux
1

Hi,

To the best of my knowledge some of the Nvidia drivers follow different code paths.

As I have some problems with the latest driver of the long lived branch, I’d like to know why these code paths exist and which paths will support releases of new videocards.

To the best of my understanding the code paths are as follows (spacing represents time periods)

375.10–>-375.20–>-375.26----->------375.39----->-----375.66----------->------------375.82
-------------------------|
-------------------------±->–378.09–>-378.13–>-381.09–>-381.22–>-384.47–>-384.59–>-384.69

For example, the 375.82 versions was released in between those of 384.59 and 384.69.

Regards,
Sjohnny

2

Legacy/long lived drivers target older kernels/X.org versions which means they get released less frequently.

There’s no magic or some special considerations.

3

There’s an internal main code line where new development happens, and release code lines are branched off of that periodically. The major version number reflects when the branch from the mainline happened. For example, all of the 375.* drivers come from the same code line that branched from the mainline about a year ago.

New features and support for new GPUs are added to the mainline and appear in release branches as they become ready. Check the release notes and Appendix A of the README that comes with the driver to see which GPUs it supports.

4

Thanks for the clarification. Is there an expected support-life for the older branches? For example, when will the support for the 375.* drivers end?

5

Google has stopped working? ;-)

http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3142/~/support-timeframes-for-unix-legacy-gpu-releases

6

Thanks for the response, I hadn’t found that yet. However, it seems a bit out of date “Updated 03/27/2014 11:22 AM”.

7

If it’s actual then it might not need updating.

8

Yet this does not seem to be the case as I’m missing for example the 375.* versions?

9

It’s not a long lived branch release so I guess there won’t be any updates any more.

10

That is what I would expect, yet the 375 driver has received an update recently (375.82, 2017-07-20)

https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/375.82/