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Comment by the__alchemist | Hacker News Reader

Anecdote from just now, from someone who's wanted to like LInux for ~20 years:

I updated Nvidia drivers from version 580 to 590 on Ubuntu 24, using the additional drivers window. Rebooted. Now instead of the OS, it's booting into something called "BusyBox (initramfs). with a shell. No error message. I don't feel like dedicating an indefinite time to fixing it. Maybe now LLMs will have replaced searching forums and Stack Overflow.

It is this class of problems that has kept me from switching. I'm not sure if it would be easier to track this down, or install the OS clean again. I lament having to make this decision.

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This is usally due to DKMS (dynamic kernel module system). Each time you upgrade your kernel, the nvidia portion needs to be recompiled. If this goes wrong, you end up in a state where you cannot boot.

This is why everyone in the linux world has a very sour taste for nvidia. It's not their fault per-say, but they did opt to go this route versus contributing their drivers to the kernel like everyone else.

That makes sense. Of interest, this was actually an easy fix; go to GRUB, and pick an older kernel! Ty for pointing me to the kernels.

In the future or even today with immutable distros, you'll be able to roll back the entire OS the same way you can roll back the kernel to undo any change that breaks the system.

I switched over 30 years ago and the trick is to buy hardware with Linux in mind. Linux tries to work with as much hardware as possible but it does so with mixed results. If you buy well supported hardware it becomes much easier. Finding out which hardware is best supported is really the main problem. Probably the easiest way to solve this is to buy from a Linux native vendor. System76 is probably the best known (to me anyways) but there are others.

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en

This is the exact class of problems that pushed me into Apple's waiting arms. All (well, most. all of what I care about) of the flexibility and ease-of-use and efficiency of linux, stuffed into a gorgeous, well engineered product.

I wish I could fix the things, I'll fully cosign the beef the hacker community has for Apple on that front. That being said, I don't see myself buying a Windows laptop anytime soon.

One of the goals of the OS is to abstract the hardware. But if hadware vendors won’t play balls there’s nothing the OS can do.

Do you (or anyone else) know if this is related to that famous clip of Linus Torvalds saying "fuck you" to nvidia? I get the impression that nvidia has not prioritized linux at all really over the decades.

I don’t know about the anecdote really. But Unix ABI is only stable for the userspace. Anything kernel side is not. So that means recompilation when things changes. So most drivers are in source code form in the kernel, or at least provide shims to firmware. AMD and Intel drivers are part of the kernel, nvidia’s are not. So every updates, you’re praying the the stars align and your card can be used and does not crash the system.

In my experience LLMs keep running in circles and don't really bring a solution. Maybe try the guides I mentioned in the post in a fresh install?

Incidentally:

ChatGPT: Ran me in circles as you describe; suggested a number of things I didn't understand, including commands that don't work in the BusyBox shell. (It's not a normal shell)

Gemini: Nailed it on selecting an older kernel in the Grub menu.

For me none of the LLMs helped so I had to bite the bullet and read scatterted documentation myself.

Counter anecdote, I have an Ubuntu install that never had a problem for -years-. Last time it would not boot it was my fault for trying to do something stupid (wanted a new kernel for which the virtualbox extension does not work and ended up enabling it without generating initramfs first).

Exactly why I moved away from Linux on the desktop. I used for 10 years, dropped it after I got kids. I don't have the time and mental availability anymore to accept a low probablity of having to do PC maintenance any time I use it.

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