NVIDIA To Stop Offering 32-bit Driver Support

[DanL]

can't install in 32bit os, so yes, it does

You don't need a 32-bit OS to run 32-bit games/apps. Once again, you double down on your BS statement and make monumental effort to miss the point.

[pal666]

No, it doesn't (32-bit libs are still bundled).

can't install in 32bit os, so yes, it does

[Kano]

If you need to use an old Win 32 bit install then you soon can not buy new gfx cards for it. AMD has no 32 bit drivers for Win too for Polaris/Vega. So this will mainly affect Win users wanting to use old apps/games which do not run with a 64 bit OS.

For Linux this restriction is not important as 64 bit systems can run basically older 32 bit apps fine and there are no 16 bit Linux apps.

64bit Xorg server (can run 32bit x clients as long as 32bit libx11 is installed.
So 64bit /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so will suffice.

This leaves you needing 32bit nvidia gl libraries, 32bit glibc, and whatever other 32bit libraries your 32bit application is using. It's too annoying for my taste but I understand the need for old applications.

[starshipeleven]

If you look at https://http.download.nvidia.com/XFr...x86_64/387.34/ , they already bundle 32bit libraries in the 64bit installer. If they continue like this, it only means removing support for 32bit kernels.

and 32bit xorg and 32bit Glibc and 32bit whatever else the driver is relying on to work on a 32bit system. There isn't just the kernel.

If you look at https://http.download.nvidia.com/XFr...x86_64/387.34/ , they already bundle 32bit libraries in the 64bit installer. If they continue like this, it only means removing support for 32bit kernels.
A 32bit executable can run on a 64bit kernel operating hardware using the 64bit kernel driver provided the 32bit userspace libraries are present.

[DanL]

this only means broken old games for nvidiots

No, it doesn't (32-bit libs are still bundled). Sorry to ruin your "witty" insult with a fact.

[pal666]

Finally! I will hopefully force companies to port their games/applications to 64 bit for real.

lol
this only means broken old games for nvidiots

[starshipeleven]

This is all I can find: http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3142
As you can see, it hasn't been updated in years, so I don't know what branch will be the next legacy branch.

Heh, I'd be more inclined to see this as a NVIDIA just dropping the ball on 32-bit, so I don't think they will put it into the LTS program like the 340. But that's my own gut feeling.

Time to mailbomb their customer support and "contact us" things, or post in their forums.

Or to change GPU. You can buy a supported AMD (old) one for like 10$ (shipping included) on ebay.

EDIT: that article you posted in the second post talks about Windows driver, where they can just put the driver in life support and it will keep working fine until the next major Windows version.

[DanL]

Okay, so I see further/conflicting information:

Release 390 will be available in December 2017. The NVIDIA support team will continue to address critical bug and security issues in Release 390 until December 2020. Thereafter, critical security fixes will be provided until December 2021. Future driver enhancements, driver optimizations, and OS features (i.e., from future OS releases) in driver releases after Release 390 will not be incorporated.
NVIDIA intends to support security fixes as follows:

Priority Level	Support Timeframe
Low to Critical	Until December 2019
Critical Only	Until December 2021

http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4606/