Start with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Newer releases have more recent versions of GCC and other tools, which requires a whole bunch of hacks to get TensorFlow and its constituent elements compiled correctly -- it's basically not worth it.
During installation, do NOT check the “Install this third-party software,” which will add an NVIDIA binary driver. We want to use the one from the CUDA installer, so there’s no need to confuse things.
sudo apt install zlib
##For HiDPI/Retina screens
sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup
Accept all the defaults till you get to the Fonts screen. Optionally change the font to Terminus, but be sure to set the size to 32x16 to ensure readability on the console. This is important because several steps have to be done with X/lightdm disabled.
##CUDA Samples Dependencies There are a few tricky dependencies for some of the dependencies in CUDA. These may only apply to the Samples, but for completeness' sake:
sudo apt install freeglut3-dev build-essential libxmu-dev libxi-dev
sudo apt install libc6:i386
sudo apt install libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-trusty:i386
##Python
sudo apt install python-pip python-dev
#Prep for CUDA Toolkit's binary driver
The magic steps to avoid GUI lockout when using binary NVIDIA display drivers were cribbed form this thread.
##Blacklisting the non-NVIDIA driver
We need to prevent the open, non-NVIDIA driver from contending control of hardware that the binary blob will now handle. Create a new file:
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf
Add two lines:
blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
Now apply these changes to the RAM file system that is used as an intital root file system:
sudo update-initramfs -u
##Reboot
Restart the computer using your favorite method.
#CUDA Toolkit
Download CUDA 7.5 from [https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads].
Choose Linux > x86_64 > Ubuntu > 14.04 > runfile (local)
Press Control-Alt-F1 to switch to the text console. Now we'll stop the X server:
sudo stop lightdm cd Downloads sudo sh cuda_7.5.18_linux.run --no-opengl-libs
It is impossible to over-estimate how important --no-opengl-libs is. If you leave this off, or mistype it, the easiest way to recover is to re-install the operating system. So don't forget it...
The installer will provide a series of interactive prompts:
- Accept the license
- Yes to install the driver
- (OpenGL should not show up next. If it does, say NO.)
- Yes to install the toolkit
- Default toolkit location is fine
- Yes to symlink creation
- Yes to samples
- Default samples location is fine
##Verify video card is enumerated in /dev
ls /dev/nvidia*
##Fix for Optimus/Hybrid graphics (laptops)
On portable machines with Hybrid/Optimus graphics, the above command will often fail. If it does, run these two commands:
sudo nvidia-smi
sudo modprobe nvidia-uvm
The devices should now be present.
#Environment Variables