X still working after kernel update

English Hardware
#1

Hello.

I have NVidia driver 190.53_2.6.31.5_0.1-8.1.x86_64 installed. When new kernel (2.6.31.8) came as an update I installed it, but kept from restarting my system, because there was no NVidia driver for that kernel in NVidia’s repository and I suspected I’ll have a non-working X-system after rebooting.

Finally I decided to wait no longer and to compile the driver from source after restarting. So I restarted. After booting up I had a graphical login screen in front of me. I was pleasantly surprised, but also very puzzled - how come X didn’t need the new NVidia kernel module?

Can anyone explain me how NVidia driver works these days? And what packages do I really need for that? Currently I have installed:
nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-desktop-190.53_2.6.31.5_0.1-8.1.x86_64
x11-video-nvidiaG02-190.53-9.1.x86_64

#2

The changes in the kernel from 2.6.31.5 to 2.6.31.8 may not be affecting the nvidia driver code. So, the previous version continue to work. Whenever there are kernel changes that is going to affect the driver, nvidia used to release the corresponding versions and will be available from the repo

ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.2/