Problems installing Nvidia driver 565.77

RavenLunatic · 2026-02-09T09:24:38+0000

On my quest to de Microsoft myself I have run into an issue regarding Steam VR on Ubuntu. Nvidia has broken the drivers in the latest releases causing stuttering and tearing making the use if VR an unpleasant experience. The last known good driver for VR is 565.77.

I have been trying to get this specific driver running on Ubuntu 24.04LTS for the last couple of days. I eventually managed to get the driver 565.77 installed by downgrading the Kernel to 6.8.0-49-generic which was an ordeal, but broke GDM and networking in the process leaving me with a blank screen with a cursor and no access to TTY.

Is there an easier way of getting 565.77 running on Ubuntu or other distribution?

nlel1975 · 2026-02-09T12:44:16+0000

I didn't think Ubuntu was the number 1 choice for games. I only run it because its in a VM on my Mac which doesn't have powerful graphics and running in a VM doesn't make the most of graphics power anyway. For me if I want to play games I just boot my Windows 11 PC.

Spleen Sauce · 2026-02-09T15:06:28+0000

Bin off Ubuntu and go for either Fedora or CachyOS if you’re doing any gaming.

CachyOS has the drivers ready to go and is always kept up to date. Fedora you’ll need to use the RPMFusion repo but that’s easy enough.

RavenLunatic · 2026-02-09T18:58:35+0000

I like Gnome and I am used to it now.

SteamVR was still unsuitably choppy on the timing graph it represents “Compositor” timing. So running 565.77 was not the magic bullet.

I now know how to switch kernel modules. I do not know why installing an ISO with kernel 6.8.0-49 ends up as 6.17.0-14 automatically even when I tell the installer not to connect to the internet. Is it stored in initramfs? But that is in the past now and I have learned something new :-)

SteamVR on Linux is not supported as well as Windows or Linux with AMD hardware at the moment as it limits the display to 90Hz on my Nvidia hardware even if it is capable of 120Hz.

Anyhow back to choppy VR. I found disabling GSP System Processor (GSP) fixed most of the timing issues with only an occasional spike every now and then. I did this by adding

Code:

nvidia.NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0

to

Code:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvidia.NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0"

Reading up on driver 565.77 seems to indicate that it was one of the worst for GSP latency as Nvidia forced it on in the driver.

It was duck duck go AI assistant that told me to use 565.77

565.77

Excellent

Optimal

No tearing or lag issues reported.

Just another AI hallucination...

Spleen Sauce · 2026-02-09T19:07:07+0000

You can have Gnome on CachyOS or Fedora. It’s not limited to Ubuntu.

My advice stands. Try a distribution that better supports gaming and the newer nvidia drivers.

RavenLunatic · 2026-02-09T22:47:52+0000

I am aware that Gnome is just a DE that can be used on all manner of different distributions.

I dipped my toes into Linux with Debian over a year ago and I like how it works.

Ubuntu was chosen as it was more up to date yet still had the Debian feel.

Nvidia are going to make GSP mandatory in future drivers with no opt-out despite being completely broken in Linux, so 565.77 isn't as bad a choice after all. I doubt there has been any fixes for RTX 3090 for quite some time in later drivers being as the card is 5 years old now. Nvidia drivers tend not to improve over time like AMD ones, especially for older cards imho.

CachyOS or Fedora are very good choices for gaming, I just like making Ubuntu/Debian work, even if it breaks now and then, its part of the fun of it for me. For the most part getting the latest drivers for Ubuntu is not an issue as I play older games mostly and I know how to install new drivers if nccessery.