Arch Linux

gen2arch

Member

Registered: 2013-05-16

Posts: 182

How to get a decent console while using nvidia-dkms drivers?

Hi,

I'm using nvidia drivers on my laptop compiled and installed via the nvidia-dkms package.

Screen display upon booting is horrible, it is like a 80x50 monitor of the seventies.

This makes it near to impossible to start into a non-graphical environment, in order to debug graphic issues for instance: fonts are so huge that it is impossible to get a decent output of commands.

Is there a way to get a normal console, even when using nvidia?

thanks

gummo

Omar007

Member

Registered: 2015-04-09

Posts: 368

Re: How to get a decent console while using nvidia-dkms drivers?

You could try to boot with CSM completely disabled in your BIOS/UEFI. That should make it boot in pure EFI mode, allowing for a high resolution console using efifb.

gen2arch

Member

Registered: 2013-05-16

Posts: 182

Re: How to get a decent console while using nvidia-dkms drivers?

You could try to boot with CSM completely disabled in your BIOS/UEFI. That should make it boot in pure EFI mode, allowing for a high resolution console using efifb.

Unfortunately, this didn't change anything either.

Having read around a lot, this seems to be the result: Nvidia sucks. Using Nvidia forces your 4k display pose as a 80x25 resolution display of the seventies. It sucks beyond expression that you have to use your 4k display in this manner. It makes it impossible to use your installed OS to debug X issues. With nvidia drivers there is just X, nothing else.

thanks

gummo