Is there any Free cuda-capable drivers for Debian?
 

Hi. I am pretty new to this forum.

I have just installed Debian 7.7 wheezy on Christmas, and I have no problem running mprime in terminal.

However, I am not satisfied. I want to be able to run mfaktc, cudalucas and cudamp1 on my GTX 650 ti. However, it seems the official nvidia drivers are proprietary (non-Free) and Nouveau does not support CUDA.

Is there any Free driver out there?
Also, I have been thinking of selling my GTX 650 ti and get a GTX 580 because of the CUDA performance. But I am afraid there is also no Free CUDA driver for 580. Should I switch to AMD? Is cllucas working fine? Which card would you recommend?

Thanks for answering! Any advice for a Debian newbie is welcomed. I used to be a Windows user.

The official nvidia drivers are proprietary (but in fact free).
[url]http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx[/url]
Select 600 series and 650 Ti, select Linux (64-bit or 32-bit, whatever appropriate).
Download the .run file and follow instructions.

Thank you. It seems there are no open-source driver for cuda and opencl.
[url]http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/121503/gpu-computation-on-linux-using-open-source-kernel-drivers[/url]
So maybe I will setter down for proprietary driver for now.

He's using the libre definition of free, especially the part where he says "...however, they are proprietary (non-Free)". He's choosing not to use it.

The proprietary driver isn't that bad. I don't know if Debian includes it by default now, but I would recommend installing dkms, which will handle rebuilding the nvidia driver when you upgrade your kernels.

[QUOTE=alexvong1995;390954]I have just installed Debian 7.7 wheezy on Christmas, and I have no problem running mprime in terminal.[/QUOTE]If it matters, mprime isn't free (unencumbered) if you use the Debian definition of free. (If you use aptitude to install mprime it will be in the non-free repository.)

Yeah you are right. The security code isn't open-source, so mprime doesn't meet the definition. I think I will follow you guys' recommendations.

Besides, should I sell my 650ti to get a 580 or an AMD card. Any recommendations? Thanks.

If you pay for power, get a GTX 970. If you don't, get a 580.

A 750 Ti would be a good option if you want to buy a cheaper and less power hungry card.

I'm using two GTX 750 Ti's and a Zotac 750 Ti, a GTX 580, a C1060 and a C2050 on Mageia 4.1 using C. Bouvier's gpu ecm code.
After several months of use the Zotac shorted out (no mods were done), the solder caught fire on the visible circuit
panel (about 2 cm out from the output port and 3cm from the bottom). The item was replaced by BBuy no questions. This
is the only physical issue I have encountered. (My systems are bunny free and monitored so no other damage occurred.)
I found the 750's to be optimal looking at it from a cost/benefit perspective..newer architecture etc.

I'm a noob here also and there is a wealth of information here in terms of archived posts and experience. In my opinion,
learn about the hardware (cpu-gpu design/architecture), operating systems, software you wish to use and the relevant mathematical
theory (review arXiv when possible).

In the near future I'll be adding a sc'd 970, a D870 and an FX 5600 to the above mix. One thing that has worked for me is
that I try to do things right the first time. Think twice and act once is a good adage (one that I am still learning).
For example, I implemented several Arch linux derivatives (after poring over Distrowatch) which did not work out and cost me
a few hundred hours of personal and computer time - I learned something the hard way instead of researching appropriately
and asking (good) questions. Make your time count (pun intended) and good luck with your GPU selection!

I am also using an AMD "Devastator" in a Vaio laptop (AMD cpu). This is to run and learn OpenCL on AMD specific hardware. Aside from this, Intel has their multi-processor accelerators and they have acquired companies like Rapid Mind (local company) which are cutting-edge. Keep an open mind and try to see how these devices are evolving..."Welcome to the Jungle, Sutter's Mill."

Seems like I should apply for hostel next semester and "ship" my PC to the campus:grin:
OK I will decide which card later...


Btw, I have installed the proprietary driver from Debian package. It is now working. But I still cannot start mfaktc.

When I type [CODE] ./mfaktc.exe[/CODE] I get the error[CODE]./mfaktc.exe: error while loading shared libraries: libcudart.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory[/CODE]

Will re-compile solve the problem?