For installing Nvidia on a new workstation, I can do better than last time: NVidia on Debian Jessie. The secret this time is to include the kernel related modules up front.
The drivers are closed source binaries, so non-free packages are required:
Then install the packages:$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stretch main non-free contrib deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stretch main non-free contrib
sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings nvidia-xconfig \ nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-kernel-`uname -r`
During installation, the notice about a nouveau nvidia driver conflict can be ignored.
Run nvidia-xconfig to generate a fresh /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. The system will require a reboot to load the new driver and configuration.
Upon reboot, run 'sudo nvidia-settings &' in order to view NVidia's Configuration utility. Click on 'X Server Display Configuration' for monitor setup.
I found that the xinerama doesn't work properly. I can log in to the system from the graphical screen, but then the screen manager crashes, and the screens go black. I found that ctrl-alt-f1 got me a console to recover what i was doing.
Instead, I went into the advanced options, and chose 'Enable Base Mosaic'. That allows me to use multiple monitors. The utllity has to be run as sudo in order to allow the 'Save to X Configuration File' button to work properly.
Some additional instruction was helpful from NVIDIA GeForce Driver Installation on Debian Jessie Linux 8 64bit