NVIDIA install or not

General system EndeavourOS installation
1

Currently, I am investigating if I should do an installation from scratch and restore my backups… Perhaps I will do.

I have a question regarding NVIDI installation

My laptop’s hardware is

Device-1: NVIDIA TU116M [GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile] driver: N/A
Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Renoir driver: amdgpu v: kernel

When playing with the installation (currently to an usb stick) I have the options

EndeavourOS x86_64 UEFI Default

EndeavourOS x86_64 UEFI NVIDIA (latest cards only)

I am confused as I believe I chose the first option and after installation lsmod showed the nvidia modules.

My ideal situation would be: I use the AMG GPU and if required I switch to NVIDIA.

What is the recommended way to install?

1 Like
2

First, your inxi -Fxxxz would be helpful here.

Which nvidia modules are you seeing?

What is the output of pacman -Q | grep -i nvidia ?

Lastly, just because the drivers for something are installed/loaded, it doesn’t definitively mean that it is being used.

2 Likes
3

Ok. I did two installs to the USB stick

  1. Boot iso with UEFI Default
  2. Boot iso with UEFI NVIDIA (latest cards only)

Here the output of inxi -Fxxxz regarding graphical adapter

Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU116M [GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile]
    vendor: Tongfang Hongkong driver: nvidia v: 515.48.07 arch: Turing pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 ports: active: none empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1
    bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2192 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: AMD Renoir vendor: Tongfang Hongkong driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: GCN 5.1 pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: none bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:1636 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Chicony HD Webcam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-4:4
    chip-ID: 04f2:b641 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: amdgpu,nvidia unloaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
    s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 mapped: eDP model: LG Display 0x0620 res: 1920x1080
    hz: 144 dpi: 128 size: 382x215mm (15.04x8.46") diag: 438mm (17.3") modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RENOIR (LLVM 13.0.1 DRM 3.46 5.18.7-arch1-1)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 22.1.2 direct render: Yes

which is the same for both installs.

Here pacman -Q | grep -i nvidia

nvidia-dkms 515.48.07-2
nvidia-hook 1.0-1
nvidia-inst 1.2-1
nvidia-installer-common 1.3-1
nvidia-installer-db 2.5.8-1
nvidia-installer-dkms 3.5-1
nvidia-utils 515.48.07-2

which is the same for both installs

Then lsmod | grep -i nividia

nvidia_drm             73728  2
nvidia_modeset       1425408  3 nvidia_drm
i2c_nvidia_gpu         16384  0
nvidia_uvm           2744320  0
nvidia              45367296  99 nvidia_uvm,nvidia_modeset

which is the same for both installs.

4

Do you want to switch to Nvidia for certain applications / games or the entire session?
For first case you are already set up since display is driven by AMD.

For second case you can install optimus-manager-qt to switch between the two.

5

If you install with the default entry it installs open source nouveau drivers for the nvidia graphics. If you install with Nvidia then it installs the latest nvidia driver.

As @mrvictory posted you then have to use a method in order to switch between graphics cards if that is what you want. optimus-manager is one way to do that.

1 Like
6

This didn’t happen here. I instaledl both ways, and as the lsmod output showed in both cases nvidia modules are loaded.

7

How would I switch to nvidia for a single application invocation? Setting one or more env vars?

Regarding optimus-manager-qt I have to find out how to install an AUR package (I am still pretty new in arch world)

8 
sudo pacman -S prime-run

and then for whatever application you want to use NVIDIA for:

prime-run <executable>

For Steam games:

prime-run %command%
9

As @dalto said above. So if you install it one way or the other you would have to switch to the nvidia card in order to know that it is either running on nouveau open source or nvidia drivers. I can guarantee you if you install with the default menu it will be nouveau and if you install with the nvidia option it will be the current nvidia drivers that it is running on once you switch.

Right now it is running on amdgpu because you haven’t switched cards.

OpenGL: renderer: AMD RENOIR (LLVM 13.0.1 DRM 3.46 5.18.7-arch1-1)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 22.1.2 direct render: Yes
10

Sorry, if I am too stupid to get this installed, But I get

sudo pacman -S prime-run
error: target not found: prime-run
11

But the output of inxi -Fxxxz was the same when installing with UEFI Default and when installing with UEFI NVIDIA (latest cards only). So in either case it is running on amdgpu

12

I found that the package name is nvidia-prime which I was able to install

1 Like
13

The output i see is showing the Nvidia driver is installed. So this inxi -Fxxxz must be the output when you installed using the nvidia option. But until you switch to that graphics card it is running on amggpu.

OpenGL: renderer: AMD RENOIR (LLVM 13.0.1 DRM 3.46 5.18.7-arch1-1)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 22.1.2 direct render: Yes

So if you installed with the default method and then showed me the output of inxi -Fxxxz it would show that the nouveau open source drivers would be installed not nvidia and it would still be running on amdgpu because you haven’t switched graphics cards.

Edit: In order to switch graphics cards you have to use a method such as optimus-manager.

Edit2: You could use nvidia-prime also as there are other methods.

14

@ricklinux I try to say that with the default install method the output of the inxi -Fxxxz was the same as when having installed with NVIDIA latest driver.

I did both installs to the same usb stick with erase and redirected the commands to files and fetched them via ssh.

15

I’m not sure what you are trying to tell me. If it installed the nvidia drivers using the default menu entry on the live ISO i don’t understand why it would do that. Do you not want the nvidia drivers installed? Currently you running on amdgpu until you switch. When you switch what do you want nouveau open source drivers or nvidia?

Edit: I didn’t see the output from the install using the default menu entry so i can’t really comment.

16

Maybe there was a mistake during this and you fetched the same file, by mistake. :person_shrugging:

1 Like
17

@petram No, I gave them different names and there were small differences in other sections of the inxi output.

18

Then we have to ask the ISO maintainer to confirm this is possible, because it is new to us. :wink:

19

I don’t use ssh and i have no experience with it and i don’t have any hybrid hardware but i do have nvidia and i have installed using both methods 100’s of times and the default entry installs nouveau open source. :thinking:

1 Like
20

@ricklinux Sorry, perhaps my English isn’t good enough.

Here is what I did.

  1. I booted from the ISO using UEFI Default. I inserted an USB stick and from the ISO I ran the installer and installed to the USB stick with erase.
    Then I ran inxi, lsmod aso as described in the beginning of the thread.

  2. I booted from the ISO using UEFI NVIDIA (latest cards only). I inserted the same USB stick and from the ISO I ran the installer and installed to the USB stick with erase.
    Then I ran inxi, lsmod aso as described in the beginning of the thread.

Comparing the output of, for example from inxi, showed that the graphics part of the output was the same.

This was just observation I tried to understand.