Blender 2.70 GPU render in Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) with GTX 750ti

This post sums up the current solutions to get Blender 2.70 to render with Cycles GPU (CUDA) with an Nvidia GTX 750ti in Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) amd64.

Test environment

• UbuntuStudio 14.04 amd64
• Blender 2.70 64 bits
• Graphics processor: GEForce GTX 750 ti
• Nvidia driver version 337.12 (xorg-edgers ppa)
• CPU: Core i7 4770

Installation of nvidia-337-uvm
1. Install x-edgers ppa 337.12 nvidia driver from https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa

2. The patch buildfix_kernel_3.12.patch failed in nvida-337-uvm above, so I modified the deb file and removed the patch and instructions associated with it. Download and install the nvidia-337-uvm.deb in https://www.mediafire.com/?wih2o3vhibdvze6
UPDATE: The latest nvidia-337-uvm_337.19-0ubuntu1~xedgers14.04.1_amd64.deb version from the xorg-edgers ppa archives had commented out the patch in the dkms.conf so there is no need to install my mod. Just install the xorg-edgers version.


3. copy 60-nvidia-uvm.rules (in the zip file above) to /etc/udev/rules.d/
note: this is an implementation of the solution posted at https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/699610/334-21-driver-returns-999-on-cuinit-cuda-/?offset=6

4. add nvidia and nvidia-uvm to list of modules in /etc/modules

5. reboot your computer

Installation of sm_50 cuda kernel in blender 2.70

3. Download Jucyfruit's precompiled cuda kernel for linux at http://martijnberger.nl/file/2.70_sm50.tar.gz . (see in context http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?327909-Cycles-NVidia-MAXWELL-Benchmarks&p=2602924&viewfull=1#post2602924)

Copy the X86_64/kernel_sm_50.cubin to blender-2.70-linux-glibc211-x86_64/2.70/scripts/addons/cycles/lib/

Blender 2.70 GPU render in Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy) with GTX 750ti

This is how I got Blender 2.70 to render with Cycles GPU (CUDA) with an Nvidia GTX 750ti in Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) amd64. I hope the new drivers (with less bugs) will be ready when Trusty gets released.

Test environment

UbuntuStudio 13.10 amd64 (3.11.+ kernel)
Blender 2.70 64 bits
Graphics processor: GEForce GTX 750 ti
Nvidia driver version 334.21 (xorg-edgers ppa)
CPU: Core i7 4770

Installation

1. Install x-edgers ppa 334.21 nvidia driver from https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa

2. The patch buildfix_kernel_3.12.patch failed in nvida-334-uvm above, so I modified the deb file and removed the patch and instructions associated with it. Download and install the following deb file http://www.mediafire.com/download/eluzj8umso9ym20/nvidia-334-uvm-nopatch.deb

Warning: Installing this deb may cause your system to throw up three error notifications associated with nvidia-uvm on startup. I just cancel all the dialog boxes.





3. Download Jucyfruit's precompiled cuda kernel for linux at http://martijnberger.nl/file/2.70_sm50.tar.gz . (see in context http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?327909-Cycles-NVidia-MAXWELL-Benchmarks&p=2602924&viewfull=1#post2602924)

Copy the X86_64/kernel_sm_50.cubin to blender-2.70-linux-glibc211-x86_64/2.70/scripts/addons/cycles/lib/


4. Open a terminal and run blender as root one time (nvidia-uvm seems to need this). Use "sudo blender".

Verify by using "ls /dev/nvidia"; (or use 'lsmod | grep nvidia')
"/dev/nvidia-uvm" should be listed.


Note: It appears that this needs to be done over again every time the computer is rebooted. There seems to be a solution here https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/699610/334-21-driver-returns-999-on-cuinit-cuda-/?offset=6  ; but I have not tried it.

My GPU Render benchmarks

BMW1M-MikePan.blend - 1:11.63
cycles_cornell_bench_27.blend - 2:59.52

Compare your results with these http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?331149-The-new-Cyles-GPU-2-70-Benchmark&highlight=cycles+benchmark