Score:0

Is it possible to switch between nvidia drivers (470 and 510) without uninstalling the other?

np flag
jay

Basically, I'm trying to run a game which seems to want nvidia-470, but I'm running nvidia-510. I'm wondering, is it possible to switch to the nvidia-470 driver without uninstalling the nvidia-510 drivers via CLI, and then just switch back once I'm done?

If I try to install the nvidia-470 driver, the 510 and related packages all try to uninstall. I know that I can uninstall and reinstall, but that leaves me open to more issues than I'm willing to deal with, so I'd like to know if it's possible to have both installed and specify which one is in use.

Running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS & Gnome.

Thanks

evild4ve avatar
us flag
Hello, I've also had to do this for some game in the past - with 470 and 510, on a card that supports up to 515 (i.e. GeForce GTX 1060). Unfortunately I forget what game but it may have been Open Freespace (iirc where some bug stopped 490+ from working in Python3). I believe it's possible to install multiple drivers and switch between them using the radio buttons in the Software & Drivers - Additional Drivers interface in the GUI. Have you tried this - it isn't convenient but I don't think it breaks things provided we switch back afterwards. Also sometimes the best workaround is a new GFX card
guiverc avatar
cn flag
If the packages are built to co-exist they can; but it sounds like you're asking about *propriety* or closed-source packages made by Nvidia, so it's whatever they restricted the packages to require.
HuHa avatar
es flag
I have been using the proprietary NVidia drivers for a very long time, and I always found them to be backward compatible. A game in particular cannot know in advance what a new driver will bring; they may recommend a minimum version, but I don't think there is such a thing as a highest version the game runs with. Give it a try with the latest one. The NVidia devs do a very good job keeping things compatible.
Score:0
sa flag

If you need the nvidia-driver-470 package, then uninstall the other version of the Nvidia proprietary graphics driver and reboot first. Ubuntu will not function properly if there two or more Nvidia proprietary driver versions installed at the same time.

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