[Guide] Debian 9 Stretch Linux with nVidia 418.x drivers and CUDA 10.1
I wanted to make a sub 100 watt dedicated and headerless PC to crunch SETI units quickly. I chose to use Debian Linux for the OS because it's small, fast and easy to work with. This full install is under 2Gb so you can install it to just a USB flash drive (perfect for low power systems or for Windows users who want to try another operating system) or a small HDD or SSD. I'm using this setup with a GTX 1050 Ti and it's complete system draw is just 80 watts (when combined with low power AMD processor) - with a current processing speed of over 920 GFLOPS and work units taking approximately 2-3 minutes to complete. See the computer here.
To use the nVidia 418.x driver and CUDA 10.1 driver described here you'll need a card with a compute capability of 5.0 or higher. This system is also setup to use 1 dedicated CPU core per GPU.
Here's how I did it:
Get Debian 9 (Stretch) - the net install version under 'Small CDs or USB sticks' .
Write the image to a USB drive/CD/DVD using something like Rufus .
Boot and install to drive of your choice - another USB drive/HDD/SSD.
Make note of your <username> and <password> and also the <root_password> during install.
When installing, at 'Software selection' just choose 'SSH server' and nothing else.
Remove installation media and reboot when prompted.
Login using <username> and <password>, then at the prompt type:
Add non-free, contrib and 'backports' (which is Debian for 'new software') to the sources list:
Update sources:
Create a static IP:
Reboot by typing:
Move to another PC and use a SSH client (e.g. PuTTY ) to connect to the Debian machine using SSH.
Enter the static IP you've set above click 'Open'.
Accept the security alert (it's just the first time the your PC has seen the security certificate).
Login using <username> and <password>, then:
Download and install the latest nVidia driver (currently 418.x):
Reboot by typing:
Reconnect using SSH client (e.g. PuTTY)
Login using <username> and <password>, then:
Download and install the latest nVidia SMI (418.x) and Cuda (10.1) drivers
Once installed, you can type the following to see your System Management Information:
Download and install the latest BOINC client:
Then attach the BOINC client to SETI and then immediately pause the work units:
Stop the BOINC daemon:
Change directory to SETI project and download and uncompress the SETI CUDA 10.1 binary blob:
Change file attributes so they all belong to the BOINC daemon and can be executed:
If you have more than 1 GPU, you'll want to edit your cc_config.xml:
Reboot by typing:
Reconnect using SSH client (e.g. PuTTY)
Login using <username> and <password>, then:
Get the work units flowing:
And that's it. You can of course check progress with:

Thanks for the minimalist guide to getting the special app working.Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

Thanks for the minimalist guide to getting the special app working.

+1Oh NO.... I lost my tagline....

ID: 2001984 · ReplyQuote

I install the nvidia-kernel-dkms package rather than nvidia-driver:
apt install -t stretch-backports nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-opencl-icd-y
Also to save time I have the account* files on a USB key and copy them into the BOINC data directory /var/lib/boinc-client that way you don’t have to tell it to attach to the projects.BOINC blog

If you’re doing headless crunchers you can also use BOINCtasks to add projects and control settings. It’s a lot easier to see what they’re up to for day to day operations.BOINC blog

[Guide] Debian 9 Stretch Linux with nVidia 418.x drivers and CUDA 10.1
I wanted to make a sub 100 watt dedicated and headerless PC to crunch SETI units quickly. I chose to use Debian Linux for the OS because it's small, fast and easy to work with. This full install is under 2Gb so you can install it to just a USB flash drive (perfect for low power systems or for Windows users who want to try another operating system) or a small HDD or SSD. I'm using this setup with a GTX 1050 Ti and it's complete system draw is just 80 watts (when combined with low power AMD processor) - with a current processing speed of over 920 GFLOPS and work units taking approximately 2-3 minutes to complete. See the computer here.

. . Apart from overflowed tasks it seems to me that is more like 3 -4 mins and closer to the 4 than 3 :) but still excellent results :)
. . I don't know why but I have an overpowering sense of deja vu here ... :) but you have done an excellent job of a specific end to end description of the process. It should help even more users make the leap into the mysterious depths of Linux territory.
Stephen
:)