NVIDIA DKMS build fails for kernel `6.16.3-76061603-generic` on Pascal GPU (GTX 1080)

[joelbarmettlerUZH]

Summary:

After a system update to kernel 6.16.3-76061603-generic, the proprietary NVIDIA drivers fail to build and load. The system falls back to the nouveau software rendering driver, and any attempt to install a compatible driver from the Pop!_OS repositories or external PPAs fails with a DKMS build error stating the kernel is not supported.

System Information:

• OS: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS
• Problematic Kernel: 6.16.3-76061603-generic
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Pascal Architecture)

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Start with a working Pop!_OS 22.04 system with a Pascal-based NVIDIA GPU and an earlier kernel version.
2. Perform a full system update via the Pop!_Shop or sudo apt full-upgrade, which installs the 6.16.3 kernel.
3. Reboot the system into the new kernel.

Expected Behavior:

The system should boot normally with the proprietary NVIDIA drivers loaded and active. The nvidia-smi command should function correctly.

Actual Behavior:

The system boots with the nouveau driver. nvidia-smi fails to communicate with the driver. All attempts to install any NVIDIA driver package result in the same DKMS build failure.

Key Error Logs:

The dkms build process fails with the following error:

ERROR (dkms apport): kernel package linux-headers-6.16.3-76061603-generic is not supported
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.16.3-76061603-generic (x86_64)

The kernel log (dmesg) shows the driver probe failing:

NVRM: The NVIDIA GPU 0000:29:00.0 (PCI ID: 10de:1b06)
NVRM: nvidia.ko because it does not include the required GPU
...
nvidia 0000:29:00.0: probe with driver nvidia failed with error -1

Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

Extensive troubleshooting has confirmed this is a package/kernel incompatibility issue. The following methods have all failed on the 6.16.3 kernel:

• Purging and reinstalling system76-driver-nvidia.
• Attempting to install legacy nvidia-driver-535 packages, which led to dependency conflicts caused by the Pop!_OS repository metapackages.
• Adding the ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa and attempting to install from it, which was overridden by the Pop!_OS repository's higher apt priority.
• Forcing the installation of specific driver versions from the Ubuntu repositories, which still failed at the DKMS build stage due to the unsupported kernel.

Furthermore, the standard recovery method of booting into the previous kernel via oldkern.conf and attempting to reinstall the drivers has also failed to produce a working system, suggesting the multiple failed installations have left packages in a deeply inconsistent state. Currently, there appears to be no reliable workaround.

[leviport]

nvidia-driver-575 should work nicely for your 1080. We're currently finishing up fixes for 570 which will be released soon.

[leviport]

Fixes for 570 and 580 have been released.

[AlfonsoTovar]

i have a nvidia "GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile" and it also fails, i tried to uninstall and reinstall and still fails
however the fix was

1. sudo apt purge ~nnvidia
2. sudo apt autoremove
3. sudo apt install nvidia-driver-580
4. reboot the system

BUT it not suppose that

nvidia-driver-580: This is the standard NVIDIA driver from the Ubuntu/Pop OS repository (or NVIDIA's official package). It is a generic driver packaged for compatibility with Ubuntu-based systems.

system76-driver-nvidia: This is a custom driver maintained by System76, specifically tailored for their hardware and Pop OS. It includes additional integrations and optimizations for System76 devices

So, from now on, should I use the unoptimized version of "nvidia-driver-580"?

Or should I try installing "system76-driver-nvidia" in a couple of weeks, once the issues have been resolved?

[joelbarmettlerUZH]

Thank you for the quick update and for releasing the fixes for the 570 and 580 drivers!

​I wanted to follow up on my specific case. My GPU is a GeForce GTX 1080, which is based on the Pascal architecture. According to NVIDIA's official driver support schedule, Pascal cards are not supported by any driver series newer than version 535.

​My attempts to install the newer drivers have failed with DKMS and kernel incompatibility errors, which seems to confirm this.

​Could you please check if the recent fixes have also been applied to the nvidia-driver-535 package in the Pop!_OS repository? That appears to be the correct legacy driver that my hardware requires.

​Thank you again for your work on this issue.

[Vladipz]

I also had a bad experience with the latest update
For me, after a while it just freezes and only a reboot helps

uname -r
6.16.3-76061603-generic

vlad@pop-os  ~  nvidia-smi
Sun Sep 14 18:11:49 2025       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 570.172.08             Driver Version: 570.172.08     CUDA Version: 12.8     |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU  Name                 Persistence-M | Bus-Id          Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan  Temp   Perf          Pwr:Usage/Cap |           Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
|                                         |                        |               MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
|   0  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 ...    Off |   00000000:01:00.0 Off |                  N/A |
| N/A   54C    P0             17W /   60W |     591MiB /   4096MiB |     39%      Default |
|                                         |                        |                  N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
                                                                                        
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes:                                                                              |
|  GPU   GI   CI              PID   Type   Process name                        GPU Memory |
|        ID   ID                                                               Usage      |
|=========================================================================================|
|    0   N/A  N/A            2646      G   /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg                      130MiB |
|    0   N/A  N/A            2786      G   /usr/bin/gnome-shell                     81MiB |
|    0   N/A  N/A            4084      G   /app/zen/zen                            342MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[mmstick]

@Vladipz You can try the 580 driver. I see that you're still on 570.

[Vladipz]

@Vladipz You can try the 580 driver. I see that you're still on 570.

I don't understand much but can you help me with how to do this, I tried to install 535 but it still said that I was using 570 when executing the command nvidia-smi

If possible, I would like to ask you to describe in great detail the sequence of what I have to do.

[joelbarmettlerUZH]

Hi @Vladipz ,

I've been dealing with a similar issue on an older card. Since you have a newer RTX 3050, @mmstick is right that you should upgrade to the fixed 580 driver. Your attempt to install the 535 driver didn't work because that's a legacy driver for older cards.

Here is the detailed sequence to safely upgrade from 570 to 580:

1. Completely Remove the Old Driver

This ensures a clean installation.

sudo apt purge '.*nvidia.*'
sudo apt autoremove

2. Update Your Package Lists

This will make your system aware of the newly released fixes.

sudo apt update

3. Install the New 580 Driver

This is the specific version the developer recommended for your hardware.

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-580

4. Reboot

sudo reboot

After rebooting, your system should be running the new, stable 580 driver and the freezing issues should be resolved. Hope this helps!

[Vladipz]

Also after this update, the Bluetooth headphones freeze while playing music.

[Vladipz]

@joelbarmettlerUZH I did it and will test . Thanks any way

[Vladipz]

@joelbarmettlerUZH This seems to have improved the situation with freezing due to the timeout, although I will still test it, but another problem has appeared, in that now after sleep mode, when I enter the password, the laptop freezes, just as was already described in the post.

[Vladipz]

unfortunately I got a freeze and on 580.82.07 driver version
very sad I really thought this might fix my problem

[crafter312]

Like many other people apparently, I also had issues with this update initially. I repeated the update after seeing that fixes for 570 and 580 were released, and this seemed to mostly work. However, post-update, my computer screen started going black after 30 seconds, even though I have screen blank and automatic suspend turned off. I'm not sure if other people have experienced this particular side effect, but I was able to fix it via https://askubuntu.com/questions/1408394/my-screen-goes-black-after-30-seconds-of-inactivity-in-ubuntu-22-04.

[Vladipz]

Like many other people apparently, I also had issues with this update initially. I repeated the update after seeing that fixes for 570 and 580 were released, and this seemed to mostly work. However, post-update, my computer screen started going black after 30 seconds, even though I have screen blank and automatic suspend turned off. I'm not sure if other people have experienced this particular side effect, but I was able to fix it via https://askubuntu.com/questions/1408394/my-screen-goes-black-after-30-seconds-of-inactivity-in-ubuntu-22-04.

@crafter312 Can you please explain what it means to repeat the uptade? I'm new and still just getting used to everything.