CMP.WIKI

Install guide

Choose your card and installation route. Follow the linked instructions, then verify the result. This checklist records your choices; it does not detect or change your hardware.

Before installation

  1. Identify the card variant and record its current memory and link state.
  2. Read the requirements and known issues. Keep a recovery path before changing a working driver.
  3. Choose a driver with a matching report. The guide's usual 615.71.09 starting point is not universal: some Proxmox reports only worked on 610.43.x.

Proxmox LXC container

Location: kernel driver and unlocker on the Proxmox host; matching user-space libraries in the container. LXC shares the host kernel; it does not use the VM's VFIO route.

Evidence: @spiralglide, 2026-10-08. The LXC reports retain unresolved load failures; this summary does not qualify an exact driver/kernel pair.

  1. Install and verify the driver and unlocker on the host using the driver guide.
  2. Follow the device exposure and container library instructions.
  3. Verify the host first, then check that the container can use the GPU.

Proxmox VM: unlock on host

Location: patched driver and cmpunlocker on the host; stock guest driver after handoff. Keep this route separate from guest unlock.

Reported example: Proxmox VE 9.2.x, kernel family 7.0.x-pve, cmpunlocker 76f0954, host and guest driver 610.43.02, Ubuntu 24.04.4 guest. The kernel family is not an exact-version qualification.

Evidence: @._.patrik, 2026-11-03 (Gen2 retained); @logy0, 2026-10-10 and the dated recipe repository.

  1. Read the upstream passthrough route and its service/reset caveats.
  2. Follow the complete host recipe, checking versions against your own setup.
  3. Verify the host link before handoff, then verify the guest driver and workload.

Proxmox VM: unlock in guest

Location: VFIO on the host; patched NVIDIA driver and cmpunlocker inside the Linux VM. Guest-only unlock has worked without Gen2; Gen2 needs a host retrain route.

Contested: the 2026-11-07 Proxmox 9.2 / Ice Lake report needed 615.71.09, while the Ryzen report only worked on 610.43.x. Neither is a universal compatibility claim.

Evidence: @._.patrik, 2026-11-03; @kingsizexxxl, 2026-11-07; @sh.ad, 2026-11-07.

  1. Compare the conflicting reports before choosing a driver.
  2. Follow the current passthrough route; install the driver/unlocker inside the guest.
  3. Check the physical host link separately from the link reported by the guest.

ESXi VM: unlock in guest

Location: passthrough on ESXi; patched driver and unlocker in the Linux guest.

Reported configuration: ESXi 8.0.3, Ubuntu 24.04, 8 GB cards, v0.5 core ported to 580.178.04 open modules. 64 GB VRAM and Gen2 were reported working. The guest kernel was not specified here. This result does not qualify 10 GB cards.

Evidence: @darkmaniac7, lab notes, 2026-10-21; full ESXi report and instructions.

  1. Follow the ESXi and guest setup.
  2. If the workload needs a 64 GiB BAR1, read the separate host pre-boot procedure. VRAM size and BAR1 size are different checks.
  3. Verify memory, physical link and workload inside the guest with the checks below.

Verify the result

  1. Follow Verifying an unlock: check the loaded patched module, unlock result, memory and BAR1.
  2. Read host and guest link readings in the right context.
  3. Run the acceptance checklist and memory and workload tests. Memory size alone does not establish usable capacity, P2P or ECC correction.
  4. Use Card check for logs and contribute your result with the card variant, driver, exact kernel, boot method and test output.

Route summaries reviewed 2026-11-10. Evidence dates above identify the underlying reports; the review date is not a new hardware test. Compare the full route table or return to Start here.