Arch Linux

yaubara

Member

Registered: 2025-09-19

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] Gigabyte G5-MF laptop issue.

Hello, I am new to Unix systems. Specifically, this is my first time using Arch.
I am having trouble running Arch with Hyprland and hybrid graphics (RTX-4050 + i3-12500H) on my Gigabyte G5MF laptop.

I spent about 40 hours looking for a solution to the problem, completely reinstalled the system four times (manual & archinstall) according wiki, and tried to install Hyprland using various dotfiles in the hope that I was just doing something wrong and that the automatic installation script would do everything right for me. Nothing helped. Now, it seems, all I can do is hope for help here.

My specifications
* Gigabyte G5MF Laptop.
* RTX-4050.
* i3-12500H.
* Latest version of UEFI.
* Kernel 6.16.7-arch1-1
* Arch

Problem:
The system won't boot with the GRUB settings nvidia.drm-modeset=1 and mkinitcpio.conf MODULES= (i915 nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm).
It freezes at “Loading initial RAM disk” during startup. (I can type, but I can't get into TTY. AI says that a kernel panic occurs here when the graphics core of the processor and RTX-4050 simultaneously attempt to take control of the output).

* Arch itself starts successfully with modeset=1, but when installing with
MODULES=(i915 nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm) it freezes.
* MODULES is required according to https://wiki.hypr.land/Nvidia/#further-installation
* Hyprland does not start if modeset=1 is set without MODULES — TTY freezes.
* All Hyprland and nvidia settings are according to the Hyprland wiki.
* The system is dual booted with Windows 11

What I tried:
* linux and linux-lts.
* nvidia, nvidia-dkms, and nvidia-open-dkms. (latest versions)
* Blacklisting the integrated graphics programmatically — freezes when booting on the Gigabyte logo.
* I tried various combinations of MODULES, up to (i915).
* Manual installation, installation via archinstall, installation of minimal Arch and subsequent installation of Hyprland via dotfiles.
* Updating UEFI to the latest version.
* pacman -Syu of course.
* Reading the first two pages of Google results in search of similar problems.
* “Gemini 2.5 Pro research” with journalctl logs and all the additional information I specified here.

What I can't do:
* Disable the integrated/discrete card in UEFI — I have dual boot with Windows, I need everything to work there.

Logs:
Log of failed startup
journalctl -b -1 -p 4
http://0x0.st/KT3X.txt

Startup with nvidia.drm-modeset=0
journalctl -b -0 -p 4
http://0x0.st/KT38.txt

journalctl -b
http://0x0.st/KT3h.txt

mkinitcpio.conf
https://0x0.st/KT3G.txt

grub.conf
https://0x0.st/KT3d.txt

I am ready to provide any additional information that may be required. Thank you!

Last edited by yaubara (2025-11-05 18:15:55)

ntb314

Member

Registered: 2025-02-13

Posts: 26

Re: [SOLVED] Gigabyte G5-MF laptop issue.

Hi

I checked your `journalctl -b -1 -p4` log, and it looks like the system is freezing after loading the initramfs but before switching to the real root. That usually points to a conflict during early graphics module init — likely `i915` and `nvidia_drm` both trying to take over the display too early.

Also, your `mkinitcpio.conf` has both `i915` and all NVIDIA modules loaded early. That can cause hybrid GPU setups to choke at boot.

Here are a few things to try:

1. Trim your MODULES array first 
Start with just the NVIDIA modules:

MODULES=(nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm)

If that boots, try adding `i915` after them:

MODULES=(nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm i915)

The order can matter — `i915` grabbing the framebuffer early often causes issues.

2. Make sure you regenerate your initramfs after every change

sudo mkinitcpio -P

If you forget this, your changes won’t apply.

3. Try linux-lts with nvidia-dkms 
You mentioned trying this — just double check that `nvidia-dkms` is building correctly against your kernel:

dkms status

LTS kernel + DKMS tends to be more stable for hybrid laptops.

4. Check Secure Boot 
Make sure Secure Boot is disabled in your UEFI. If it’s on, the kernel may silently block unsigned modules like `nvidia_drm`.

5. Try booting with nomodeset (as a test) 
Edit your GRUB entry and temporarily add:

nomodeset

(or try `nvidia-drm.modeset=0`) — just to see if it boots further. This disables early KMS and helps narrow down what's breaking.

6. Check and share specific log errors 
Once you boot with modeset off, run:

journalctl -b -1 | grep -Ei 'nvidia|drm|i915|error|fail'

Post a few lines from that — it'll help narrow things down.

Hope this helped

yaubara

Member

Registered: 2025-09-19

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Gigabyte G5-MF laptop issue.

So, after recovering from illness and taking a short break from Linux, I was finally able to return to exploring this issue. I apologize, but I did not follow the steps outlined by ntb314, as I had already tried them all.

Instead, I began investigating the logs using AI, provided it with enough information, and discovered that the problem was related to ACPI errors. I still haven't fully explored the ACPI issue, but I've come to the conclusion that either my manufacturer is terrible and I need to select the ACPI flags manually, or there must be some stupidly important parameter in the UEFI settings that can affect the boot, excluding "Secure Boot". I was pleasantly surprised when I found the ONLY parameter called “Fast boot” and disabled it. When I booted up, some of the ACPI errors disappeared from the log and the nvidia modules loaded correctly. Problem solved!

Here are still a couple of ACPI errors (which I hope will not affect anything important) and several errors related to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but I think I can solve them. Especially since Wi-Fi itself works fine.

Anyway, thank you for your help. Without this wiki and individual posts on the forum, I probably wouldn't make it.