Keeping all the drivers up-to-date can be a daunting task. Ubuntu release cycle is somewhat long and often doesn’t provide the latest drivers available. Safety measure, they say. Fortunately, good folks work hard for you. They compile, pack and publish drivers for almost everything you can imagine. Launchpad is the place where they usually make it available. They work and Launchpad provides the means for an easy to use update system. A match made in heaven.
Today we are going to learn how to keep Linux Nvidia drivers up-to-date, so VDPAU can perform its magic. It’s very simple, really. A few lines of copy & paste and you are ready. If you are using Windows to connect to your Linux system, grab putty. If you are on Linux, open Terminal. I’m not familiar with other systems, so you’re on your own.
There are more repositories with Nvidia Linux drivers but I personally prefer to use Ubuntu-X Team drivers.
Install or update Linux Nvidia Drivers
Warning
OK! Open your favorite SSH tool and connect to the system you’re updating. First we prepare the system. This consists mainly in installing dkms to make sure kernel modules are recompiled automatically when a new kernel is installed. python-software-properties provides the ability to add a repository without the hassle of copy & paste lots of commands, signing keys, etc.
sudo apt-get install dkms python-software-properties
Opinions vary at this point. Some say to reboot the machine, some say it’s not needed. You may reboot for good measure.
sudo reboot
Now for the actual drivers install:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings
That’s it, really. Whenever an update is available, the system will tell you. Or perform the update automatically, if you configured that. Most importantly, if the kernel gets updated, the system will take care of compiling the modules for the new kernel automagically.
For reference sake, below you can find other repositories that keep Linux Nvidia Drivers fairly up-to-date. Since VDPAU is in constant development, much like XBMC, these may or may not be a better choice.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nvidia-vdpau/ppa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yavdr/main
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
Substitute the repository command by the one you want and follow the remaining instructions. Be careful using the xorg-edgers repository. Its bleeding edge and may render your system unusable.
Uninstall Linux Nvidia Drivers
To remove anything you installed trough a third-party repository (aka not endorsed by Ubuntu), use the ppa-purge utility. It is in the official Ubuntu repositories from 10.10 onward. For older Ubuntu releases, google for ppa-purge and name of your Ubuntu version to download and install it on your system.
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
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