Linux GPU Drivers

Choose the section for your graphics card. These steps are for Debian 13 on a 64-bit Intel or AMD PC. Open Konsole in KDE or Terminal in XFCE from the application menu to run the commands.

Follow the section for AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA below. For NVIDIA, we recommend the Debian NVIDIA Installer. Manual NVIDIA installation is an alternative for advanced users only.

For all graphics cards, performance depends on the model, resolution, and processing settings you choose.

If the graphical Debian installer goes black, try its Install text-menu option. Read the installer troubleshooting steps for details.

Identify your GPU first

lspci -nnk | grep -A3 -E 'VGA|3D|Display'
uname -r

Look for your graphics card’s model name. If your PC has both integrated graphics and a separate card, make sure the projector is connected to the card you want to use.

The commands below install the required graphics components together. You do not need to choose each component yourself.

Check Debian's package sources

If you are using the recommended NVIDIA installer, go straight to the installer steps. This package-source check is for the manual commands on this page.

The commands below need Debian's main, contrib, non-free, and non-free-firmware components. Inspect the active source files:

grep -R -E '^(deb |URIs:|Suites:|Components:)' /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

A message that /etc/apt/sources.list is absent is normal when the installation uses .sources files. Edit the existing Debian entries with sudo nano:

• In a .sources file, the component line should read Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware.
• In a traditional .list file, add missing components after the existing suite name, such as trixie.

Keep the existing mirrors, security entries, and suite names. Do not replace every occurrence of main or add a second conflicting set of Debian repositories. Run sudo apt update after saving.

AMD Radeon

Install the Radeon graphics packages and restart:

sudo apt install firmware-amd-graphics mesa-vulkan-drivers libgl1-mesa-dri vulkan-tools
sudo reboot

GPU family	Driver path and considerations
RDNA 1: RX 5000; RDNA 2: RX 6000	Install the packages above. RX 6000 or newer is the recommended AMD starting point.
RDNA 3: RX 7000; RDNA 4: RX 9000	Install the packages above; newer cards may need the backports steps below.
Ryzen integrated Radeon graphics	Check the exact processor model. Integrated graphics may limit demanding processing settings.
Older GCN cards, including Polaris/Vega	Compatibility varies; check the hardware requirements before choosing one for this setup.
Pre-GCN Radeon	Outside this Vulkan setup path.

For newer drivers, use Debian backports below. Supported AMD hardware

Intel integrated and Arc

Install the Intel graphics packages and restart:

sudo apt install firmware-intel-graphics mesa-vulkan-drivers libgl1-mesa-dri vulkan-tools
sudo reboot

Intel graphics	What to do
Integrated HD, UHD, Iris or Iris Xe	Install the packages above. Older models may not support the graphics features or performance Void Video needs.
Core Ultra integrated graphics	Install the packages above. Very recent models may need the newer packages linked below.
Arc A-series: A310, A380, A580, A750, A770	Start with the packages above. Check your motherboard's Resizable BAR setting.
Arc B-series: B570, B580	Start with the packages above; use newer packages if needed for your card.
Arc Pro B-series	Check your exact model against Intel's hardware list; requirements differ between models.

For Arc, follow your motherboard manual to enable Resizable BAR / Above 4G Decoding where supported. If you need newer graphics software, continue to Debian backports.

Intel maintains hardware lists for older and A-series graphics, newer integrated and B-series graphics, and legacy models.

NVIDIA

Use the Debian NVIDIA Installer below—we recommend it for most users. It guides you through installation using menus. You do not need to run the manual installation commands afterward.

Manual installation is an alternative for advanced users only who want to manage driver packages and software sources themselves. Choose one installation method.

Void Video requires NVIDIA’s driver; Nouveau/NVK is not supported.

Recommended: Debian NVIDIA Installer

Debian NVIDIA Installer is our recommended, tested installation method.

1. Open the project's Releases page and download its amd64.deb package.

2. Open the downloaded file in your package manager and click Install. If no package manager opens, use the terminal steps below instead.

3. Open Konsole or Terminal and run:

   sudo debian-nvidia-installer

4. Follow the menus, choosing the driver appropriate to your card in the card-generation table. Complete any Secure Boot enrollment requested, then restart and follow Verify NVIDIA after reboot.

Install the downloaded package from the terminal

Replace X.X.X with the version in your downloaded filename:

cp "$HOME/Downloads/debian-nvidia-installer_X.X.X_amd64.deb" /tmp/
cd /tmp
sudo apt install ./debian-nvidia-installer_X.X.X_amd64.deb
sudo debian-nvidia-installer

Use apt install here so the installer's required packages are installed too.

After restarting, verify the driver. Skip the manual installation section if you used the installer.

Choose by card generation

GPU generation	Vendor-driver choice
Turing: RTX 20-series, GTX 16-series	Use NVIDIA's open kernel module flavor on a compatible current branch.
Ampere: RTX 30-series; Ada: RTX 40-series	Use NVIDIA's open kernel module flavor.
Blackwell: RTX 50-series	Requires the open flavor and a branch that supports the device. Debian 13's original 550 packages are not the correct path.
Maxwell: GTX 750/750 Ti, GTX 900-series; Pascal: GTX 10-series; Volta: Titan V	Requires the proprietary flavor. 580 is the last supporting Linux branch; “newest driver” must mean newest compatible legacy release.
Kepler and earlier	Separate old legacy branches; outside this beginner configuration. Check the exact PCI ID, especially rebranded mobile/GT cards.

Manual installation — advanced users only

Use these instructions instead of the installer, only if you are comfortable managing Linux driver packages and software sources yourself.

Advanced: manual NVIDIA driver installation

Current NVIDIA vendor driver: Turing and newer

These commands add NVIDIA's official Debian 13 software source, install its current driver, and restart the PC. Use them for GTX 16-series or RTX 20-series and newer cards on a fresh Debian installation.

sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-amd64 "linux-headers-$(uname -r)" wget ca-certificates
mkdir -p "$HOME/Downloads/nvidia-repo"
cd "$HOME/Downloads/nvidia-repo"
wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/debian13/x86_64/cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
sudo apt update
apt-cache policy nvidia-open
sudo apt install nvidia-open
sudo reboot

Confirm the candidate comes from the intended NVIDIA repository. After installation, normal APT updates can obtain newer releases from that repository; an explicit version pin or package hold can prevent that. Use apt-cache policy nvidia-open and apt-mark showhold to check. The cuda-keyring name identifies the repository key; it does not mean you need to install the CUDA development toolkit. See NVIDIA's Debian instructions.

If you already installed Debian's driver packages or a .run installer, follow the vendor's removal/migration instructions before switching packaging sources. Do not layer a .run installation over APT-managed drivers.

Legacy proprietary driver: Maxwell, Pascal and Volta

Debian's own packages are a starting point when their supported-device list includes your GPU:

sudo apt install "linux-headers-$(uname -r)" nvidia-driver nvidia-kernel-dkms
sudo reboot

This selects the proprietary kernel package explicitly. Check the candidate first with apt-cache policy nvidia-driver nvidia-kernel-dkms.

For newer legacy fixes, use NVIDIA's 580 branch, not an unrestricted upgrade to the current branch. Check the current vendor releases and that release's supported GPUs, distributions, and kernels.

The 580 branch was not available in NVIDIA's Debian 13 repository when this guide was checked. For these older cards, check the available driver and supported models before installing. Do not use the modern-card instructions above.

Verify NVIDIA after reboot

For the NVIDIA vendor driver:

nvidia-smi
vulkaninfo --summary

nvidia-smi should show your graphics card and driver version. vulkaninfo should also list the card; Void Video needs Vulkan to render the picture.

Additional check for startup without the desktop

For direct KMS, also check cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset. It should report Y. If it reports N, follow the installed driver's DRM KMS instructions before testing the KMS launch path.

Newer AMD, Intel and Mesa drivers

Debian backports is the practical route to a newer kernel, firmware, and Mesa while keeping Debian 13. It provides selected newer packages; it does not promise the latest upstream commit. Follow the official backports instructions and upgrade selected packages rather than changing the entire OS to testing or unstable.

Create /etc/apt/sources.list.d/voidvideo-backports.sources with sudo nano only if you have not already enabled trixie-backports:

Types: deb
URIs: https://deb.debian.org/debian
Suites: trixie-backports
Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

Then inspect what is available:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy linux-image-amd64 linux-headers-amd64 mesa-vulkan-drivers
apt-cache policy firmware-amd-graphics firmware-intel-graphics

To opt into newer kernel and Mesa packages when available:

sudo apt install -t trixie-backports linux-image-amd64 linux-headers-amd64 mesa-vulkan-drivers libgl1-mesa-dri

Add the firmware for your GPU using one of these:

sudo apt install -t trixie-backports firmware-amd-graphics

sudo apt install -t trixie-backports firmware-intel-graphics

Read APT's proposed changes before accepting. If a package has no backport, keep the available compatible version rather than importing packages from another distribution. Reboot, check uname -r and Vulkan again, and verify that the capture card's driver still loads with the new kernel.

Backports provides selected newer packages, rather than every new upstream release. If your card needs software newer than these packages, ask for help with the exact model before changing Debian's software sources further.

Finish by checking Void Video

From the extracted application directory:

./VoidVideo -l
./VoidVideo -f --log

Use -g INDEX if needed. A successful Vulkan device listing is the first check; stable presentation, capture, desired refresh rates, and processing speed are the final checks. Then return to installing the capture driver.