Manjaro Nvidia and Nvidia - LTS

Support Graphics & Display
1

Hi,

I have question regarding how does Manjaro handle NVIDIA installations depending which kernel am I using like Linux or Linux LTS.

Lets say I am on Manjaro 6.1LTS and I want to install NVIDIA driver from Manjaro GUI driver manager, will it automatically install NVIDIA-LTS? And vice versa if I am on just Linux kernel like 6.5 will it automatically install just NVIDIA driver?

Is there a way to check which NVIDIA type driver the system is using?(NVIDIA or NVIDIA-LTS)

Do I need to remove each driver and reinstall the other one depending on which Kernel I am on? Or does Manjaro detect that I have multiple kernels so it will install NVIDIA and NVIDIA LTS for those kernels?

I am new this so would appreciate help regarding this confusion.

2

Hi @Naarmu,

AFAIK, no.

mhwd only installs the latest version for your graphics card, whether it’s a 5xx, 4xx, or the legacy 3xx version driver.

Personally, I didn’t even know Nvidia did LTS drivers. Only found that out now, when I looked

3

Well this is confusing.

Right now I just want to know what does Manjaro automatically install and how to check most importantly. :sweat_smile:

4

The easiest way to check what’s installed, run the following:

mhwd --listinstalled

Mine, for example:

$ mhwd --listinstalled
> Installed PCI configs:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME               VERSION          FREEDRIVER           TYPE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
video-nvidia            2023.03.23               false            PCI


Warning: No installed USB configs!

For more info see:

5

Thanks for the help I will read this and try to figure out if nothing else maybe I will just put NVIDIA dkms. :grinning:

1 Like
6

mhwd does an excellent job of managing the drivers. In my opinion, there’s nothing to just put up with.

7

I understand, just I hear how Nvidia is not so to say friendly with Linux compared how AMD is, so I just want simply to make sure everything is alright with my settings. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
8

nvidia-dkms also works very well

1 Like
9

As I recall - there is no designated Nvidia LTS driver.

Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) labels drivers according to below schema - which over time will change

 $ mhwd -la
> All PCI configs:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  NAME               VERSION          FREEDRIVER           TYPE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
video-hybrid-amd-nvidia-470xx-prime            2023.03.23               false            PCI
video-hybrid-amd-nvidia-prime            2023.03.23               false            PCI
video-hybrid-intel-nvidia-390xx-bumblebee            2023.03.23               false            PCI
video-hybrid-intel-nvidia-470xx-prime            2023.03.23               false            PCI
video-hybrid-intel-nvidia-prime            2023.03.23               false            PCI
    video-nvidia-390xx            2023.03.23               false            PCI
    video-nvidia-470xx            2023.03.23               false            PCI
          video-nvidia            2023.03.23               false            PCI
           video-linux            2018.05.04                true            PCI
     video-modesetting            2020.01.13                true            PCI
  video-virtualmachine            2021.07.26                true            PCI
      video-openchrome            2020.01.18                true            PCI
       video-rendition            2020.01.18                true            PCI
              video-s3            2020.01.18                true            PCI
          video-sisusb            2020.01.18                true            PCI
            video-vesa            2017.03.12                true            PCI
          video-voodoo            2017.03.12                true            PCI
   network-broadcom-wl            2018.10.07               false            PCI
         network-r8168            2023.09.12                true            PCI
     network-rt3562sta            2013.12.07                true            PCI
       network-slmodem            2013.12.07                true            PCI

If your device is a laptop with dual gpu you would likely be using one of the prime variants.

The current Nvidia driver is labelled

  • video-nvidia

with the following considered legacy

  • video-nvidia-390xx
  • video-nvidia-470xx

Which ever kernel your system is using - mhwd will install the corresponding files matching your the currently running kernel.

This pose a significant point of trouble IF you fail to remove unsupported kernels in due time.

The above mentioned point can usually be mitigated by using the nvidia-dkms - in which case you need to insure you have the relevant kernel headers installed - again - mhwd-kernel will handle this situation gracefully.

BUT with Nvidia there is always a chance you need to manual intervention on system sync or to configure the GPU to your preferences.

In other words - there is no one size fits all - you must be prepared to manually intervene when required.

10

Thank you @linux-aarhus for the information.

I am just a fresh Linux user and pretty much when I noticed about existence of NVIDIA, NVIDIA LTS and NVIDIA-DKMS, (There are also NVIDIA-OPEN-BETA and NVIDIA-OPEN-BETA-DKMS from AUR) I kind of panicked.

On 6.5 kernel I couldn’t launch a single game with nvidia-drm.modeset=1.
On 6.1(LTS) kernel I was able to launch games with nvidia-drm.modeset=1.
And for extra measures I reinstalled the NVIDIA driver from mhwd each time I switched the kernel.

I also had to put in my Grub pci=nommconf otherwise my system freezes at random times when browsing web(Firefox and Brave).

I was afraid I might be using wrong NVIDIA type driver because I had these odd problems there and there. So I wondered if I should trust mhwd or do manually myself to install nvidia drivers in the future.

11

You can do it manually if you are so inclined but never use Nvidia’s binary installer.

No reason to panic - but only use AUR if you are using Manjaro unstable branch.

nvidia-dkms is in the official repo - thus the driver will rebuild correct if you ensure you have the kernel-headers for the installed kernels.

If you have kernel-headers installed for e.g. linux61 then - using mhwd-kernel - installing linux66 will pull the headers automagically.

12

Thanks for the clear explanation. Seems like I don’t have to worry then. So far the system works fine and plays games, capturing videos and rendering without hiccups, so I guess the driver for the nvidia is fine. :grinning:

1 Like
13

This topic was automatically closed 36 hours after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.