Tonight while working and having to troubleshoot another piece of critical software (that all of a sudden stopped working for no apparent reason)... I ended up updating my dual monitor Mac Pro with Mac OS 10.13.6 High Sierra to the latest Security Update, 2020-002. Seemed innocent enough. After all it was just a Security Update, right? Pftttt... No big deal.
Oh yes, it apparently WAS A BIG DEAL.... at least to my Nvidia GPU (I'm running a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 on my main system). So much that when I did what I thought was a simple security update, the Nvidia preference control was now shouting at me that there was "No newer CUDA driver available." And when that happens, you may as well start surfing with your phone or tablet because it's practically impossible to use your desktop's web browser in single monitor "earthquake mode."
So the first place I looked for an updated driver was of course, the Nvidia website. Unfortunately, Nvidia seems to not want to have anything to do with us lowly Macintosh users since they don't really have much assistance for anything Mac on their website. Okay, to be fair, the Nvidia card I have is one that would have gone in a PC tower but instead was flashed to work on a Mac (thank you MacVidCards.com). Don't worry, everything is legit... it's not breaking any laws of nature or anything. It's just a way for Mac users to be able to use Nvidia's stellar GPU technology that seems to supposedly work better with some of the tools we post production professionals use. That and the idea that maybe Nvidia just doesn't like us Mac users? Or that's just me?
Anyway, it took a bit of searching into the wee hours to find the answer... ultimately on a Mac Rumors web page of all places.
So if you installed the most recent Security Update 2020-002 for Mac OS 10.13.6 High Sierra (build 17G12034 in my case), and then discovered your CUDA and Nvidia card drivers no longer are up to date, here's the solution (because, like I said, it's NOT on the Nvidia site).
As of today, (March 27, 2020), the latest CUDA Mac Driver Nvidia lists on their site is 418.163, released on 05/10/2019. The correct current GPU Driver to use can be found here (if you also are running build 17G12034 with High Sierra 10.13.6).
Click on this link and it will automatically start downloading the correct driver for that build. In this case, 387.10.10.10.40.135. You'll just need to install it.
Here's the link to the Mac Rumors page where I found it, plus there are also links to many other drivers for other builds that will work with High Sierra 10.13.6 as well:
And it turns out that once you install the new Nvidia driver, the CUDA driver gets automatically updated to version 440.89, which apparently must be the absolute latest, since it isn't really listed anywhere.
Here's the Mac CUDA Drivers Archive page on Nvidia's site as well for future reference:
In conclusion, I would suggest we all go with the Mac Rumors page for future info on the latest Nvidia GPU Drivers for Mac. In hindsight, I suppose it stands to reason that the Mac GPU drivers would not be promoted on Nvidia's site, since the company now largely caters to users of GPU's intended for Windows PC's and Linux systems. The card I have was flashed to get it to run on a Mac. But hey, why should the PC users have all the fun??
In regard to my current Nvidia card (and CUDA/GPU driver "challenges" every time an updated version of the Mac OS comes out), I have to admit that perhaps a new AMD Radeon GPU may soon be in my future. Hmmm...
P.S. If you're looking for some top video cards to beef up your current system or enhance that workhorse you've been using for years, check out: http://www.macvidcards.com They also have driver information for the GPU's they sell (though the specific build I needed was apparently still too new for their site): http://www.macvidcards.com/drivers.html
** You can find your Mac OS build number here, circled in red next to "System Version." Just click on the apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen and select the first option you come to: "About this Mac." Next, click on the button for "System Report." You'll find the "System Software Overview" by selecting "Software" in the left column.
(03-27-20)
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