NVIDIA
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This article covers the proprietary NVIDIA graphics card driver. For the open-source driver, see Nouveau. If you have a laptop with hybrid Intel/NVIDIA graphics, see NVIDIA Optimus instead.
Contents
Installation
These instructions are for those using the stock linux or linux-lts packages. For custom kernel setup, skip to the next subsection.
1. If you do not know what graphics card you have, find out by issuing:
$ lspci -k | grep -A 2 -E "(VGA|3D)"
2. Determine the necessary driver version for your card by:
- finding the code name (e.g. NV50, NVC0, etc.) on nouveau wiki's code names page
- looking up the name in NVIDIA's legacy card list: if your card is not there you can use the latest driver
- visiting NVIDIA's driver download site
3. Install the appropriate driver for your card:
- For GeForce 400 series cards and newer [NVCx and newer], install the nvidia or nvidia-lts package along with nvidia-libgl. If these packages do not work, nvidia-betaAUR may have a newer driver version that offers support.
- For GeForce 8000/9000, ION and 100-300 series cards [NV5x, NV8x, NV9x and NVAx] from around 2006-2010, install the nvidia-340xx or nvidia-340xx-lts package along with nvidia-340xx-libgl.
- For GeForce 6000/7000 series cards [NV4x and NV6x] from around 2004-2006, install the nvidia-304xx or nvidia-304xx-lts package along with nvidia-304xx-libgl.
- For even older cards, have a look at #Unsupported drivers.
4. If you are on 64-bit and also need 32-bit OpenGL support, you must also install the equivalent lib32 package from the multilib repository (e.g. lib32-nvidia-libgl, lib32-nvidia-340xx-libgl or lib32-nvidia-304xx-libgl).
5. Reboot. The nvidia package contains a file which blacklists the nouveau module, so rebooting is necessary.
Once the driver has been installed, continue to #Configuration.
Unsupported drivers
If you have a GeForce 5 FX series card or older, Nvidia no longer supports drivers for your card. This means that these drivers do not support the current Xorg version. It thus might be easier if you use the nouveau driver, which supports the old cards with the current Xorg.
However, Nvidia's legacy drivers are still available and might provide better 3D performance/stability if you are willing to downgrade Xorg:
- For GeForce 5 FX series cards [NV30-NV36], install the nvidia-173xx-dkmsAUR package. Last supported Xorg version is 1.15.
- For GeForce 2/3/4 MX/Ti series cards [NV11, NV17-NV28], install the nvidia-96xx-dkmsAUR package. Last supported Xorg version is 1.12.
Custom kernel
If you are using a custom kernel, compilation of the Nvidia kernel modules can be automated with DKMS.
Install the nvidia-dkms package (or a specific branch such as nvidia-340xx-dkms). The Nvidia module will be rebuilt after every Nvidia or kernel update thanks to the DKMS Pacman Hook.
Pure Video HD
At least a video card with second generation PureVideo HD is required for hardware video acceleration using VDPAU.
DRM kernel mode setting
nvidia 364.16 adds support for DRM kernel mode setting. To enable this feature, add the nvidia-drm.modeset=1 kernel parameter, and add nvidia, nvidia_modeset, nvidia_uvm and nvidia_drm to your initramfs#MODULES.
Pacman hook
To avoid the possibility of forgetting to update your initramfs after an nvidia upgrade, you can use a pacman hook like this
/etc/pacman.d/hooks/nvidia.hook
[Trigger] Operation=Install Operation=Upgrade Operation=Remove Type=Package Target=nvidia [Action] Depends=mkinitcpio When=PostTransaction Exec=/usr/bin/mkinitcpio -p linux
Hardware accelerated video decoding with XvMC
Accelerated decoding of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos via XvMC are supported on GeForce4, GeForce 5 FX, GeForce 6 and GeForce 7 series cards. See XvMC for details.
Switching between NVIDIA and nouveau drivers
If you need to switch between drivers, you may use the following script, run as root (say yes to all confirmations):
#!/bin/bash
BRANCH= # Enter a branch if needed, i.e. -340xx or -304xx
NVIDIA=nvidia${BRANCH} # If no branch entered above this would be "nvidia"
NOUVEAU=xf86-video-nouveau
# Replace -R with -Rs to if you want to remove the unneeded dependencies
if [ $(pacman -Qqs ^mesa-libgl$) ]; then
pacman -S $NVIDIA ${NVIDIA}-libgl # Add lib32-${NVIDIA}-libgl and ${NVIDIA}-lts if needed
# pacman -R $NOUVEAU
elif [ $(pacman -Qqs ^${NVIDIA}$) ]; then
pacman -S --needed $NOUVEAU mesa-libgl # Add lib32-mesa-libgl if needed
pacman -R $NVIDIA # Add ${NVIDIA}-lts if needed
fi
Configuration
It is possible that after installing the driver it may not be needed to create an Xorg server configuration file. You can run a test to see if the Xorg server will function correctly without a configuration file. However, it may be required to create a configuration file (prefer /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf over /etc/X11/xorg.conf) in order to adjust various settings. This configuration can be generated by the NVIDIA Xorg configuration tool, or it can be created manually. If created manually, it can be a minimal configuration (in the sense that it will only pass the basic options to the Xorg server), or it can include a number of settings that can bypass Xorg's auto-discovered or pre-configured options.
Minimal configuration
A basic configuration block in 20-nvidia.conf (or deprecated in xorg.conf) would look like this:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf
Section "Device"
Identifier "Nvidia Card"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
#Option "UseEDID" "false"
#Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"
# ...
EndSection
Automatic configuration
The NVIDIA package includes an automatic configuration tool to create an Xorg server configuration file (xorg.conf) and can be run by:
# nvidia-xconfig
This command will auto-detect and create (or edit, if already present) the /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration according to present hardware.
If there are instances of DRI, ensure they are commented out:
# Load "dri"
Double check your /etc/X11/xorg.conf to make sure your default depth, horizontal sync, vertical refresh, and resolutions are acceptable.
NVIDIA Settings
The nvidia-settings tool lets you configure many options using either CLI or GUI. Running nvidia-settings without any options launches the GUI, for CLI options see nvidia-settings(1).
You can run the GUI as a normal user and save the settings to ~/.nvidia-settings-rc. Then you can load the settings using $ nvidia-settings --load-config-only (for example in your xinitrc). Alternatively, run nvidia-settings as root, and then save the configuration to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ as usual.
Multiple monitors
See Multihead for more general information.
Using NVIDIA Settings
The nvidia-settings tool can configure multiple monitors.
For CLI configuration, first get the CurrentMetaMode by running:
$ nvidia-settings -q CurrentMetaMode
Attribute 'CurrentMetaMode' (hostnmae:0.0): id=50, switchable=no, source=nv-controlĀ :: DPY-1: 2880x1620 @2880x1620 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=2880x1620, ViewPortOut=2880x1620+0+0}
Save everything after the :: to the end of the attribute (in this case: DPY-1: 2880x1620 @2880x1620 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=2880x1620, ViewPortOut=2880x1620+0+0}) and use to reconfigure your displays with nvidia-settings --assign "CurrentMetaMode=your_meta_mode".
ConnectedMonitor
If the driver does not properly detect a second monitor, you can force it to do so with ConnectedMonitor.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Panasonic"
ModelName "Panasonic MICRON 2100Ex"
HorizSync 30.0 - 121.0 # this monitor has incorrect EDID, hence Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor2"
VendorName "Gateway"
ModelName "GatewayVX1120"
HorizSync 30.0 - 121.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo"
Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 6200 LE"
BusID "PCI:3:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device2"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo"
Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 6200 LE"
BusID "PCI:3:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
The duplicated device with Screen is how you get X to use two monitors on one card without TwinView. Note that nvidia-settings will strip out any ConnectedMonitor options you have added.
TwinView
You want only one big screen instead of two. Set the TwinView argument to 1. This option should be used if you desire compositing. TwinView only works on a per card basis, when all participating monitors are connected to the same card.
Option "TwinView" "1"
Example configuration:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "TwinLayout"
Screen 0 "metaScreen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Option "Enable" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
Option "Enable" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
#refer to the link below for more information on each of the following options.
Option "HorizSync" "DFP-0: 28-33; DFP-1 28-33"
Option "VertRefresh" "DFP-0: 43-73; DFP-1 43-73"
Option "MetaModes" "1920x1080, 1920x1080"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP-0, DFP-1"
Option "MetaModeOrientation" "DFP-1 LeftOf DFP-0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "metaScreen"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "True"
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1920x1080"
EndSubSection
EndSection
If you have multiple cards that are SLI capable, it is possible to run more than one monitor attached to separate cards (for example: two cards in SLI with one monitor attached to each). The "MetaModes" option in conjunction with SLI Mosaic mode enables this. Below is a configuration which works for the aforementioned example and runs GNOME flawlessly.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card A"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:1:00:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card B"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:2:00:0"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Right Monitor"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Left Monitor"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Right Screen"
Device "Card A"
Monitor "Right Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "SLI" "Mosaic"
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "BaseMosaic" "True"
Option "MetaModes" "GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1200+4480+0, GPU-1.DFP-0:1920x1200+0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Left Screen"
Device "Card B"
Monitor "Left Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "SLI" "Mosaic"
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "BaseMosaic" "True"
Option "MetaModes" "GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1200+4480+0, GPU-1.DFP-0:1920x1200+0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default"
Screen 0 "Right Screen" 0 0
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection
Manual CLI configuration with xrandr
If the latest solutions do not work for you, you can use your window manager's autostart implementation with xorg-xrandr.
Some xrandr examples could be:
xrandr --output DVI-I-0 --auto --primary --left-of DVI-I-1
or:
xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --pos 1440x0 --mode 1440x900 --rate 75.0
When:
-
--outputis used to indicate the "monitor" to which the options are set. -
DVI-I-1is the name of the second monitor. -
--posis the position of the second monitor relative to the first. -
--modeis the resolution of the second monitor. -
--rateis the refresh rate (in Hz).
Vertical sync using TwinView
If you are using TwinView and vertical sync (the "Sync to VBlank" option in nvidia-settings), you will notice that only one screen is being properly synced, unless you have two identical monitors. Although nvidia-settings does offer an option to change which screen is being synced (the "Sync to this display device" option), this does not always work. A solution is to add the following environment variables at startup, for example append in /etc/profile:
export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK=1 export __GL_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DFP-0 export VDPAU_NVIDIA_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DFP-0
You can change DFP-0 with your preferred screen (DFP-0 is the DVI port and CRT-0 is the VGA port). You can find the identifier for your display from nvidia-settings in the "X Server XVideoSettings" section.
Gaming using TwinView
In case you want to play fullscreen games when using TwinView, you will notice that games recognize the two screens as being one big screen. While this is technically correct (the virtual X screen really is the size of your screens combined), you probably do not want to play on both screens at the same time.
To correct this behavior for SDL, try:
export SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=1
For OpenGL, add the appropriate Metamodes to your xorg.conf in section Device and restart X:
Option "Metamodes" "1680x1050,1680x1050; 1280x1024,1280x1024; 1680x1050,NULL; 1280x1024,NULL;"
Another method that may either work alone or in conjunction with those mentioned above is starting games in a separate X server.
Mosaic mode
Mosaic mode is the only way to use more than 2 monitors across multiple graphics cards with compositing. Your window manager may or may not recognize the distinction between each monitor.
Base Mosaic
Base Mosaic mode works on any set of Geforce 8000 series or higher GPUs. It cannot be enabled from within the nvidia-setting GUI. You must either use the nvidia-xconfig command line program or edit xorg.conf by hand. Metamodes must be specified. The following is an example for four DFPs in a 2x2 configuration, each running at 1920x1024, with two DFPs connected to two cards:
$ nvidia-xconfig --base-mosaic --metamodes="GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+0, GPU-1.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+1024, GPU-1.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+1024"
SLI Mosaic
If you have an SLI configuration and each GPU is a Quadro FX 5800, Quadro Fermi or newer then you can use SLI Mosaic mode. It can be enabled from within the nvidia-settings GUI or from the command line with:
$ nvidia-xconfig --sli=Mosaic --metamodes="GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+0, GPU-1.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+1024, GPU-1.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+1024"
Driver persistence
Nvidia has a daemon that is to be run at boot. See the Driver Persistence section of the Nvidia documentation for more details.
To start the persistence daemon at boot, enable the nvidia-persistenced.service. For manual usage see the upstream documentation.