External Monitor locked at 60hz with arch linux but 144hz with win11

brahmabull47 · 2025-11-30 11:03:11

I’m having an issue on Arch Linux where my external monitor is stuck at 60 Hz, even though the same setup works at 144 Hz on Windows 11.

Setup

Arch Linux (fully up to date)

GNOME 45 (Wayland session)

GDM

NVIDIA drivers: 580.xx

Laptop with NVIDIA GPU + external 144 Hz monitor via HDMI

Monitor runs at 144 Hz on Windows with the same cable

Problem

On Arch/GNOME (Wayland):

The external monitor only reports 60 Hz in GNOME Settings.

The laptop’s internal display works fine at its native refresh rate.

What I tried

I saw online that some refresh-rate issues with NVIDIA are better on X11, so I tried switching GNOME from Wayland to Xorg.

Steps I took:

Created a session file in /usr/share/xsessions/ (it was empty on my system)

Edited /etc/gdm/custom.conf and set:

WaylandEnable=false

Rebooted

After that, the system no longer boots.
It hangs at:

loading linux linux...
loading initial ramdisk...

I can sometimes access a TTY, but not always.

What I want help with

Why is my external monitor limited to 60 Hz on GNOME Wayland + NVIDIA?

Is this a known limitation of GNOME + NVIDIA + Wayland?

Should GNOME Xorg sessions still work, or is there a correct way to install them?

Why does forcing GDM to use Xorg cause a boot hang on NVIDIA?

What’s the proper method to:

enable GNOME on Xorg safely, OR

fix 144 Hz support on Wayland without needing Xorg?

Extra info

nvidia_drm module is loaded with modeset.

/usr/share/xsessions/ is empty even after reinstalling gnome-session.

Monitor and cable both work at 144 Hz in Windows.

Any help understanding why the refresh rate is locked and how to either fix Wayland or safely enable Xorg would be greatly appreciated.

seth · 2025-11-30 16:22:01

NVIDIA drivers: 580.xx

ceterum censeo: see the 3rd link below. Mandatory.
Disable it (it's NOT the BIOS setting!) and reboot windows and linux twice for voodo reasons.

Arch Linux