Linux install of CUDA toolkit for GT 430 card, maybe…
 

Our dear forum owner Xyzzy is kindly loaning me his old low-end (but still with extant DP-float support) GT 430 card, which should allow me to do most of the GPU code-dev I intend to do in the coming 6-12 months. He has warned me, however, that the tools-install is a real adventure, and to use the local-expertise around here as a resource. Here are some nuggets from our e-mail exchange:
[quote]Me: How much setup will getting my system to talk to the card need, in your estimation?
[i]
Xyzzy:

you will need help from the forum

it should be as simple as "apt-get install nvidia-cuda-toolkit" but it
isn't for a ton of reasons

[url]https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/nvidia-cuda-toolkit[/url]
[/i]
Me: Will probably RTFM and do the physical install, followed by the "in an ideal world" build-tools install cmd you mentioned, then call to tell you what error messages I got.
[i]
Xyzzy:

well, for starters, the software is not in your *current* repository.
because we have that set up for (i think) only open source software

so you will need to add the repository OR use the binary "blob" installer

i would ask on the forum about which to use (give them the stats of
your environment)

also the card only has dvi outputs (i think) so (unless you have dvi
cables for your screen) you will need to do a "headless" install
[/i]
Me: Does the card come with a linux-compatible tools-install CD?
[i]
Xyzzy: of course not

(you wouldn't want that anyways)

i will be upfront with you

the cuda toolkit install is a bitch

i have done it several times and it is one of the hardest software
installs i have ever done

you might consider booting from a live usb stick and using a
persistent file with that to test installs
[/i][/quote]

Host system hardware is an ATX-cased barebones Haswell (MSI Z87 mobo) running Debian. (Mike, what other system details should I post here?)

To the experts: So, just how much fun am I in for?

Would downloading the cuda toolkit from the above debian.org link be a good thing to do while I await USPS delivery of the card?

Re. the DVI connectors: I have a small LCD monitor I can unbox if needed, but not sure if it has such outputs. (But can easily check, if that helps). My normal way of talking with the Haswell box is via direct ethernet cable to my macbook - the minimalist in me would prefer to continue to do that with the GPU-augmented ATX-cased system, if possible.

I run two GT430s. I run them on Ubuntu 14.04. I simply enable the third party repository, and installing the nvidia-331 and nvidia-cuda-dev and nvidia-cuda-toolkit packages. That should give you CUDA 6 in the driver and CUDA 5.5 for development. Compiling mfaktc then works:

sudo apt-get install build-essential -y
cd ~
wget [URL]http://www.mersenneforum.org/mfaktc/mfaktc-0.20/mfaktc-0.20.tar.gz[/URL]
tar xf mfaktc-0.20.tar.gz && cd mfaktc-0.20/src && make -j

You'll then have it installed in mfaktc. For automatic fetching of work from GPU72, I recommend teknohog's mfloop.py script (which I've also contributed to) at [URL]https://github.com/teknohog/primetools[/URL] . Installing that is as simple as

sudo apt-get install git python -y
git clone [URL]https://github.com/teknohog/primetools[/URL]

Run the script with the --help switch to look at the options. It can do almost everything. I'm working on more features at [URL]https://github.com/MarkRose/primetools[/URL] . I use a crontab like this:

[Code]@reboot cd $HOME/mfaktc-0.20 && screen -S mfaktc -d -m $HOME/mfaktc-0.20/mfaktc.exe -d 0
22 * * * * $HOME/primetools/mfloop.py -u lolomg -p drowssap -U lolomg -P drowssap -t 0 -w $HOME/mfaktc-0.20 -e 74 -g 60 -o let_gpu72_decide[/Code]

Note that running mfaktc is going to make X feel sluggish. There is no work around to my knowledge, other than using a different card for driving the display, which involves work.

If you want to sick with Debian, I've found in the past that the NVidia packages don't put the new libraries under the cuda directory in the shared object path. Assuming CUDA 6, run something like:

echo /usr/local/cuda-6.0/lib | sudo tee /etc/ld.so.conf/cuda.conf
sudo ldconfig

Then you'll need to edit mfaktc-0.20/src/Makefile change line 12 from
NVCC = nvcc
to
NVCC = /usr/local/cuda-6.0/bin/nvcc
before compiling.

FWIW, getting CUDA to run on my Gentoo systems was very nearly trivial. The downside, of course, is that Gentoo doesn't install very much by default and so you need to know what you want. For instance, Ernst's accunt has been re-vived on my system; he discovered gdb was missing so an "emerge gdb" is chuntering away as I type.

[QUOTE=xilman;377102] [snip] For instance, Ernst's accunt [snip][/QUOTE]

You really should be more careful of Ernst's feelings. :max:

Look at the " ECM for CUDA GPUs in latest GMP-ECM ? " thread [url]http://mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=16480&page=22[/url] posts 209-234 for details of the fun I had installing it. The system I installed it on runs Linux Mint 15 which is descended from Debian.

Chris

I used CUDA on OpenSUSE for a couple years. Initial installation was very easy. However, after OpenSUSE update to the next major version, all the hell broke loose and X wouldn't start with some rather idiotic message (well, it actually would start with a black screen and a tiny, meaningless error dialog in the corner). It took many hours to fix (partly because there is almost no guide anywhere how to perform even the simplest tasks in a graphics-less system, from a tty). It was something very specific to SUSE, I don't remember now the full details and I really hope that you won't have any of these troubles.

[SIZE="1"]In fact, when after the next OS upgrade/ nvidia dirver update the whole story repeated, for quite a while I didn't use X; just six tty's. It was all the same for me at the time because I was running a few LA (a few weeks each) that even benefited from having more available memory (because there was no X).[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=kladner;377114]You really should be more careful of Ernst's feelings. :max:[/QUOTE]Oh weel. Spieling mistakes appen.

[QUOTE=Batalov;377131]I used CUDA on OpenSUSE for a couple years. Initial installation was very easy. However, after OpenSUSE update to the next major version, all the hell broke loose and X wouldn't start with some rather idiotic message (well, it actually would start with a black screen and a tiny, meaningless error dialog in the corner). It took many hours to fix (partly because there is almost no guide anywhere how to perform even the simplest tasks in a graphics-less system, from a tty). It was something very specific to SUSE, I don't remember now the full details and I really hope that you won't have any of these troubles.

[SIZE="1"]In fact, when after the next OS upgrade/ nvidia dirver update the whole story repeated, for quite a while I didn't use X; just six tty's. It was all the same for me at the time because I was running a few LA (a few weeks each) that even benefited from having more available memory (because there was no X).[/SIZE][/QUOTE]Been there done that. The solution after each kernel upgrade was to rip out the old driver module and reinstall it from the nvidia distkit. Worrying the first couple of times, tedious thereafter.

Eventually NVidia solved the problem properly and I've not had any significant trouble with CUDA thereafter. To be fair, I tend to stick with the RedHat family (CentOS, Fedora, etc) or Gentoo so there may be a lesson there for SuSE and/or Debian and/or Ubuntu fans.

Yes, later there was some 1-click-update service at OpenSUSE (that tries to do all magic spells for you and actually does them well). But the first time (when OpenSUSE was still 12.1-pre, I think, upping from 11.x) was awful. [URL="http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:NVIDIA_the_hard_way"]The hard way[/URL].

Thanks for all the replies, now I need to spend some time triaging the various suggestions into some kind of "try this, this and this first" priority order.

[QUOTE=Mark Rose;377096]sudo apt-get install build-essential -y[/QUOTE]

Is that for the CUDA toolkit or mfaktc? If for CUDA, will that work across my hardcoded LAN setup? [My Haswell only talks to my macbook - no wireless, as I said this is a barebones system].


[QUOTE=kladner;377114]You really should be more careful of Ernst's feelings. :max:[/QUOTE]

Yes, one must vagilently guard against such embarrassing faux pas at all times.

I'm on Linux Mint Debian Edition, with a GT430 at the moment. I never had much trouble installing CUDA. It's similar to installing the binary Nvidia driver, which you should do first, except that you don't have to shut down the window manager to install CUDA. For me I think it was as simple as running the BLOB, downloaded from Nvidia's website, with sudo.

If you need to run apt-get and don't have direct Internet access, maybe you need to [url=http://askubuntu.com/questions/7470/how-to-run-sudo-apt-get-update-through-proxy-in-commandline]set up a proxy[/url]? [url=http://squidman.net/squidman/]This appears to be a SQUID proxy[/url] for Mac OS X.