Hey everyone! I've recently made the switch to Linux Mint (Cinnamon) as my main operating system, and I've been really loving it so far. It's smooth, customizable, and way better than my clunky experience with Windows 10. However, I've run into some issues with GPU drivers that I could really use some help with.
I have two GPUs in my laptop: the Intel HD Graphics 4000 (integrated) and the NVIDIA NVS 5400M. Linux Mint is using the Intel GPU with the Intel Mesa Driver, while Windows used my NVIDIA GPU with a much higher OpenGL version, which is necessary for running Blender. Unfortunately, the Intel Mesa Driver only supports OpenGL 4.2, which is not compatible with Blender.
I've tried several fixes:
- Installed and reinstalled the closed-source driver for the NVIDIA GPU, but it didn't install the DKMS and Mint couldn't detect the GPU.
- Attempted to update Mesa to the 25.2.
- Used `prime-select` to force the NVIDIA GPU, but it still uses the Intel one.
- Tried changing the GPU setting in BIOS, but it made the OS blurry, so I reverted those changes.
- Searched online but couldn't find any helpful info.
I really prefer not to boot into Windows just for Blender, especially since it runs slow and with Windows 10 reaching EOL soon. I hope someone can help me solve this one issue with Linux. Thanks!
1 Answer
It sounds like you've been through a lot trying to fix this! It's good that you're using Linux Mint, but the NVIDIA driver situation can definitely be tricky, especially with older GPUs like yours. Just to clarify, there is a proper NVIDIA driver available in the Mint repository, and you can install it through the graphical driver manager. It shouldn’t be that difficult! Also, have you considered switching to Pop!_OS? Some users find it easier to manage dual GPUs on that distro.
I used to struggle with drivers on Mint too, but Pop!_OS made things simpler for me. Just a suggestion, it might be worth checking out!