nvidia-361 361.42-0ubuntu2: nvidia-361 kernel module failed to build when gcc and g++ are set to v4.8 instead of default v5.3

[Mathieu-Andre Chiasson]

after a routine system update, Linux kernel was upgraded to 4.4.0-24-generic. Since then, the nvidia graphic drivers simply refuses to build:

> Building initial module for 4.4.0-24-generic
> Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.4.0-24-generic (x86_64)
> Consult /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-361/361.42/build/make.log for more information.

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: nvidia-361 361.42-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-24.43-generic 4.4.10
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-24-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
DKMSKernelVersion: 4.4.0-24-generic
Date: Sun Jun 12 19:45:40 2016
DuplicateSignature: dkms:nvidia-361:361.42-0ubuntu2:cc: error: unrecognized command line option ‘-fstack-protector-strong’
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-10-31 (225 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 14.04.2 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20150218.1)
PackageVersion: 361.42-0ubuntu2
RelatedPackageVersions:
 dpkg 1.18.4ubuntu1.1
 apt 1.2.12~ubuntu16.04.1
SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers-361
Title: nvidia-361 361.42-0ubuntu2: nvidia-361 kernel module failed to build
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2016-05-04 (39 days ago)

[Mathieu-Andre Chiasson (mchiasson)]

Found the issue. I set my gcc and g++ to 4.8 or 4.9 via update-alternative because we to support Ubuntu 12.04. I moved gcc and g++ back to the default 5.3, did `apt-get remove nvidia-* --purge`, then `apt-get install nvidia-361` and it worked.

[Mathieu-Andre Chiasson (mchiasson)]

Do any of you have any recommendations on how to safely build static/shared libraries for Ubuntu 12.04 on Ubuntu 16.04 without breaking closed source packages such as the nvidia driver? I'm thinking of setting ${CC} and ${CXX} in my ~/.bashrc to point to gcc/g++ 4.8 instead of setting them globally via update-alternative. This should probably be the best solution to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

[Mathieu-Andre Chiasson (mchiasson)]

Work-around confirmed: After adding these two lines in my ~/.bashrc

# For Ubuntu 12.04 backward compatibility.
export CC=gcc-4.7
export CXX=g++-4.7

Then I can build our products with the correct glibc version for Ubuntu 12.04, while gcc-5.3 is used during the updates and via sudo.

[Mathieu-Andre Chiasson (mchiasson)]

I can't figure out how to edit my comments, so big apology in advance. My work around works if and only if gcc and g++ have not been changed or restored to the default version (currently v5.3.1). In other word, changing the default system compiler would create this type of issue, so this isn't really a bug on your side. You may close this bug report, unless you feel that nvidia-361 should be able to build on any gcc/g++ versions.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

We are sorry that we do not always have the capacity to review all reported bugs in a timely manner.

Ubuntu 16.04 (xenial) reached end-of-life on April 29, 2021.

I'm setting this bug to "Incomplete" as it's not seen any activity for some time. If this is still an issue when using a currently maintained release of Ubuntu then please let us know otherwise this bug report can be left to expire in approximately 60 days time.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for One Hundred Papercuts because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for nvidia-graphics-drivers-361 (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]