[SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

Frostregen · 2024-06-10 18:19:48

Hi there,

usually whenever there is an nvidia update, there is also an accompanying linux kernel update.
E.g.:

pacman -Sy
pacman -Qu
...
nvidia 550.78-7 -> 550.90.07-1
linux-6.9.3.arch1-1 -> linux-6.9.3.arch1-2

The last time I only got an nvidia update without the kernel update, my Desktop would not start but simply freeze the system when it tried to show something graphical.
That could be fixed by booting to runlevel 3 and running another pacman update - which then had the missing linux kernel update.

So, right now I have the issue again. There is only an nvidia-update showing, but no linux kernel update.

pacman -Sy
pacman -Qu
...
nvidia 550.78-7 -> 550.90.07-1

Since this is happening the second time, I wanted to check here if this is a common pattern / issue?
I did not yet perform the update - so there is a chance that it actually would work fine - but I rather double check

Last edited by Frostregen (2024-06-10 18:43:56)

loqs · 2024-06-10 18:36:01

An update to the linux package requires the nvidia package which provides the nvidia module for that kernel to be rebuilt. The reverse is not true; there is no requirement for the linux package to be rebuilt for an update to the out of tree nvidia module.

Frostregen · 2024-06-10 18:43:31

Thanks for confirming. I dared to update now - and everything is fine.

Must have been something else last time then

WorMzy · 2024-06-10 19:45:19

Note that your method of checking pending updates is unsafe and could lead to a partial upgrade. Look into 'checkupdates' instead.

Frostregen · 2024-06-11 19:40:43

Hi WorMzy,

yes, I've read that part, but did not really want to believe (back in October 2022 when setting up Arch the first time)
I would really need a separate tool just to be able to see a list of updates with info "from version -> to version".
Especially when -Qu would give me exactly that information.
(After -Sy and -Qu I always run a -Su to install all updates.)

I still do not fully get why following sequence could lead to partial updates.

pacman -Sy    -> sync package info from mirror?
pacman -Qu    -> Query which packages would be updated?
pacman -Su    -> Update exactly those packages to shown versions (but not anything which might have been updated on the sync-mirror in the meantime)?

The wiki is not 100% clear about this specific sequence to me. Is there some more detailed information I could read up on?

Update:
I just found VerbosePkgLists in /etc/pacman.conf. Looks like this enables the output I need to be able to use -Syu
Thanks again for making me revisit this topic^^

Last edited by Frostregen (2024-06-11 20:19:04)

WorMzy · 2024-06-11 21:01:19

That order of commands is fine so long as there is no 'pacman -S package' between command #1 and command #3.

If you run 'pacman -Sy; pacman -Qu' and the list of upgrades looks too cumbersome to deal with right now, but then you decide you really need to install package-x, so you run 'pacman -S package-x', that's a partial upgrade. If, however, you ran 'checkupdates' rather than 'pacman -Sy; pacman -Qu', you could potentially* still 'pacman -S package-x' without issue.

* if the version of package-x or the packages it depends on no longer exist on the mirror you use, then you'll get 404 errors, in which case you'll need to either run a full system upgrade, or use the Arch Linux Archive to proceed.

Frostregen · 2024-06-11 22:08:06

Thanks for confirming
Back then I could not see any potential issue with that sequence (well understanding the dependency issues if I would have used -S inbetween^^), so I went with it and used it nearly daily without issues.

For me it only happens very rarely to not actually execute the update.
Mostly postponing it a few hours (incase of a new kernel, and I do not want to reboot right now),
or extremely rarely a few days until the weekend (incase of a major postgres upgrade, which takes some time for migration / testing).

Anyway, very happy now to only have to run one command instead of 3

Last edited by Frostregen (2024-06-11 22:08:35)

Arch Linux

#1 2024-06-10 18:19:48

[SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

#2 2024-06-10 18:36:01

Re: [SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

#3 2024-06-10 18:43:31

Re: [SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

#4 2024-06-10 19:45:19

Re: [SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

#5 2024-06-11 19:40:43

Re: [SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

#6 2024-06-11 21:01:19

Re: [SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

#7 2024-06-11 22:08:06

Re: [SOLVED] nvidia driver update, but no new linux package?

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