How to install Nvidia drivers in Debian 12 Bookworm
Installing Nvidia drivers in Debian 12 Bookworm is easier than imagined. The process is straightforward and can be done in a few simple steps. This guide will walk you through the installation process, ensuring that you have the latest drivers for your Nvidia graphics card.
Step 1: Identify Your Nvidia Graphics Card
Before you begin, it's important to know which Nvidia graphics card you have. You can find this information by running the following command in your terminal:
This command will list all the graphics devices on your system. Look for a line that mentions "Nvidia" and note the model number. For example, you might see something like this:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P [UHD Graphics] [8086:a7a8] (rev 04)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation AD107M [GeForce RTX 4050 Max-Q / Mobile] [10de:28a1] (rev a1)
Step 2: Update Your System
Before installing any new software, it's always a good idea to update your system. Open a terminal and run the following commands:
This will ensure that your system is up to date with the latest packages and security updates.
Step 3: Install Pre-requisites
Before installing the Nvidia drivers, you need to install some prerequisites. Open a terminal and run the following command:
Step 4: Add the Non-Free Repository
Debian 12 Bookworm has moved the Nvidia drivers to the non-free repository. To enable this repository, you need to edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Open it with your favorite text editor:
Add contrib non-free to the end of the lines that start with deb and deb-src. For example, change:
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware
to:
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware contrib non-free
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware contrib non-free
After making the changes, save the file and exit the text editor. If you're using nano, you can do this by pressing CTRL + X, then Y, and finally Enter.
Step 5: Install Nvidia Drivers
After adding the non-free repository, you need to update your package list again. Run the following command:
Now, you can install the Nvidia drivers. Run the following command:
It is preferred to install proprietary drivers for your graphics card. There are open-source drivers available, but they may not provide the same level of performance or compatibility as the proprietary ones. If you want to install the open-source drivers, you can run:
Step 6: Reboot Your System and Turn off Secure Boot
After the installation is complete, you need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. Run the following command:
While rebooting, make sure to turn off Secure Boot in your BIOS settings. This is important because Secure Boot can prevent the Nvidia drivers from loading properly.
Step 7: Verify the Installation
After your system has rebooted, you can verify that the Nvidia drivers are installed and working correctly. Open a terminal and run the following command:
This command should display information about your Nvidia graphics card, including the driver version and GPU utilization. If you see this information, congratulations! You have successfully installed the Nvidia drivers on your Debian 12 Bookworm system.
Mon Mar 31 16:01:41 2025
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 570.124.06 Driver Version: 570.124.06 CUDA Version: 12.8 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M | Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap | Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 ... On | 00000000:01:00.0 Off | N/A |
| N/A 39C P4 312W / 30W | 15MiB / 6141MiB | 21% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|=========================================================================================|
| 0 N/A N/A 1667 G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 4MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+