Arch Linux

jekk

Member

Registered: 2019-05-09

Posts: 6

[SOLVED] X not working after I installed nvidia-settings

Hi guys, this is my first post! Sorry if my English is not so good.

I have an Acer Aspire E14 with NVIDIA MX 130 and Intel UHD Graphics 620 on which I installed both `nvidia` and `nouveau` driver, although I blacklisted nouveau to use full GPU performance for gaming.
Everything work well until a few days ago when I installed `nvidia-settings` and rebooted, only black screen appeared and Gnome wouldn't run.

I figured that the problem lies in X, although the exact reason is still unknown to me. I have remove `nvidia-settings`, reinstall `nvidia`, `nvidia-utils`, `xorg-server`, and `gdm` all to no avail. I also tried regenerate xorg config file using both `nvidia-xconfig` and `Xorg -configure`, but running X using each config file resulted in different error.

When using `nvidia-xconfig`:
File: xorg.conf.nvidia
Log: Xorg.0.log.nvidia
Result:

(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sun Dec 29 23:11:22 2019
(==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) no screens found(EE)
(EE)
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help.
(EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
(EE)
(EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

When using `Xorg -configure`:
File: xorg.conf.X
Log: Xorg.0.log.X
Result:
    The screen turned black

I also tried running X without any `xorg.conf` and the result is similar with the one using nvidia's xorg.conf.

I also found posts regarding similar problem, but im don't understand X nor any of these device drivers stuff really well and im afraid that i will just mistakenly brick my laptop even further.

Here is the result of `lshw`, if it would help:
lshw

Thank you in advance!

Last edited by jekk (2019-12-30 18:42:32)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 22,777

Re: [SOLVED] X not working after I installed nvidia-settings

Remove all configs you created or generated, then read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA_Optimus for your available options.

jekk

Member

Registered: 2019-05-09

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] X not working after I installed nvidia-settings

Hi V1del, thanks for the response.
Based on your advice, I installed and ran optimus-manager service. On the first run, the status of the service is as follow:

● optimus-manager.service - Optimus Manager Commands Daemon
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/optimus-manager.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2019-12-30 14:02:04 WIB; 2h 2min ago
    Process: 476 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/prime-switch-boot (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 522 (python3)
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 9390)
     Memory: 32.2M
     CGroup: /system.slice/optimus-manager.service
             └─522 /usr/bin/python3 -u /usr/bin/optimus-manager-daemon

Dec 30 14:02:04 cain prime-switch-boot[481]: Checking for GDM display servers
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain prime-switch-boot[481]: Available kernel modules : ['nouveau', 'nvidia', 'nvidia_drm', 'nvidia_modeset']
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain prime-switch-boot[481]: Setting up base state
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain prime-switch-boot[481]: Unloading modules ['nvidia_drm', 'nvidia_modeset', 'nvidia'] (if loaded)
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain prime-switch-boot[481]: Cannot setup GPU : kernel setup error : Cannot unload modules ['nvidia_drm', 'nvidia_modeset', 'nvidia'] : Failed to execute 'modprobe -r nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia' : modprobe: FATAL: Module nvidia is in use.
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain systemd[1]: Started Optimus Manager Commands Daemon.
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain python3[522]: Optimus Manager (Daemon) version 1.2.2
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain python3[522]: Automatic log cropping
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain python3[522]: Opening UNIX socket
Dec 30 14:02:04 cain python3[522]: Awaiting commands

The "Cannot setup GPU : kernel setup error" part is fixed after i disable `nvidia-persistenced`. However, when I ran `optimus-manager --status` or `optimus-manager --print-info`, it produce the following error:

Error reading current mode : Cannot run glxinfo : Failed to execute 'glxinfo' : Error: unable to open display
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/optimus-manager", line 11, in <module>
    load_entry_point('optimus-manager==1.2.2', 'console_scripts', 'optimus-manager')()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/optimus_manager/optimus_manager_client.py", line 75, in main
    _print_status()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/optimus_manager/optimus_manager_client.py", line 205, in _print_status
    _print_current_mode()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/optimus_manager/optimus_manager_client.py", line 164, in _print_current_mode
    print("Current GPU mode : %s" % mode)
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'mode' referenced before assignment

However the optimus-manager itself seemingly able to run by setting the system to use Intel graphic.

Is this error regarding glxinfo is related to my NVIDIA driver?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 22,777

Re: [SOLVED] X not working after I installed nvidia-settings

If you're using GDM, did you ensure to use the gdm-prime package and do the start on xorg adjustment mentioned in the optimus-manager README? https://github.com/Askannz/optimus-mana … /README.md

jekk

Member

Registered: 2019-05-09

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] X not working after I installed nvidia-settings

Whoa okay it works!

So I've installed gdm-prime and all the GDM-related requirements, rebooted, and was met with a black screen.

Then, as mentioned in this section, I installed bbswitch, xf86-video-intel, and change the configuration file. And now I have my desktop again.

There is some minor issue though. For some reason optimus-manager refuse to switch the GPU to intel using the --switch option, but I guess that is out of this post's topic.

Anyway, thank you very much for the assist!