Subj : Re: glxinfo says zero VRAM
To   : alt.os.linux
From : Paul
Date : Tue Sep 15 2026 11:38 am

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 9/14/2026 4:39 AM, Paul wrote:
> On Sun, 9/13/2026 10:39 PM, Woozy Song wrote:
>> An old PC with a GTX660, which is nominally 2 GB VRAM.
>> glxinfo |grep emory
>> shows 'Video memory' approx 7 GB
>> but
>> Dedicated video memory 0
>> Total available memory approx 8 GB
>> so it is getting garbage.
>> glxinfo has worked on other PCs when I tried it.
>> I cannot install legacy Nvidia drivers in order to use nvtop or nvidia-smi
>> as Mint can't get it from archive.ubuntu.com
>> Any apps that will show GPU specs?
> 

The GTX660 is older than my GT1030.

You will notice that as time passes, the video card support is reduced.

OS       Kernel     DriverManager

LM213    5.15.0-91  nvidia-driver-535  (recommended)
                    nvidia-driver-525
                    nvidia-driver-470
                    nvidia-driver-390
                    xserver-xorg-video-nouveau  (selected)

LM213    5.15.0-191 nvidia-driver-580
                    nvidia-driver-545
                    nvidia-driver-390  (recommended)
                    xserver-xorg-video-nouveau  (selected)

*******

LM223    6.14.0-37  nvidia-driver-580
                    nvidia-driver-570
                    nvidia-driver-535  (recommended)
                    nvidia-driver-470
                    xserver-xorg-video-nouveau  (selected)

LM223    7.0.0-31   nvidia-driver-580   (recommended)
                    xserver-xorg-video-nouveau  (selected)

There are two kinds of video drivers from NVidia. There is no
explicit notation in the driver description, to tell them apart.
Otherwise, we would know the 580 is some sort of "direct interface"
driver, unlike the 390 which, not only is it a legacy driver,
it uses binary blobs for the interface details.

In any case,  for the stanza at the bottom of the table,
yours is unlikely to show 580 as being a candidate for
your GTX660.

Whereas if you were to install LM213, you will notice that
at least for the moment, LM213 *loves* old hardware. Everything
is going to work for you in LM213.

I tell Windows 10 users, who I know are sporting older hardware,
that LM213 is the thing for them. But, LM213 support will not
last forever, so offering them that is disingenuous. The LM213
choice would soon age out, leaving them high and dry. And you will
notice, the later Linux Mint release, the Driver Manager is
becoming barren. And nobody wants to spend $400 to fix a computer
that is worth $200 on Ebay (as a used computer).

Summary: Try installing LM213 in a separate partition. You will be
         pleased with your glxinfo, as the availability of 390 means
         some relatively old cards are going to work. Use the Driver
         Manager to install the driver.

   Paul


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