Nvidia not working

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 04:47:34

I’ve been trying to install and correctly configure the nvidia-470xx-DKMS and until packages for an old iMac I have. It is a late 2013 version and I have completely wiped the old os and installed arch Linux. My issue is that it’s not working at all. When I try to log into sddm I get a black screen with nothing on it. I tried accessing one of the ttys and it was just a black screen. I could still run commands though, I just can’t see output. When I delete the nvidia drivers through arch-chroot the TTYs launch just fine. The name of by gpu is GeForce GT 755M Mac edition which I am pretty sure corresponds to nvidia-470. I have also tried the nvidia-drm.modeset=1 and nvidia-drm.fbev=1 which just results in the above issue again. I also blacklist nouveau to ensure that wasn’t causing it which also didn’t work. The boot loader I used was refind in. See you want to know. I also added the nvidia modules to the hook line in mkinitcpio.conf. This too combines with everything still doesn’t work. I also tried to get to the tty by using nomodeset and the 3 option at the end of boot options. This again resulted in the messed up TTY. I honestly have no idea what to do and have spent two days on this and I don’t know what to do as I don’t want to use noveau as it performs horribly.

seth · 2026-03-06 08:29:10

Please post your complete system journal for the boot:

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

nvidia-*utils blacklists nouveau implicitly, but for DKMS to work you'll need the headers of your kernel to be installed, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dynami … le_Support
Anything wayland won't work because the 470xx drivers don't support GBM, try to only boot the multi-user.target (2nd link below) and startx an X11 session from there.
If that also fails please also post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General

Fixxer · 2026-03-06 09:41:00

Driver needs patching, look here - two newest comments:
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvid … nt-1062062

Consider to install linux-lts{,-headers} and use this kernel till AUR package will be patched (if at all it will happen).

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 17:25:44

seth wrote:

Please post your complete system journal for the boot:
sudo journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st
nvidia-*utils blacklists nouveau implicitly, but for DKMS to work you'll need the headers of your kernel to be installed, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dynami … le_Support
Anything wayland won't work because the 470xx drivers don't support GBM, try to only boot the multi-user.target (2nd link below) and startx an X11 session from there.
If that also fails please also post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General

I tired the multi target thing and now I get the 4 of the login prompt all on the same line with black bars through them, so that I can barely read them. One I login still can’t see much of anything. Should I try what’s in the other links on arch-chroot.

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 17:26:20

Fixxer wrote:

Driver needs patching, look here - two newest comments:
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvid … nt-1062062
Consider to install linux-lts{,-headers} and use this kernel till AUR package will be patched (if at all it will happen).

I am using the Linux-lts and linux-lts-header packages.

seth · 2026-03-06 17:27:35

Should I try what’s in the other links on arch-chroot.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System … al_to_view

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 17:47:10

seth wrote:

Should I try what’s in the other links on arch-chroot.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System … al_to_view

This link shows what the command printed out.

https://termbin.com/i0dx

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 18:39:50

seth wrote:

Should I try what’s in the other links on arch-chroot.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System … al_to_view

Another link where I logged in and rebooted
https://termbin.com/7a84

seth · 2026-03-06 18:47:46

Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux systemd-vconsole-setup[205]: setfont: ERROR kdfontop.c:212 put_font_kdfontop: Unable to load such font with such kernel version
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux systemd-vconsole-setup[204]: /usr/bin/setfont failed with a "system error" (EX_OSERR), ignoring.
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux systemd-vconsole-setup[204]: Configuration of first virtual console failed, ignoring remaining ones.

Doesn't explain why SDDM fails (not covered by the journals, btw. why is the headw/ the hw configuration consistently missing?)

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 19:09:28

seth wrote:

Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux systemd-vconsole-setup[205]: setfont: ERROR kdfontop.c:212 put_font_kdfontop: Unable to load such font with such kernel version
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux systemd-vconsole-setup[204]: /usr/bin/setfont failed with a "system error" (EX_OSERR), ignoring.
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux systemd-vconsole-setup[204]: Configuration of first virtual console failed, ignoring remaining ones.

Doesn't explain why SDDM fails (not covered by the journals, btw. why is the headw/ the hw configuration consistently missing?)

I don’t know what the headw or hw config is. So I wouldn’t know why that’s missing. Am I to glean from the posted error the TTYs are not working due to a fonts not loading. I will also look into this headw or hw confit thing you’re talking about. Any tips would be appreciated about finding out about it.

seth · 2026-03-06 19:17:50

"head w/ the hw configuration", there's more stuff at the beginning of the journal - it'll typically start w/ (with)

Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux kernel: Linux version 6.19.6-arch1-1 (linux@archlinux) …
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux kernel: Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-linux root=…

What does your vconsole look like?
And post a journal and xorg log covering an SDDM start

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 19:38:00

seth wrote:

"head w/ the hw configuration", there's more stuff at the beginning of the journal - it'll typically start w/ (with)
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux kernel: Linux version 6.19.6-arch1-1 (linux@archlinux) …
Mar 06 13:34:03 archlinux kernel: Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-linux root=…
What does your vconsole look like?
And post a journal and xorg log covering an SDDM start

My sddm log is:
https://termbin.com/19wr

My xorg log is:
https://termbin.com/yumx

My vconsole is just messed up. If sddm is enabled it takes me to be sddm logging screen which looks fine. When I switch to a virtual console it’s just a black screen. If I disable sddm then you see the arch Linux login except repeated 4 times at the top. The text also has bars going through making it impossible to read. You can do things in the console you simply just can’t see what’re you’re doing.

seth · 2026-03-06 19:46:58

[ 75.661] (II) NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 2560 x 1440
[ 75.665] (--) NVIDIA(0): DPI set to (108, 107); computed from "UseEdidDpi" X config
[ 75.665] (--) NVIDIA(0): option

Looks ok… but

If sddm is enabled it takes me to be sddm logging screen which looks fine.

which contradicts the original

When I try to log into sddm I get a black screen with nothing on it.

Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm[831]: Reading from "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/hyprland.desktop"
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm[831]: Session "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/hyprland.desktop" selected, command: "/usr/bin/start-hyprland" for VT 1
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                            Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                            If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                            for more information.
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Starting...
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Authenticating...
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Preparing to converse...
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Conversation with 1 messages
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] returning.
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm[831]: Authentication for user  "petera"  successful
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: pam_unix(sddm:session): session opened for user petera(uid=1000) by petera(uid=0)
Mar 04 15:27:24 archlinux sddm[831]: Auth: sddm-helper exited successfully
Mar 04 15:27:24 archlinux sddm[831]: Greeter stopped. SDDM::Auth::HELPER_SUCCESS
Mar 04 15:27:24 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: Starting Wayland user session: "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/wayland-session" "/usr/bin/start-hyprland"

also like you actually started into a hyprland session?
Don't. The 470xx drivers don't support GBM, you'll have to use nouveau or run an X11 session

My vconsole is just messed up.

Please don't paraphrase, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=57855
Post /etc/vconsole.conf from the chroot

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 20:06:12

seth wrote:

[ 75.661] (II) NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 2560 x 1440
[ 75.665] (--) NVIDIA(0): DPI set to (108, 107); computed from "UseEdidDpi" X config
[ 75.665] (--) NVIDIA(0): option
Looks ok… but
If sddm is enabled it takes me to be sddm logging screen which looks fine.
which contradicts the original
When I try to log into sddm I get a black screen with nothing on it.
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm[831]: Reading from "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/hyprland.desktop"
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm[831]: Session "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/hyprland.desktop" selected, command: "/usr/bin/start-hyprland" for VT 1
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                            Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                            If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                            for more information.
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Starting...
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Authenticating...
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Preparing to converse...
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] Conversation with 1 messages
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: [PAM] returning.
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm[831]: Authentication for user  "petera"  successful
Mar 04 15:27:23 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: pam_unix(sddm:session): session opened for user petera(uid=1000) by petera(uid=0)
Mar 04 15:27:24 archlinux sddm[831]: Auth: sddm-helper exited successfully
Mar 04 15:27:24 archlinux sddm[831]: Greeter stopped. SDDM::Auth::HELPER_SUCCESS
Mar 04 15:27:24 archlinux sddm-helper[929]: Starting Wayland user session: "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/wayland-session" "/usr/bin/start-hyprland"
also like you actually started into a hyprland session?
Don't. The 470xx drivers don't support GBM, you'll have to use nouveau or run an X11 session
My vconsole is just messed up.
Please don't paraphrase, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=57855
Post /etc/vconsole.conf from the chroot

When I say the sddm login screen looks fine I mean just that the login screen looks fine. It’s when I enter my password and hit enter that I get a black screen. Also I deleted hyprland for bspwm. I’m not sure why hyprland is showing up there. How do I start the x11 session and replace hyprland with bspwm? Would you like a picture of my vconsole when I boot and my sddm screen?

My vsonsole.conf is

KEYMAP=us
FONT=lat9w-16

Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.

Last edited by OGDEFILER (2026-03-06 20:07:10)

seth · 2026-03-06 20:19:40

Please avoid bloating the thread with pointless full quotes of previous posts.

The log you posted might be older?
When starting bspwm, do you see a mouse cursor (cause like most WMs it won't show you much w/o further configuration) - try to start eg. icewm (will look a bit like win95)

vconsole.conf actually looks ok, you might needs to block the simpledrm device, add "nvidia_drm.modeset=1" to the kernel parameters (this is a hack that will work w/ the 6.12 LTS kernel but not w/ the main kernel and possibly no more when 6.18 becomes the LTS kernel)
If blocking the simpledrm device helps, see whether "initcall_blacklist=simpledrm_platform_driver_init" achieves the same.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters

OGDEFILER · 2026-03-06 20:40:48

Ok so I downloaded icewm liked you asked and as far as I can tell it's working like a charm. It's not slow and when I queried for the driver in use it says nvidia. I checked this with the lspci -k | grep -A3 VGA command. I also added the nvidia_drm.modeset=1 to the kernel parameters and the vconsole is still messed up. I'm still getting the black screen when I switch to the vconsoles. I guess I was getting a black screen for bspwm cause I hadn't configured anything. I though it was just hyprland except for X11, which I guess was wrong. Should I try the "initcall_blacklist=simpledrm_platform_driver_init" and see if that works instead of the "nvidia_drm.modeset=1". I am going to check the X11 logs as I didn't do any configuring for it to run icewm and I am not sure how it's running so seamlessly.

seth · 2026-03-06 21:05:05

icewm is between a DE and a WM, bspwm is really just a window manager (as i3 or openbox, fluxbox is more on the WM than the DE side, …)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Window_manager
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Desktop_environment

I checked this with the lspci -k | grep -A3 VGA command.

You're mostly interested in "glxinfo -B"

I'm still getting the black screen when I switch to the vconsoles.

How long do you wait? Give it a minute (just to check the situation - the nvidia driver is extremely slow at frambuffer switches)

Can you other upload a photo of the glitched console somewhere (imgur or so)?
If the simpledrm device doesn't show up in the system journal (except for being blocked) "initcall_blacklist=simpledrm_platform_driver_init" won't do anything more than that

WorMzy · 2026-03-06 23:04:20

Mod note: moving to AUR issues

Arch Linux

#1 2026-03-06 04:47:34

Nvidia not working

#2 2026-03-06 08:29:10

Re: Nvidia not working

#3 2026-03-06 09:41:00

Re: Nvidia not working

#4 2026-03-06 17:25:44

Re: Nvidia not working

#5 2026-03-06 17:26:20

Re: Nvidia not working

#6 2026-03-06 17:27:35

Re: Nvidia not working

#7 2026-03-06 17:47:10

Re: Nvidia not working

#8 2026-03-06 18:39:50

Re: Nvidia not working

#9 2026-03-06 18:47:46

Re: Nvidia not working

#10 2026-03-06 19:09:28

Re: Nvidia not working

#11 2026-03-06 19:17:50

Re: Nvidia not working

#12 2026-03-06 19:38:00

Re: Nvidia not working

#13 2026-03-06 19:46:58

Re: Nvidia not working

#14 2026-03-06 20:06:12

Re: Nvidia not working

#15 2026-03-06 20:19:40

Re: Nvidia not working

#16 2026-03-06 20:40:48

Re: Nvidia not working

#17 2026-03-06 21:05:05

Re: Nvidia not working

#18 2026-03-06 23:04:20

Re: Nvidia not working

Board footer