Arch Linux

scarletpizza

Member

Registered: 2021-07-30

Posts: 5

[SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

Hi, with nvidia drivers, I get a graphical session via X11. However, the TTY is blank, no matter which one I use. To fix this, I have tried:

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
------------------------------------
install i915 /usr/bin/false
install intel_agp /usr/bin/false
install viafb /usr/bin/false
install radeon /usr/bin/false
install amdgpu /usr/bin/false

As said in the NVIDIA/Troubleshooting wiki.

I have also tried to change kernel params at boot with

nvidia_drm.modeset=1
video=efifb

However, no combination of these work.

Any help would be appreciated

Last edited by scarletpizza (2025-07-05 16:42:03)

unixman

Member

Registered: 2015-03-12

Posts: 182

Re: [SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

this is (ugly)HACK/workaround.

dont use gdm/sddm ... stuff.
drop to tty after boot login then launch x11 from there manually.
before launch x11, swicth another tty login there too then back and launch x11.
when launch x11 launch it as background job as put an ampersand end of cmdline. eg:

x11 -foo -bar &

or

starkde-x11 &
gnome-session-x11 &
(dont know exact names btw)

Last edited by unixman (2025-07-05 16:05:59)

scarletpizza

Member

Registered: 2021-07-30

Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

this is (ugly)HACK/workaround.

dont use gdm/sddm ... stuff.
drop to tty after boot then launch x11 from there manually.
before launch x11, swicth another tty login there too then back and launch x11.
when launch x11 launch it as background job as put an ampersand end of cmdline. eg:

x11 -foo -bar &

The issue is there is no TTY after boot. The screen starts with Welcome to Arch Linux, then after a few seconds goes blank / no output. Luckily the graphical X11 session is launched automatically so there is output then. It's just that even if I switch to a TTY after boot, it is blank / no output

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 75,272

Re: [SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

Please post your complete system journal for the boot after attempting ctrl+alt+F3 (and switching back to X11)

sudo journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

scarletpizza

Member

Registered: 2021-07-30

Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

I have tried to disable the compositor picom. From there, the seperate TTY's work. However, picom needs to be disabled. Is there a way to keep picom?

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 75,272

Re: [SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

Please post your complete system journal for the boot after attempting ctrl+alt+F3 (and switching back to X11)

sudo journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

It's a bit wild to have this hinge on picom or any compositor or any GL client, but since you're switching the VT anyway, there isn't much precluding you from killing picom (and restarting it after switching back)?
Eg. I've a picom toggle on meta+c (snappy and battery friendly ./. cool glass and blur and animations and round corners to show off or pleasure… please myself)

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

scarletpizza

Member

Registered: 2021-07-30

Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] NVIDIA drivers blank TTY

Thanks, for future reference, my kernel params are

 GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 nvidia_drm.modeset=1 video=efifb"

I will mark this as solved