On a fresh install are you using the nvidia menu latest cards on the live ISO to install with. I do not think nouveau would work well with the RTX 5080. You need the nvidia-open drivers. You can run the command nvidia-inst -t also as this is only a test run and makes no changes. It will tell you in the output what drivers are needed for your hardware with the commands to install them. I’m not sure what exactly you are doing that may be causing a problem? Or something is just not getting installed properly or missing?
You just need to boot on the live ISO. Let it load and then select the nvidia option in the menu to do an online install. It should automatically install the correct drivers during the installation. Then when finished you can boot on the installed system. Normally nouveau would be blacklisted when nvidia gets installed. So I’m not sure what to tell you in order to move forward. I see you ran nvidia-inst -n which normally will uninstall the nvidia drivers and revert to nouveau kernel module drivers but i see in the output there are some dependency issues as it completes the command. I have nvidia also with no issues but is an older GTX 1060 gpu and Intel Cpu i7 8086K but i also don’t run two monitors or higher refresh rate or HDR.
Edit: This seems a little odd but I’m not sure? Is this output after you ran nvidia-inst -n or before? It’s showing that it’s using the nvidia drivers. I would have to check my nvidia desktop to see how it’s listed and in what order for the kernel modules. I’m not on that machine currently.
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nouveau, nvidia_drm, nvidia
Sorry for the confusion Rick.
I am unsure if I went about it correctly the first time.
So, I did it again.
sudo nvidia-inst -n
2025-07-24 20:29:46: Info: nvidia-inst version 25.7.1-1
2025-07-24 20:29:46: Info: Command line: nvidia-inst -n
2025-07-24 20:29:46: Info: Selected mode: nouveau (freedesktop.org's open source)
2025-07-24 20:29:46: Info: Installing packages: vulkan-nouveau
2025-07-24 20:29:46: Info: Removing packages: lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-hook nvidia-open-dkms nvidia-settings nvidia-utils
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMMANDS TO RUN:
pacman -Rs --noconfirm --noprogressbar --nodeps lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-hook nvidia-open-dkms nvidia-settings nvidia-utils
pacman -Syuq --noconfirm --noprogressbar --needed vulkan-nouveau
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
==> NOTE: running the commands may take several minutes...
checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing nvidia-utils breaks dependency 'vulkan-driver' required by steam
:: removing lib32-nvidia-utils breaks dependency 'lib32-vulkan-driver' required by steam
:: Synchronizing package databases...
endeavouros downloading...
core downloading...
extra downloading...
multilib downloading...
:: Starting full system upgrade...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
Package (2) Old Version New Version Net Change Download Size
extra/nodejs 24.4.1-1 24.4.1-2 0.00 MiB 16.83 MiB
extra/vulkan-nouveau 1:25.1.6-1 14.65 MiB
Total Download Size: 16.83 MiB
Total Installed Size: 83.44 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 14.65 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
:: Retrieving packages...
nodejs-24.4.1-2-x86_64 downloading...
checking keyring...
checking package integrity...
loading package files...
checking for file conflicts...
:: Processing package changes...
installing vulkan-nouveau...
Optional dependencies for vulkan-nouveau
vulkan-mesa-layers: additional vulkan layers
upgrading nodejs...
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/2) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/2) Checking which packages need to be rebuilt
2025-07-24 20:29:57: Note: To have the changes in effect, you must reboot the computer.
during reboot
change to run level 3
while in run level 3
run nvidia-inst (again)
it removed the nouveau driver and re-installed the NVIDIA one
reboot
PS----it boot back into plasma without me removing the grub entry for run level 3 -assuming this is normal?
Back in plasma:
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep nvidia
[ 5.888] (**) OutputClass "nvidia" ModulePath extended to "/usr/lib/nvidia/xorg,/usr/lib/xorg/modules,/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[ 5.896] (II) Applying OutputClass "nvidia" to /dev/dri/card1
[ 5.896] loading driver: nvidia
[ 5.896] (==) Matched nvidia as autoconfigured driver 0
[ 5.896] (II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
[ 5.896] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so
[ 5.899] (II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[ 5.904] (II) Applying OutputClass "nvidia" options to /dev/dri/card1
[ 5.904] (II) Loading sub module "glxserver_nvidia"
[ 5.904] (II) LoadModule: "glxserver_nvidia"
[ 5.904] (II) Loading /usr/lib/nvidia/xorg/libglxserver_nvidia.so
[ 5.991] (II) Module glxserver_nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[ 6.158] (==) NVIDIA(0): No modes were requested; the default mode "nvidia-auto-select"
[ 6.159] (II) NVIDIA(0): "DFP-5:nvidia-auto-select,DFP-3:nvidia-auto-select"
[ 6.218] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "DFP-5:nvidia-auto-select,DFP-3:nvidia-auto-select"
[ 6.424] (II) NVIDIA(0): [DRI2] VDPAU driver: nvidia
and then
nvidia-inst
2025-07-24 20:41:54: Info: nvidia-inst version 25.7.1-1
2025-07-24 20:41:54: Info: Command line: nvidia-inst
2025-07-24 20:41:54: Info: Selected mode: nvidia (Nvidia's open source)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMMANDS TO RUN:
==> Looks like all requested packages and settings are already OK!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I am right back where I started and I know the driver was re-installed now.
Issue remains.
So, your saying I can go online and do the same thing?
Sorry but I have zero experience doing such a thing.
John
Edit:
I DID check the desktop setting sot ensure the icons where not locked, I just checked it even though I could move the icons around on the 1 display where ever I want.
It should be fine according to the output. I was just pointing out that you don’t need to use nvidia-inst to install the drivers normally if you use the nvidia menu on the live ISO to install. If you use the default entry then it won’t install nvidia drivers. It will use nouveau kernel module. So then you would have to install them yourself using the tool with the proper command. I’m not sure why you are having the Kde issue. Have you tried turning off HDR?
I’m not on that machine currently.