I found some leads earlier in the week and finally had the chance to post them.
- [Solved] Arch not booting after kernel and Nvidia driver update.
- [SOLVED] Kernel Module Fails To Load With Any Nvidia Card
I tried to configure fbcon but this did not resolve the issue.
However I was able start X windows blind, similar to what a user reported on the ArchLinux forum. Now at least I experienced similar behavior as others now, ruling out faulty hardware.
I also re-reviewed the NUC11PHKi7C Technical Product Specification. In section 2.1.5 there is a very informative block diagram of the components and their connections.
The NVidia card is connected directly to the HDMI and Display Port connections. While the Intel Xe is connected to Thunderbolt.
I did not mention that previously I was using the HDMI port to connect with my monitor. For reasons I still do not understand, even though I had early KMS loading for NVidia enabled, it still did not activate properly at start up.
So I decided to purchase a USB C to HDMI cable and make the video connection to the monitor this way. Voila! After log in I have a console! Even X windows worked!
Now I can focus on tweaking and setting up “PRIME GPU offloading”!
I hope this information will help at least ONE other person with a NUC11PHKi7C using Linux too!