Arch Linux

volker_weissmann

Member

Registered: 2020-01-05

Posts: 71

Nvidia driver problems

Hello,

my machine has an Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060 6GB graphics card and I want a working driver for it.
Unfortunately the "nvidia" package has a bug that makes the system freeze (see https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/4 … nts/155250 and https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=260131)

Nvidia suggested

1.     Download http://people.freedesktop.org/~aplattne … 5.38.patch 28
2.     Apply it to the .run package with
    bash NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.38.run --apply-patch reduce-kmalloc-limit-455.38.patch
3.    Install the resulting .run package
    bash NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.38-custom.run

The Problem is that I failed to install this driver:

When I run NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.38-custom.run
I get:

    ERROR: An NVIDIA kernel module ‘nvidia-drm’ appears to already be loaded in
    your kernel. This may be because it is in use (for example, by an X
    server, a CUDA program, or the NVIDIA Persistence Daemon), but this
    may also happen if your kernel was configured without support for
    module unloading. Please be sure to exit any programs that may be
    using the GPU(s) before attempting to upgrade your driver. If no
    GPU-based programs are running, you know that your kernel supports
    module unloading, and you still receive this message, then an error
    may have occured that has corrupted an NVIDIA kernel module’s usage
    count, for which the simplest remedy is to reboot your computer.

So I removed the nvidia driver package (pacman -R nvidia) and rebooted. It rebooted into a text console and I ran NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.38-custom.run again, but it tells me to unload Nouveau. I tried modprobe -r nouveau, but this returned “modprobe: FATAL: Module nouveau is in use.”. I also tried rmmod -f nouveau, but this made by screen go dark. The same problem arises when I try to execute it while arch-chrooting into my system from the Arch iso.

Any ideas on how to install this driver?

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,267

Re: Nvidia driver problems

I would suggest patching nvidia-dkms which is a split package with pkgbase nvidia-utils.
The changes I made to apply the patch are shown in the git diff below.

diff --git a/trunk/PKGBUILD b/trunk/PKGBUILD
index 7723c97..2a80fd6 100644
--- a/trunk/PKGBUILD
+++ b/trunk/PKGBUILD
@@ -13,10 +13,12 @@ options=('!strip')
 _pkg="NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-${pkgver}"
 source=('nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf'
         'nvidia-utils.sysusers'
-        "https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/${pkgver}/${_pkg}.run")
+        "https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/${pkgver}/${_pkg}.run"
+        'http://people.freedesktop.org/~aplattner/reduce-kmalloc-limit-455.38.patch')
 sha512sums=('de7116c09f282a27920a1382df84aa86f559e537664bb30689605177ce37dc5067748acf9afd66a3269a6e323461356592fdfc624c86523bf105ff8fe47d3770'
             '4b3ad73f5076ba90fe0b3a2e712ac9cde76f469cd8070280f960c3ce7dc502d1927f525ae18d008075c8f08ea432f7be0a6c3a7a6b49c361126dcf42f97ec499'
-            '0430e201f34ed40afbd393274bedb855a680e1439e52d58435ec5dcfc4037f72dbefa9598af66ffac455af2289df07cfa3b7de92d5e541e6c70c93ebba93b146')
+            '0430e201f34ed40afbd393274bedb855a680e1439e52d58435ec5dcfc4037f72dbefa9598af66ffac455af2289df07cfa3b7de92d5e541e6c70c93ebba93b146'
+            '2a23f98a9d7c498cdedb98a4b5753565bff0201d809c368f4e263139545ffffa72e3654ddb46818200edd2993fc7e41cdeadff49049ec503c872528f023b6ca3')
 
 
 create_links() {
@@ -32,6 +34,9 @@ create_links() {
 prepare() {
     sh "${_pkg}.run" --extract-only
     cd "${_pkg}"
+    pushd kernel
+    patch -p1 -i "$srcdir"/reduce-kmalloc-limit-455.38.patch
+    popd
     bsdtar -xf nvidia-persistenced-init.tar.bz2
 
     cd kernel

KeNaCo

Member

Registered: 2012-11-01

Posts: 18

Re: Nvidia driver problems

I encounter the same error message as @volker_weissmann.
In my case I just

sudo systemctl stop gdm

and then retry to install successfully. Be aware that after you stop gdm, you have to switch to another console CTRL+ALT+F(2-9).
Hope this will help.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,267

Re: Nvidia driver problems

@KeNaCo see NVIDIA#Installation

Warning: Avoid installing the NVIDIA driver through the package provided from the NVIDIA website. Installation through pacman allows upgrading the driver together with the rest of the system.

KeNaCo

Member

Registered: 2012-11-01

Posts: 18

Re: Nvidia driver problems

@loqs I know.

Actually I tried all variations:
1. nvidia arch package
2. nvidia 455xx dkms from AUR
3. nvidia 450xx dkms from AUR
4. nvidia 455 from Nvidia web
5. nvidia 450 from Nvidia web

...2-5 with and without kmalloc patch.

Sadly no improvement in my case. Following nvidia forum and retesting after each realase.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,267

Re: Nvidia driver problems

@KeNaCo are you using 440xx until the issue is resolved?

Last edited by loqs (2020-11-20 22:00:27)

KeNaCo

Member

Registered: 2012-11-01

Posts: 18

Re: Nvidia driver problems

In my case, I have another PC that is not impacted by the issue (even that it has an Nvidia card and 455 drivers) so I'm using that one. And waiting for a fix.

KeNaCo

Member

Registered: 2012-11-01

Posts: 18

Re: Nvidia driver problems

Just for note, 455.45 dkms from AUR (including kmalloc patch) works for me. But I had to turn off DRM: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NV … de_setting

potuz

Member

Registered: 2009-10-23

Posts: 129

Re: Nvidia driver problems

I have a couple of questions regarding this issue:

If I install the nvidia-dkms package, will that be replacing a package in my system, if so which one?

Can the new module be loaded in runtime or does it require a reboot?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,935

Re: Nvidia driver problems

If you have the nvidia package you can remove it (... make sure you have the linux-headers for all respective kernels though) you'd have to kill your xorg session at the very least for a runtime switch, rebooting is generally easier.