Arch Linux

the_pumpkin_man

Member

Registered: 2018-11-21

Posts: 15

[SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

I have a working Arch Linux system, with I3 and lightdm. I actually have an Intel CPU and an NVIDIA 930M Geforce GPU. I used the nouveau driver for nvidia before, but now I want the proprietary NVIDIA ones for gaming. I have the linux-hardened kernel, and installed nvidia-dkms. But I dont understand why, at boot or by using startx, I get a black screen.
I also tried to install linux-lts and nvidia-lts drivers, same issue.
I noticed I could still use the system with the keyboard, but my screen stays black.
I tried to change kernel parameters, set brightness, check the logs, but nothing worked.
More strange is that I have another Arch install which has working nvidia-lts drivers, but as it is an old install I can't remember how I did it.
I know I don't have an optimus system.

X logs

So, what's the problem ?

Last edited by the_pumpkin_man (2019-12-14 14:40:03)

jskier

Member

From: Minnesota, USA

Registered: 2003-07-30

Posts: 383

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

Also an issue with nvidia-lts.

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JSkier

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,450

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

[   112.551] (II) NVIDIA(0): Validated MetaModes:
[   112.551] (II) NVIDIA(0):     "NULL"
[   112.551] (II) NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 640 x 480

The display is not attached to the nvidia GPU but the integrated intel GPU so you need to configure optimus.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,450

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

@CjK the_pumpkin_man is using nvidia-dkms which will build the module to match the installed kernel so that would be a different issue.

the_pumpkin_man

Member

Registered: 2018-11-21

Posts: 15

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

I can confirm for the linux-lts, I upgraded my old Arch system and now nvidia-lts is broken lol. But it seems to be the same issue for nvidia-dkms since it doesnt work too. Let's wait for the next update.
@loqs I also checked the X log of my old system when it was working, and I also saw this message. and just to confirm that my system isn't optimus, here is the output of

lspci -k | grep -E 'VGA|3D|Display'

->

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics (rev 09)
04:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM108M [GeForce 930M] (rev a2)

The Intel chip is a CPU, not GPU

Last edited by the_pumpkin_man (2019-12-14 13:41:19)

jskier

Member

From: Minnesota, USA

Registered: 2003-07-30

Posts: 383

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

I can confirm for the linux-lts, I upgraded my old Arch system and now nvidia-lts is broken lol. But it seems to be the same issue for nvidia-dkms since it doesnt work too. Let's wait for the next update.
@loqs I also checked the X log of my old system when it was working, and I also saw this message. and just to confirm that my system isn't optimus, here is the output of

lspci -k | grep -E 'VGA|3D|Display'

->

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics (rev 09)
04:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM108M [GeForce 930M] (rev a2)

The Intel chip is a CPU, not GPU

Thanks man, I was just going to try DKMS.

For a quick fix (I boot between lts and stable for other reasons, so adjust to your needs), run this from cache:

sudo pacman -U /var/cache/pacman/pkg/nvidia-lts-1\:440.36-4-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz /var/cache/pacman/pkg/nvidia-440.36-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz /var/cache/pacman/pkg/nvidia-utils-440.36-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Last edited by jskier (2019-12-14 13:46:32)

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JSkier

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,450

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

The output shows the CPU contains an integrated GPU:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics (rev 09)

Is the nvidia module loaded?  As you stated you are using DKMS your system should not be impacted by this version mismatch.

lsmod

Edit:

[   112.525] (II) xfree86: Adding drm device (/dev/dri/card0)
[   112.526] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/dri/card0 226:0 fd 10 paused 0
[   112.526] (II) xfree86: Adding drm device (/dev/dri/card1)
[   112.527] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/dri/card1 226:1 fd 11 paused 0
....
[   112.528] (**) OutputClass "nvidia" setting /dev/dri/card1 as PrimaryGPU
....
[   112.532] (II) Applying OutputClass "intel" to /dev/dri/card0
....
[   112.534] (II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   112.534]    compiled for 1.20.6, module version = 2.99.917
[   112.534]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[   112.534]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
....
[   112.585] (II) modeset(G0): glamor X acceleration enabled on Mesa DRI Intel(R) Broadwell GT1
[   112.585] (II) modeset(G0): glamor initialized
[   112.589] (II) modeset(G0): Output eDP-1-1 has no monitor section
[   112.590] (II) modeset(G0): Output HDMI-1-1 has no monitor section
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): EDID for output eDP-1-1
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): Manufacturer: CMN  Model: 1736  Serial#: 0
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): Year: 2014  Week: 38
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): EDID Version: 1.3
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): Digital Display Input

If you do not have an integrated GPU why does your Xorg.log contain the above?
Edit2:
For jskier https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/64832

Last edited by loqs (2019-12-14 13:54:45)

jskier

Member

From: Minnesota, USA

Registered: 2003-07-30

Posts: 383

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

Hrmm, just tried nvidia-dkms with lts kernel; it works fine.

EDIT: I don't have optimus on my desktop, which I'm using. Repos are caught up, all good now.

The output shows the CPU contains an integrated GPU:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics (rev 09)

Is the nvidia module loaded?  As you stated you are using DKMS your system should not be impacted by this version mismatch.

lsmod

Edit:

[   112.525] (II) xfree86: Adding drm device (/dev/dri/card0)
[   112.526] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/dri/card0 226:0 fd 10 paused 0
[   112.526] (II) xfree86: Adding drm device (/dev/dri/card1)
[   112.527] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/dri/card1 226:1 fd 11 paused 0
....
[   112.528] (**) OutputClass "nvidia" setting /dev/dri/card1 as PrimaryGPU
....
[   112.532] (II) Applying OutputClass "intel" to /dev/dri/card0
....
[   112.534] (II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   112.534]    compiled for 1.20.6, module version = 2.99.917
[   112.534]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[   112.534]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
....
[   112.585] (II) modeset(G0): glamor X acceleration enabled on Mesa DRI Intel(R) Broadwell GT1
[   112.585] (II) modeset(G0): glamor initialized
[   112.589] (II) modeset(G0): Output eDP-1-1 has no monitor section
[   112.590] (II) modeset(G0): Output HDMI-1-1 has no monitor section
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): EDID for output eDP-1-1
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): Manufacturer: CMN  Model: 1736  Serial#: 0
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): Year: 2014  Week: 38
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): EDID Version: 1.3
[   112.594] (II) modeset(G0): Digital Display Input

If you do not have an integrated GPU why does your Xorg.log contain the above?

Last edited by jskier (2019-12-14 16:42:11)

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JSkier

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,450

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

JSkier because your issue is separate see post #7 and #10.
Edit:
#2,  #3,  #4,  #6,  #9 ,#11, #12, #13
have hijacked / derailed the thread.

Last edited by loqs (2019-12-14 14:01:49)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,805

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

jskier and pumpkin man, your lspci output confirms that you have an optimus system. Configure optimus as linked already. FWIW I do think the "fix" you are applying is breaking nvidia so that you don't run into the optimus situation in the first place. I'll be splitting out the hijacks.

the_pumpkin_man

Member

Registered: 2018-11-21

Posts: 15

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

You were right, I have an optimus system, after installing bumblebee it runs out-of-the box. Well, I just don't understand why my other system is running without optimus configuration ...
Thank you all for your help !

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,805

Re: [SOLVED] Installing NVIDIA drivers = black screen on starting X

Well just because one system is actually an Optimus system doesn't mean the other has to be too, and if you didn't install nvidia on your other system, nouveau will "transparently" take care of the issue, by suspending the dedicated card, and only invoking it via DRI_PRIME=1 environment variable.

FWIW if you're using bumblebee you might also want to be weary of https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=251132

Last edited by V1del (2019-12-14 15:02:44)