NVidia "550" Driver Missing after OS Update

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1

Ubuntu Version:
Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
GNOME, I believe

Problem Description:
A few days ago, an unattended OS update occurred. As has happened to me before, this resulted in the system deciding of its own volition to switch me over to the “Nouveau” graphics driver.

But being aware of this possibility, on noticing a drop in performance I went over to the “Additional Drivers” dialogue to reinstall my NVidia graphics drivers…

Which was when I discovered that the driver that I use–the “550” driver–was just… not there. There were plenty of other options: “535”, “580”, “470”, etc. etc. Just not the actual one that I wanted. :confused:

I tried a driver somewhat-arbitrarily (the “580” driver, to be specific), and it did help–but performance is still not as I previously had it, I fear. :confused:

Is there some way that I can get the “550” driver back…?

Relevant System Information:
Computer: Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Series
CPU: Core i7 2.4GHz (4-core)
Memory: 8GB
Graphics: GeForce 840M, 2GB (+Intel integrated)
Current Driver: “NVIDIA driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-580 (proprietary)”
Firmware version: A06
OS Type: 64-bit
Gnome Version: 46
Windowing System: X11
Kernel Version: Linux 6.14.0-35-generic

Screenshots or Error Messages:

Screenshot from 2025-11-15 09-56-12
Screenshot from 2025-11-15 09-56-121360×768 96.2 KB

What I’ve Tried:

  • I’ve tried waiting a few days to see whether an update comes through to correct the issue
  • I’ve tried running the software updater and installing what updates were available (at least twice, if I recall correctly)
  • I’ve tried manually installing the “550” drivers via the following commands:
sudo apt -y install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-550

I could, I suppose, drop back to an earlier kernel version via GRUB–but I presume that the kernel was updated for a reason, and so would prefer to remain on the newer kernel, just with my preferred driver.

2

Strange. I know its still there

Maybe do sudo apt update first to refresh the cache? If nvidia-driver-550 just pushes beyond it, try nvidia-driver-550-server

3

Hmm… Running sudo apt update revealed one item to upgrade, which I did (via sudo apt update). (That being “libmalcontent-0-0”, I believe.)

Neither operation seems to have brought the “550” driver back to the listing. :/

(Although I didn’t restart the system after running the above; should I have done so?)

Something that I noticed before, and forgot until I tried the above-mentioned sudo apt upgrade, is that the upgrade process lists a number of “550”-related items and indicates that they are “automatically installed and are no longer required”, suggesting that I use sudo apt autoremove to remove them.

Might removing them allow for the system to detect that they’re eligible for installation, perhaps…?

4

Here’s a topic on this subject in the Ubuntu Mate forums. Not saying there’s a definitive answer for your specific situation but it may certainly be worth a read.

https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/hold-your-nvidia-drivers-if-they-are-stable/30853

5

Hmm, okay, that looks promising.

However, I’m finding myself stuck partway through enacting the fix given there:

When I attempt the sudo apt install ... line (the one that installs a whole list of driver-related stuff), I get a list of errors essentially saying that the system can’t find the requested items.

Now, the thread does give a link to a page full of .deb files. (That being this: https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/multiverse/n/nvidia-graphics-drivers-550/ )

But attempting to add that as a software-source in the “Other Software” dialogue fails, as there is apparently no “Release” file. :/

So, how do I get this stuff installed? Should I just manually download everything on the above-linked page? And if so, how do I point the apt-installation process to those files?

(Interestingly, I was previously experiencing that same freeze (or something like it) that the author of that thread mentions, on alt-tabbing out of certain games. I was attributing it to WINE or Lutris (through which I’ve been running said games), but maybe it was a driver issue all along…)

[edit]
Going back to the linked thread, I spotted the link there to the “Proprietary GPU Drivers” Launchpad page. I attempted to add that as a source for “Other Software”–but to the same effect as with the other page. :/

6

I don’t have Nvidia graphics I simply came across that thread as I’m a Mate user and spend some time on that forum.

Is this the page you are referring to? I had no issues adding the ppa to my system:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt update

The above commands should do it.

Have you tried booting into the previous kernal when the 550 driver was still being used?I’m not technical enough to know this but it might be possible that the 550 driver might be available again if you did so,more knowledgeable folks here could certainly answer that.

7

Ah! You’re right–that did it!

(I was attempting to add the repository via the “Other Software” tab in the “Software and Updates” app.

I’m not sure of quite where I was going wrong–I don’t really interact with Ubuntu’s software repository system all that often, so I’m unpractised with it.)

And with that, I’ve managed to run most of the rest of the “installation-and-holding” process given in the linked thread.

However, I did receive some errors in the process, possibly related to the note in that thread that the build doesn’t work on the more-recent kernel…

I’m going to reboot now, and see whether the driver is working or applied–back shortly, I intend!

[edit]
Okay, no, this process doesn’t seem to have worked. Likely because of the above-mentioned issue with building on this kernel version… :/
[/edit]

I haven’t.

As I noted in my first post, I imagine that this would work–but I also imagine that the kernel was updated for a reason.

So, while switching back might fix things in the short term, I fear that it’s not a long-term solution…

8

It may be possible to boot into the old kernel then add the 550 driver then use the apt-mark hold command and then reboot into the latest kernel but like I said I’m not the most technical person and there’s certainly someone here who could confirm/deny if that will work.

9

Ah, I see–good thinking!

Okay, I just tried that, and… no luck, I’m afraid. :/

I dropped down to the 6.11 kernel, and for whatever reason the 550 driver isn’t visible there, either. (At least in the “Additional Drivers” tool; I didn’t try the manual approach this time.)

10

Might need to be booted into 6.8 kernel for the PPA driver to work

11

There was another thread on nvidia updates that mentioned there may be issues with phasing.
They suggested sudo apt upgrade -o apt::get::always-include-phased-updates=1

Ref: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/upgrade-to-25-10-nvidia-driver-installed-from-foreign-package/72210/3?u=matt-rw

12

That far back? Next time I reboot I might check to see whether I still have that kernel version!

Okay, so I ran the commands that they listed there (i.e. the one that you posted plus a call to sudo apt update), and… I don’t see any difference. At least in the “Additional Drivers” tab.

Unless a restart is required?

I also, subsequently, ran the other command that they requested the output of– `$ apt list ~i~n^nvidia | awk -F'[ /]' '{print $1, $3}'–and here is what it produced for me:

$ apt list ~i~n^nvidia | awk -F'[ /]' '{print $1, $3}'

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Listing... 
nvidia-compute-utils-535 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
nvidia-driver-535 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
nvidia-firmware-535-535.274.02 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
nvidia-kernel-common-535 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
nvidia-kernel-source-535 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
nvidia-prime 0.8.17.2
nvidia-settings 510.47.03-0ubuntu4
nvidia-utils-535 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
13

It is the LTS kernel, supported until 2029 where 6.11 is EOL and 6.14 will only have support until sometime in January

14

Huh. Interesting! I wasn’t aware of that!

Hum… Looking back at your earlier post, let me ask clarification, if I may: You say that I might need to be in 6.8 for the driver to work. Does that mean that I would need to stick with 6.8 going forward if I wanted to stick with the driver–or might the “hold” method suggested by someone else above allow me to use the driver on a later kernel version…?

15

You might have to install and boot into a 6.8 kernel and remove any 6.11 and 6.14 kernels to make the driver from the PPA work, otherwise I think you may have to use Nvidia 580

16

Oof, ouch. That is… a pain. :/

The 580 definitely seems to be a step down–but I worry that if I lock myself into an older kernel version then programs that I build under it will be less portable to whatever’s modern at the time. Not to mention that I may lose updates to various programs that I use, if they start moving to newer kernels as their baseline… :/

17

Update:

So, after my earlier experimentations, I wanted to go back to at least some sort of non-“Nouveau” graphics driver. And, having already had trouble with the “580” driver, I decided to try another–in this case the “535” driver.

And this one seems to work a lot better! Performance seems much as I had with the “550” driver!

It sometimes feels almost random which drivers will turn out to work–but I’m just glad to have found one that does!

18

Hey, yeah, this happens sometimes after Ubuntu updates. The “550” driver might just not be available for your new kernel in the official repos anymore. A few options:

Use the 580 driver – it’s newer, so it should be fully compatible and might even perform slightly better, though some apps might behave differently.

Download the 550 driver directly from NVIDIA – you can grab the .run installer from their site, but you’ll need to blacklist Nouveau and manually handle updates.

Use the Ubuntu PPA – graphics-drivers PPA sometimes keeps older versions available. You can add it with:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-550

Honestly, sticking with 580 is the least headache option unless you really need 550 for some reason.

Also, keep an eye on kernel-driver compatibility—some older drivers just won’t compile on newer kernels.

19

Well, that was the problem: if the “580” driver had performed better, I daresay that I would have been happy with it.

But it didn’t. It was noticeably worse than the “550” driver, at least on my system. :/

Thankfully, as noted above, the “535” driver seems to be doing the job for now! :slight_smile:

I think that I have that one–or at least tried it earlier.

Yeah, I considered that. But I was put off, I think, by a report elsewhere that the driver may lack Ubuntu-specific tweaks.

Your mention of additional upkeep further discourages me from this path.

Which is a bit of a nuisance, honestly.

Now, I get that a driver may simply not be available for a new kernel.

But in that case, I’d much rather that the update informed me of the issue, and then asked me what to do.

I’d really prefer that it didn’t quietly uninstall my drivers so that it can go ahead with what it wants to do. :/

(This is, please note, not the first time that it’s done this to me, as I recall.)

20

You could check on the UbuntuMATE forum. There has been a lot of discussion there related to issues with the 580 drivers and how to circumvent/backtrack to resolve issues.


Beyond that, have you thought to check the Forums on the NVIDIA site itself?