KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

d_fajardo · 2019-01-21 23:25:26

I have just installed a P2000 Quadro graphics card and have installed the driver and have set my KMS kernel parameter, my mkinitcpio to include the modules and my pacman hook as described in the Nvidia wiki.
I am using rEFInd as boot manager and logging in with SDDM on a plasma KDE desktop. I'm not sure it's working though.

Before, when I was using the integrated INTEL graphics, I can have a full resolution of 3840x2160 in rEFInd and plymouth, both running flawlessly.

But now with the Nvidia graphics I can't have that resolution - rEFInd is maxed at 1024x768 and plymouth has become completely useless (big with no animation). I have tried uvesafb-dkms but that didn't make any difference. It also does the same in shutting off the computer. The resolution goes down and plymouth once again is completely useless.

I gathered that nvidia has issues with this I am just wondering if there's a solution. If the integrated Intel graphics work without a hitch, could there be a solution to this? It looks like I have a lot of framebuffer modes #hwinfo --framebuffer:

02: None 00.0: 11001 VESA Framebuffer                           
  [Created at bios.459]
  Unique ID: rdCR.pzSJSS7NeC7
  Hardware Class: framebuffer
  Model: "NVIDIA GP106 Board"
  Vendor: "NVIDIA Corporation"
  Device: "GP106 Board"
  SubVendor: "NVIDIA"
  SubDevice: 
  Revision: "Chip Rev"
  Memory Size: 16 MB
  Memory Range: 0x01000000-0x01ffffff (rw)
  Mode 0x0301: 640x480 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0303: 800x600 (+800), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0305: 1024x768 (+1024), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0307: 1280x1024 (+1280), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0311: 640x480 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0312: 640x480 (+2560), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0314: 800x600 (+1600), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0315: 800x600 (+3200), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0317: 1024x768 (+2048), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0318: 1024x768 (+4096), 24 bits
  Mode 0x031a: 1280x1024 (+2560), 16 bits
  Mode 0x031b: 1280x1024 (+5120), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0345: 1600x1200 (+1600), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0346: 1600x1200 (+3200), 16 bits
  Mode 0x034a: 1600x1200 (+6400), 24 bits
  Mode 0x034b: 3840x2160 (+3840), 8 bits
  Mode 0x034c: 3840x2160 (+7680), 16 bits
  Mode 0x034d: 3840x2160 (+15360), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0371: 1360x768 (+5440), 24 bits
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

I also gathered there is a solution for Grub but I don't really want to shift to Grub just for this. So the main question is is there a possibility of early KMS for nvidia?

Gusar · 2019-01-22 05:20:28

KMS isn't what gets you a high resolution console, that's a very common misconception. The console runs on fbdev. It's just that open source KMS drivers have built-in fbdev emulation (which is optional nowadays and can be disabled, because fbdev is considered deprecated), but there's no such fbdev emulation in the nvidia KMS driver.

Considering your hwinfo output shows you have high resolutions in your vbios, the way for you to get a high resolution console is to *disable* nvidia KMS and simply use vesafb. I think, but I'm not entirely sure, using vga=845 on the kernel commandline will do it. I got that number by converting 0x034d from your mode list to decimal.

d_fajardo · 2019-01-22 08:58:33

Thanks Gusar. I'm not really sure how to use vesafb. I checked dmesg and there's no mention of that frame buffer. I have however efifb:

[    0.586449] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 3: assigned to efifb
[    0.773140] efifb: probing for efifb
[    0.773148] efifb: showing boot graphics
[    0.774188] efifb: framebuffer at 0xd1000000, using 3072k, total 3072k
[    0.774189] efifb: mode is 1024x768x32, linelength=4096, pages=1
[    0.774189] efifb: scrolling: redraw
[    0.774190] efifb: Truecolor: size=8:8:8:8, shift=24:16:8:0

but it's only got 1024x768 resolution and I think that's what I'm getting for my rEFInd and Plymouth right now. I believe there's no option to change efifb or is there one? Otherwise how do you revert to vesafb?

Lone_Wolf · 2019-01-22 14:25:14

ReFind has a resolution option that may help , see https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/configfile.html .

according to https://superuser.com/questions/1209012 … resolution that setting might carry through to linux efifb.

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2019-01-22 14:25:39)

Gusar · 2019-01-22 14:59:24

Oh yeah, EFI, vesafb won't work with that, it'll only work in BIOS compatibility mode. You might be out of luck then, unless what Lone_Wolf suggested works.

d_fajardo · 2019-01-22 23:08:30

I actually have played around with the rEFInd config file before starting this thread. The highest resolution it could give me is 1280x1024. I assume there is no solution. My suspicion is that when I plug my DP to the motherboard port, the motherboard firmware passes the correct 3840x2160 resolution to the Intel graphics but somehow when I use Nvidia DP port, that information is lost and Nvidia takes the information from efifb. It seems that's what's happening but I can easily be wrong.

loqs · 2019-01-22 23:32:22

Does adding the boot option video=efifb:width:3840,height:2160 have any effect?

Lone_Wolf · 2019-01-23 11:40:22

Is CSM support enabled or disabled in the motherboard firmware ?

d_fajardo · 2019-01-23 11:51:13

loqs wrote:

Does adding the boot option video=efifb:width:3840,height:2160 have any effect?

No it didn't have an effect. In fact I couldn't boot. The machine was stuck on the Asus logo after reEFInd. I had to perform an emergency chroot to erase the entry.

Regarding CSM I don't know. I have to probe my BIOS setting and will let you know.

d_fajardo · 2019-01-23 12:02:30

I have also experimented with the nouveau dfriver. The full resolution does kick in for plymouth, unlike the nvidia driver but rEFInd is still in a lower resolution.
I have now decided in the course of all this not to use a bootloader. I don't really have a need for one as my other OS's are all in virtual machines. So now I'm setup booting with EFISTUB. With nouveau, plymouth kicks in rtight away in the correct resolution.

d_fajardo · 2019-01-23 12:32:52

Yes CSM is enabled. Should this be the case? What to do?

d_fajardo · 2019-01-24 09:19:39

After trying out the nouveau driver, I decided to go back to nvidia. It's just much better with opengl. I guess I will just have to live with the lower resolution on startup.

Lone_Wolf · 2019-01-24 11:32:40

Some motherboard manufacturers seem to think CSM is only needed for legacy OSes and artificially put limits on CSM .
Try disabling CSM.

example:
my ASrock x399 mobo only allows me to enable "Above 4G decoding" (very useful for linux x86_64 on an AMD processor) if CSM is disabled.
My (recently broken) BIOS/MBR motherboard from 2009 had absolutely no problem with that setting.

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2019-01-24 11:33:06)

Arch Linux

#1 2019-01-21 23:25:26

KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#2 2019-01-22 05:20:28

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#3 2019-01-22 08:58:33

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#4 2019-01-22 14:25:14

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#5 2019-01-22 14:59:24

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#6 2019-01-22 23:08:30

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#7 2019-01-22 23:32:22

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#8 2019-01-23 11:40:22

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#9 2019-01-23 11:51:13

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#10 2019-01-23 12:02:30

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#11 2019-01-23 12:32:52

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#12 2019-01-24 09:19:39

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

#13 2019-01-24 11:32:40

Re: KMS with Nvidia Graphics doesn't seem to be working

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