Bug#795262: nvidia-cuda-toolkit: Reboot, after package installation, do not unload the Nouveau drivers

[Vincent Cheng]

On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 1:07 AM, Luca Boccassi <luca.boccassi at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 21, 2015 08:55, "Vincent Cheng" <vcheng at debian.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi François and Luca,
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 15, 2015 at 4:07 PM, Luca Boccassi <luca.boccassi at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > On Wed, 2015-08-12 at 13:58 +0200, François Legendre wrote:
>> >> Package: nvidia-cuda-toolkit
>> >> Version: 6.0.37-5
>> >> Severity: normal
>> >>
>> >> Dear Maintainer,
>> >>
>> >> Many thanks for your work.
>> >>
>> >> I install the nvidia-cuda-toolkit using synaptic. After reboot, the
>> >> Nouveau
>> >> drivers are still loaded. The command
>> >>
>> >> # lsmod | grep nouveau
>> >>
>> >> prints some lines.
>> >>
>> >> I follow the indications found at
>> >> http://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-getting-
>> >> started-guide-for-linux/#axzz3iaadD0fW for Ubuntu distribution :
>> >>
>> >> 1. Create a file at /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf with the
>> >> following
>> >> contents:
>> >> blacklist nouveau
>> >> options nouveau modeset=0
>> >> 2. Regenerate the kernel initramfs:
>> >> # update-initramfs -u
>> >>
>> >> Now, it works.
>> >
>> > Hello François,
>> >
>> > Thank you for your report.
>> >
>> > I'm not sure we should blacklist nouveau by default in the nvidia-cuda
>> > packages, since they do not depend on the nvidia-driver packages (I
>> > believe Cuda can be used without the latter). It could leave users with
>> > a broken system.
>>
>> AFAIK you need to install the proprietary driver in order to use cuda
>> (but I could be mistaken)?
>>
>> I don't think nvidia-cuda-toolkit should ship its own modprobe.d conf
>> file; the proprietary nvidia driver packages already do, and end users
>> should already have that installed.
>
> Hello,
>
> I agree, I don't think the toolkit should ship a modprobe file.
>
> I thought the drivers were mandatory to run Cuda programs, but not to build
> them. Unless I'm mistaken, the toolkit is used to build.

Ah, that would make sense...I don't know a thing about how cuda works,
to be honest.

> If this is not the case, should then the toolkit package depend on the
> drivers?

That's probably a question that's best answered by either Andreas or
Graham. Thoughts?

Regards,
Vincent