Feature request: Support for legacy driver 390.xx on modern Linux kernels (6.8+)

Graphics / Linux Linux
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1

Hello NVIDIA Team,

I am using an older laptop with an NVIDIA GeForce 410M (Fermi architecture), which relies on the legacy 390.xx driver. This hardware is still perfectly functional and is used daily for learning software development, coding, and lightweight pixel art design.

Recently, I wanted to switch to the latest Linux distributions (like Ubuntu), but the 390.xx kernel module fails to compile on modern Linux kernels (version 6.8 and newer).

I know this hardware is officially End-of-Life (EOL), but could you please consider releasing a small compatibility patch for the open-source kernel interface of the 390.xx driver to support modern kernels? A lot of students and users with older hardware would be incredibly grateful to keep their laptops out of landfills and use them with up-to-date, secure Linux operating systems.

Thank you for your time and for considering this request.

2

6.18 LTS and 7.0. stable supported on Arch via AUR:

3

And I’m on Ubuntu, I want to, but it probably won’t work there

4

The last 390 support for Ubuntu was 22.04.

Why I suggested Arch, where you can still rock the 390 series driver on modern kernel 6.18 LTS.

Regardless, Nvidia upstream (this forum here) will have nothing to do with the route you take.

5

Honest question: for the listed purposes, isn’t the open-source driver (nouveau) sufficient?

6

I didn’t know