NVIDIA

This article covers the proprietary NVIDIA graphics card driver. For the open-source driver, see Nouveau. If you have a laptop with hybrid Intel/NVIDIA graphics, see NVIDIA Optimus instead.

Related articles

Installation

These instructions are for those using the stock or packages. For custom kernel setup, skip to the next subsection.

1. If you do not know what graphics card you have, find out by issuing:

2. Determine the necessary driver version for your card by:

3. Install the appropriate driver for your card:

Note:

4. For 32-bit application support, also install the corresponding lib32 package from the multilib repository (e.g. ).

5. Remove from the HOOKS array in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and regenerate the initramfs. This will prevent the initramfs from containing the module making sure the kernel cannot load it during early boot.

6. Reboot. The nvidia package contains a file which blacklists the module, so rebooting is necessary.

Once the driver has been installed, continue to #Xorg configuration or #Wayland.

Unsupported drivers

If you have an older card, NVIDIA no longer actively supports drivers for your card. This means that these drivers do not officially support the current Xorg version. It thus might be easier to use the nouveau driver, which supports the old cards with the current Xorg.

However, NVIDIA's legacy drivers are still available and might provide better 3D performance/stability.

Custom kernel

If using a custom kernel, compilation of the NVIDIA kernel modules can be automated with DKMS. Install the package (or a specific branch), and the corresponding headers for your kernel.

Ensure your kernel has , and if using CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF then this is needed in the PKGBUILD (since kernel 5.16):

install -Dt "$builddir/tools/bpf/resolve_btfids" tools/bpf/resolve_btfids/resolve_btfids

The NVIDIA module will be rebuilt after every NVIDIA or kernel update thanks to the DKMS pacman hook.

DRM kernel mode setting

To enable DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) kernel mode setting, add the kernel parameter.

Early loading

For basic functionality, just adding the kernel parameter should suffice. If you want to ensure it is loaded at the earliest possible occasion, or are noticing startup issues (such as the kernel module being loaded after the display manager) you can add , , and nvidia_drm to the initramfs.

mkinitcpio

If you use mkinitcpio initramfs, follow mkinitcpio#MODULES to add modules.

If added to the initramfs, do not forget to run mkinitcpio every time there is a nvidia driver update. See #pacman hook to automate these steps.

Booster

If you use Booster, follow Booster#Early module loading.

pacman hook

To avoid the possibility of forgetting to update initramfs after an NVIDIA driver upgrade, you may want to use a pacman hook:

Make sure the package set in this hook is the one you have installed in steps above (e.g. , , or ).

Note: The complication in the Exec line above is in order to avoid running mkinitcpio multiple times if both nvidia and linux get updated. In case this does not bother you, the Target=linux and NeedsTargets lines may be dropped, and the Exec line may be reduced to simply Exec=/usr/bin/mkinitcpio -P.

Hardware accelerated video decoding

Accelerated video decoding with VDPAU is supported on GeForce 8 series cards and newer. Accelerated video decoding with NVDEC is supported on Fermi (~400 series) cards and newer. See Hardware video acceleration for details.

Hardware accelerated video encoding with NVENC

NVENC requires the module and the creation of related device nodes under .

The latest driver package provides a udev rule which creates device nodes automatically, so no further action is required.

If you are using an old driver (e.g. ), you need to create device nodes. Invoking the utility automatically creates them. You can create to run it automatically:

/etc/udev/rules.d/70-nvidia.rules
ACTION=="add", DEVPATH=="/bus/pci/drivers/nvidia", RUN+="/usr/bin/nvidia-modprobe -c 0 -u"

Xorg configuration

The proprietary NVIDIA graphics card driver does not need any Xorg server configuration file. You can start X to see if the Xorg server will function correctly without a configuration file. However, it may be required to create a configuration file (prefer over ) in order to adjust various settings. This configuration can be generated by the NVIDIA Xorg configuration tool, or it can be created manually. If created manually, it can be a minimal configuration (in the sense that it will only pass the basic options to the Xorg server), or it can include a number of settings that can bypass Xorg's auto-discovered or pre-configured options.

Automatic configuration

The NVIDIA package includes an automatic configuration tool to create an Xorg server configuration file () and can be run by:

# nvidia-xconfig

This command will auto-detect and create (or edit, if already present) the configuration according to present hardware.

If there are instances of DRI, ensure they are commented out:

#    Load        "dri"

Double check your to make sure your default depth, horizontal sync, vertical refresh, and resolutions are acceptable.

nvidia-settings

The tool lets you configure many options using either CLI or GUI. Running without any options launches the GUI, for CLI options see .

You can run the CLI/GUI as a non-root user and save the settings to by using the option Save Current Configuration under nvidia-settings Configuration tab.

To load the for the current user:

$ nvidia-settings --load-config-only

See Autostarting to start this command on every boot.

Note:

Manual configuration

Several tweaks (which cannot be enabled automatically or with nvidia-settings) can be performed by editing your configuration file. The Xorg server will need to be restarted before any changes are applied.

See NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Graphics Driver README and Installation Guide for additional details and options.

Minimal configuration

A basic configuration block in (or deprecated in ) would look like this:

Disabling the logo on startup

Add the option under section :

Option "NoLogo" "1"

Overriding monitor detection

The "ConnectedMonitor" option under section allows to override monitor detection when X server starts, which may save a significant amount of time at start up. The available options are: for analog connections, for digital monitors and for televisions.

The following statement forces the NVIDIA driver to bypass startup checks and recognize the monitor as DFP:

Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"

Enabling brightness control

Add to kernel paremeters:

nvidia.NVreg_RegistryDwords=EnableBrightnessControl=1

Alternatively, add the following under section :

Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

If brightness control still does not work with this option, try installing nvidia-bl-dkmsAUR.

Enabling SLI

Taken from the NVIDIA driver's README Appendix B: This option controls the configuration of SLI rendering in supported configurations. A "supported configuration" is a computer equipped with an SLI-Certified Motherboard and 2 or 3 SLI-Certified GeForce GPUs.

Find the first GPU's PCI Bus ID using :

# lspci | grep -E "VGA|3D controller"
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107 [GeForce GTX 650] (rev a1)
04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107 [GeForce GTX 650] (rev a1)
08:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM108GLM [Quadro K620M / Quadro M500M] (rev a2)

Add the BusID (3 in the previous example) under section :

BusID "PCI:3:0:0"

Add the desired SLI rendering mode value under section :

Option "SLI" "AA"

The following table presents the available rendering modes.

ValueBehavior
0, no, off, false, SingleUse only a single GPU when rendering.
1, yes, on, true, AutoEnable SLI and allow the driver to automatically select the appropriate rendering mode.
AFREnable SLI and use the alternate frame rendering mode.
SFREnable SLI and use the split frame rendering mode.
AAEnable SLI and use SLI antialiasing. Use this in conjunction with full scene antialiasing to improve visual quality.

Alternatively, you can use the nvidia-xconfig utility to insert these changes into with a single command:

# nvidia-xconfig --busid=PCI:3:0:0 --sli=AA

To verify that SLI mode is enabled from a shell:

If this configuration does not work, you may need to use the PCI Bus ID provided by ,

and comment out the PrimaryGPU option in your xorg.d configuration,

/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf
...

Section "OutputClass"
...
    # Option "PrimaryGPU" "yes"
...

Using this configuration may also solve any graphical boot issues.

Multiple monitors

See Multihead for more general information.

Using nvidia-settings

The nvidia-settings tool can configure multiple monitors.

For CLI configuration, first get the by running:

Save everything after the to the end of the attribute (in this case: ) and use to reconfigure your displays with .

ConnectedMonitor

If the driver does not properly detect a second monitor, you can force it to do so with ConnectedMonitor. 

/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Panasonic"
    ModelName      "Panasonic MICRON 2100Ex"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 121.0 # this monitor has incorrect EDID, hence Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 160.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor2"
    VendorName     "Gateway"
    ModelName      "GatewayVX1120"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 121.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 160.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    Option         "NoLogo"
    Option         "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
    Option         "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 6200 LE"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device2"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    Option         "NoLogo"
    Option         "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
    Option         "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 6200 LE"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

The duplicated device with is how you get X to use two monitors on one card without . Note that will strip out any options you have added.

TwinView

You want only one big screen instead of two. Set the argument to . This option should be used if you desire compositing. TwinView only works on a per card basis, when all participating monitors are connected to the same card.

Option "TwinView" "1"

Example configuration:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "TwinLayout"
    Screen         0 "metaScreen" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    Option         "Enable" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    Option         "Enable" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Card0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"

    #refer to the link below for more information on each of the following options.
    Option         "HorizSync"          "DFP-0: 28-33; DFP-1: 28-33"
    Option         "VertRefresh"        "DFP-0: 43-73; DFP-1: 43-73"
    Option         "MetaModes"          "1920x1080, 1920x1080"
    Option         "ConnectedMonitor"   "DFP-0, DFP-1"
    Option         "MetaModeOrientation" "DFP-1 LeftOf DFP-0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "metaScreen"
    Device         "Card0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "True"
    SubSection "Display"
        Modes          "1920x1080"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Device option information.

If you have multiple cards that are SLI capable, it is possible to run more than one monitor attached to separate cards (for example: two cards in SLI with one monitor attached to each). The "MetaModes" option in conjunction with SLI Mosaic mode enables this. Below is a configuration which works for the aforementioned example and runs GNOME flawlessly.

Vertical sync using TwinView

If you are using TwinView and vertical sync (the "Sync to VBlank" option in nvidia-settings), you will notice that only one screen is being properly synced, unless you have two identical monitors. Although nvidia-settings does offer an option to change which screen is being synced (the "Sync to this display device" option), this does not always work. A solution is to add the following environment variables at startup, for example append in :

export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK=1
export __GL_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DFP-0
export VDPAU_NVIDIA_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DFP-0

You can change with your preferred screen ( is the DVI port and is the VGA port). You can find the identifier for your display from nvidia-settings in the "X Server XVideoSettings" section.

Gaming using TwinView

In case you want to play fullscreen games when using TwinView, you will notice that games recognize the two screens as being one big screen. While this is technically correct (the virtual X screen really is the size of your screens combined), you probably do not want to play on both screens at the same time.

To correct this behavior for SDL, try:

export SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=1

For OpenGL, add the appropriate Metamodes to your xorg.conf in section and restart X:

Option "Metamodes" "1680x1050,1680x1050; 1280x1024,1280x1024; 1680x1050,NULL; 1280x1024,NULL;"

Another method that may either work alone or in conjunction with those mentioned above is starting games in a separate X server.

Mosaic mode

Mosaic mode is the only way to use more than 2 monitors across multiple graphics cards with compositing. Your window manager may or may not recognize the distinction between each monitor. Mosaic mode requires a valid SLI configuration. Even if using Base mode without SLI, the GPUs must still be SLI capable/compatible.

Base Mosaic

Base Mosaic mode works on any set of Geforce 8000 series or higher GPUs. It cannot be enabled from within the nvidia-setting GUI. You must either use the nvidia-xconfig command line program or edit by hand. Metamodes must be specified. The following is an example for four DFPs in a 2x2 configuration, each running at 1920x1024, with two DFPs connected to two cards:

$ nvidia-xconfig --base-mosaic --metamodes="GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+0, GPU-1.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+1024, GPU-1.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+1024"
SLI Mosaic

If you have an SLI configuration and each GPU is a Quadro FX 5800, Quadro Fermi or newer then you can use SLI Mosaic mode. It can be enabled from within the nvidia-settings GUI or from the command line with:

$ nvidia-xconfig --sli=Mosaic --metamodes="GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+0, GPU-1.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+1024, GPU-1.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+1024"

Wayland

See Wayland#Requirements for more information.

For further configuration options, take a look at the wiki pages or documentation of the respective compositor.

Regarding XWayland take a look at Wayland#XWayland.

Follow GDM#Wayland and the proprietary NVIDIA driver when using GDM.

Tips and tricks

See NVIDIA/Tips and tricks.

Troubleshooting

See NVIDIA/Troubleshooting.

gollark: Alternatively a low level software one.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: Nope.
gollark: No. I would mention that.
gollark: No, Linux, and it is being cold booted.

See also
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