How to Install the Latest NVIDIA Drivers on Debian 11 Desktop

Installing the latest NVIDIA drivers on Debian 11 desktop allows you to unlock the full potential of your NVIDIA GPU. However, the default open-source Nouveau drivers that come pre-installed with Debian 11 are usually quite old. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the entire process of installing the latest official NVIDIA drivers on a Debian 11 desktop step-by-step.

Prerequisites

Before you proceed, make sure your system meets the following requirements:

• Debian 11 operating system installed
• An NVIDIA GPU installed on your machine
• Secure Boot disabled in BIOS settings
• Internet connection to download packages

Step 1 – Remove Old NVIDIA Drivers (If Any)

If you already have the NVIDIA drivers installed from Debian 11 repositories, uninstall them first:

sudo apt remove --purge ‘^nvidia-‘
sudo apt autoremove

This will remove all the existing NVIDIA packages from your system.

Step 2 – Enable Contrib and Non-Free Repositories

The latest NVIDIA drivers require some packages from the contrib and non-free repositories of Debian. So you need to enable them first:

sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository contrib
sudo add-apt-repository non-free  

This will enable both contrib and non-free repositories permanently.

Step 3 – Update Package Index

With the repositories enabled, update the APT package index to reflect the changes:

sudo apt update

Step 4 – Install Compiler Toolchain and Dependencies

To compile and install NVIDIA drivers, you need to install the compiler toolchain and required dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

The compiler toolchain includes GCC, make and other essential packages required for building kernel modules.

Step 5 – Download Latest NVIDIA Drivers

Now head over to the NVIDIA Driver Downloads page and select the latest driver version that supports your GPU from the drop-down list.

For example, if you have an RTX 3080 Ti, select the latest Game Ready driver listed there. Finally click on Download to get the .run installation file.

Step 6 – Switch to Console

Before installing NVIDIA drivers, you need to exit the GUI session. Press Ctrl + Alt + F3 to switch to console. Then login with your user credentials.

Step 7 – Disable Nouveau

The open-source Nouveau drivers often conflict with the official NVIDIA drivers. So it‘s better to disable Nouveau first:

sudo mkdir /etc/modprobe.d
echo "blacklist nouveau" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-blacklist.conf
echo "options nouveau modeset=0" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-blacklist.conf

Step 8 – Install NVIDIA Drivers

Navigate to the downloads folder where the NVIDIA .run file is saved and make it executable:

cd ~/downloads
chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01.run

Finally execute the file to initiate driver installation:

sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01.run

• Press Enter to continue when prompted
• Accept the EULA when asked
• Select Yes to automatically update xorg.conf file
• Select Yes to rebuild initramfs image
• Once Done, restart system to load new NVIDIA drivers

Step 9 – Restore GUI Target

Once your system reboots, switch back to GUI session:

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target

Your Debian desktop should now boot straight into the graphical UI.

Step 10 – Verify Installation

To verify that NVIDIA drivers have installed properly, run:

nvidia-smi

This should show details about your NVIDIA GPU without any errors.

You can also check by running GPU accelerated applications like a OpenGL game or CUDA compute task.

And that‘s it! You now have the latest NVIDIA graphics drivers installed on your Debian 11 desktop. Have fun gaming or creating AI models!