fix(cli): blacklist the in-tree nova driver so the NVIDIA driver can bind - #3963
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…bind nova is the Rust successor to nouveau. Ubuntu 26.04's 7.0 kernel shipped with CONFIG_NOVA_CORE=m, and nova_core registers a PCI driver whose alias matches every NVIDIA display device, so it claims the GPU during boot and never lets it go. The NVIDIA runfile then builds every module fine and dies at load time with "GPU is already bound to NovaCore". Our blacklist only covered nouveau, which does nothing to stop nova, and update-initramfs -u only rebuilt the running kernel's initramfs, so any other installed kernel silently lost the blacklist anyway. Blacklist nova / nova_core / nova_drm next to nouveau in a single drop-in, rebuild the initramfs for all kernels, and detect a loaded nova both in precheck and before the driver install so it fails immediately instead of after a pointless DKMS build. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
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eball
approved these changes
Aug 17, 2026
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Problem
Installing the NVIDIA driver fails on Ubuntu 26.04. The runfile builds every module successfully and then dies at load time:
novais the Rust successor tonouveau. Ubuntu 26.04's 7.0 kernel shipped withCONFIG_NOVA_CORE=m(LP #2150845), andnova_coreregisters a PCI driver whose alias matches every NVIDIA display device, so it claims the GPU during boot and never lets it go. The driver is still non-functional, so the card is simply held hostage.Our blacklist only covered
nouveau, which does nothing to stopnova. Canonical patched this in thenvidia-graphics-driverspackaging, but we install from the runfile, so nothing shields us.It takes two conditions to hit, which is why identical-looking machines behave differently: a kernel that still enables
CONFIG_NOVA_CORE(fixed in later 26.04 ABIs), and a GPU thatnova_coresupports — Turing, Ampere or Ada. Newer chips are rejected at probe time withUnsupported chipset.Changes
gpu disable-conflicts(renamed fromdisable-nouveau, old name kept as an alias) now blacklistsnova,nova_coreandnova_drmalongsidenouveau, in a single drop-in at/usr/lib/modprobe.d/olares-disable-conflicting-gpu-drivers.conf. The old nouveau-only file is removed.update-initramfs -u→update-initramfs -u -k all. The old call only rebuilt the running kernel's initramfs, so booting any other installed kernel silently lost the blacklist.novafails outright — unlikenouveauit has nomodeset=0equivalent that keeps it off the card, so "loaded but idle" is one reboot away from "holding the GPU".gpu installrefuses to start when nova holds the card, instead of spending minutes on a DKMS build that cannot possibly load.Made with Cursor