Switching from NVIDIA to AMD GPU

Support Graphics & Display
1

Hello everyone, as the title says, I have replaced a RTX3080 GPU for a 6500XT since I do not play games anymore.

When I have replaced the new GPU I had firstly installed through TTY the mhwd the video-linux driver and then removed, always with mhwd , the nvidia drivers. Now everything runs smooth and it is fine but I am questioning myself why the inxi is giving me this weird output:

Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 24 [Radeon RX 6400 / 6500 XT] vendor: Sapphire PULSE
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel ports: active: DP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1
    bus-ID: 0000:03:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:743f class-ID: 0300
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.0
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa gpu: amdgpu display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: MSI MAG272CQR serial: <filter> built: 2020
    res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.5x13.2")
    diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  OpenGL:
    renderer: AMD BEIGE_GOBY (DRM 3.44.0 5.16.14-zen1-1-zen LLVM 13.0.1)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 21.3.7 direct render: Yes

As you can see, on the “Display” section, it says that the X loaded is for ‘nvidia’. Why? Isn’t it weird?

That’s my full inxi:

System:
  Kernel: 5.16.14-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=14d91570-f762-4106-889d-9a851d6dc02c rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
    systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1
    resume=UUID=f1d4967a-02c4-4be4-be76-96ec8d6adaf1 loglevel=3
  Desktop: GNOME 41.4 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM 41.3
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME Z690-A v: Rev 1.xx
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1304
    date: 03/07/2022
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse MX Master 3
    serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: Discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
    arch: Alder Lake family: 6 model-id: 0x97 (151) stepping: 2 microcode: 0x18
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 16 mt: 8 tpc: 2 st: 8 threads: 24 smt: enabled
    cache: L1: 1.4 MiB desc: d-8x32 KiB, 8x48 KiB; i-8x32 KiB, 8x64 KiB
    L2: 14 MiB desc: 8x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 30 MiB desc: 1x30 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 4470 high: 4921 min/max: 800/5200:3900 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: performance cores: 1: 4900 2: 4900 3: 4900
    4: 4900 5: 4833 6: 4900 7: 4900 8: 4921 9: 4900 10: 4900 11: 4900
    12: 4900 13: 4900 14: 4900 15: 4229 16: 4900 17: 3701 18: 3697 19: 3697
    20: 3706 21: 3699 22: 3704 23: 3699 24: 3706 bogomips: 152985
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 24 [Radeon RX 6400 / 6500 XT] vendor: Sapphire PULSE
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel ports: active: DP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1
    bus-ID: 0000:03:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:743f class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Generalplus GENERAL WEBCAM type: USB
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-2.2:6 chip-ID: 1b3f:2247
    class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.0
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa gpu: amdgpu display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: MSI MAG272CQR serial: <filter> built: 2020
    res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.5x13.2")
    diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  OpenGL:
    renderer: AMD BEIGE_GOBY (DRM 3.44.0 5.16.14-zen1-1-zen LLVM 13.0.1)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 21.3.7 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-S HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:7ad0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 XT]
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:03:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Generalplus GENERAL WEBCAM type: USB
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-2.2:6 chip-ID: 1b3f:2247
    class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Device-4: Sennheiser USB-ED 01 type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 1-7:5 chip-ID: 1395:003c
    class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.14-zen1-1-zen running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I225-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igc v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:07:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:15f3 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp7s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: docker0 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown
    mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: tun0 state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A
  IF-ID-3: vethf7c1fc9 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full
    mac: <filter>
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
    v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev:
    class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.56 TiB used: 2.89 TiB (63.4%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000P1SSD8
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
    speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: P3CR013
    temp: 30.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD40EFAX-68JH4N0 size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    rev: 0A82 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Edge
    size: 14.66 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
    serial: <filter> rev: 1.27 scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 896.84 GiB size: 896.84 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 215.66 GiB (24.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 576 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 896.84 GiB size: 896.84 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 215.66 GiB (24.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 896.84 GiB size: 896.84 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 215.66 GiB (24.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 896.84 GiB size: 896.84 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 215.66 GiB (24.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 34.38 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 31.1 GiB used: 4.2 MiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 27.8 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 39.0 C
    mem: 38.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Processes: 515 Uptime: 57m wakeups: 14 Memory: 31.1 GiB
  used: 12.52 GiB (40.3%) Init: systemd v: 250 tool: systemctl Compilers:
  gcc: 11.2.0 clang: 13.0.1 Packages: pacman: 1425 lib: 452 Shell: fish
  v: 3.3.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.13

Thanks a lot :slight_smile:

2

It must be a false catch by inxi…

Check this:

sudo lspci -v -k | sed -n "/VGA compatible controller/,/Kernel modules/p"

lsmod | grep -i nvidia
3

Never had a think about a ‘false output’ of inxi :expressionless:

 ╰─λ sudo lspci -v -k | sed -n "/VGA compatible controller/,/Kernel modules/p"
[sudo] password for g:       
0000:03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 24 [Radeon RX 6400 / 6500 XT] (rev c1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
	Subsystem: Sapphire Technology Limited PULSE AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 129
	Memory at 4100000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=4G]
	Memory at 4080000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=2M]
	I/O ports at 6000 [size=256]
	Memory at 85e00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M]
	Expansion ROM at 85f00000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: [48] Vendor Specific Information: Len=08 <?>
	Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [64] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [a0] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [100] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0001 Rev=1 Len=010 <?>
	Capabilities: [150] Advanced Error Reporting
	Capabilities: [200] Physical Resizable BAR
	Capabilities: [240] Power Budgeting <?>
	Capabilities: [270] Secondary PCI Express
	Capabilities: [2a0] Access Control Services
	Capabilities: [2d0] Process Address Space ID (PASID)
	Capabilities: [320] Latency Tolerance Reporting
	Capabilities: [410] Physical Layer 16.0 GT/s <?>
	Capabilities: [440] Lane Margining at the Receiver <?>
	Kernel driver in use: amdgpu
	Kernel modules: amdgpu

The second command gives an empty output.

Can inxi be ‘restored’?

4

Or wait… it is only about xorg so it must be the GLX module. Did you remove nvidia-utils ?

5

Yes, I think mhwd removed it for me!

[🔴] × pacman -Qi nvidia-utils
error: package 'nvidia-utils' was not found

Edit:
In /etc/X11/xorg.conf/ there are no configurations about nvidia cards

In /var/log/Xorg.0.log there is at the EOF this line

[    93.029] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Deleting GPU-0
[    93.029] (II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.

I think it is like we see due to mhwd deletion of nvidia drivers

While in

 ╭─giorgio@giorgio in /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers🔒 
 ╰─λ ls
.rwxr-xr-x 165k root 24 feb 11:53  amdgpu_drv.so
.rwxr-xr-x  15k root 16 nov  2021  ati_drv.so
.rwxr-xr-x 1,7M root  7 nov  2021  intel_drv.so
.rwxr-xr-x 120k root 19 feb 22:19  modesetting_drv.so
.rwxr-xr-x 225k root  7 nov  2021  nouveau_drv.so
.rwxr-xr-x 502k root 16 nov  2021  radeon_drv.so

I got this

6

then retry

 sudo mhwd -a pci free 0300
7

thank you for the reply, since drivers were already installed I had to write:
sudo mhwd -f -a pci free 0300
but the inxi -G is giving me always the same output. moreover i have cleaned the nvidia’s dkms modules from the /var/lib/mhwd/db/pci

i’m out if ideas :’(

8

Please post the full log here :wink:

9

Just to be sure:

$ sudo pacman -Qs nvidia

See if there are any nvidia related packages still installed.

10

He asked this same question on garuda forums.

Rather than repeat my answer there, you can read it:

It’s because of wayland, and xorg not reloading since the nvidia driver was removed, and thus not running log rotate on Xorg.0.log thus leaving the last nvidia driver entry as loaded, that’s all.

inxi is reporting thee event correctly, the main cause of the issue is actually having xorg still installed instead of only xwayland, that leaves this type of corner case which inxi can’t decipher since it’s trusting the system data.

Note that as of 3.3.13, inxi graphics display: shows X: and gpu: drivers, specifically because of this xorg/wayland type of issue. In the future, with true wayland/xwayland systems, such issues I believe will not occur, but I’m not aware yet of how logging occurs in xwayland only systems, trying to find meaningul wayland data is like trying to pull teeth on a chicken at this point, so it’s hard to get data, takes too much time to try to dig through the incomplete docs out there.

But this is a case were inxi is right, the last time xorg loaded, it was running nvidia, and that’s all inxi can tell you.

What you could have actually deduced from this Garuda setup is that Xorg itself has never been started since the gpu was replaced, which means wayland/xwayland are the only things that have run the desktop so far, that is, login to Xorg option has not been used.

I expect these will be seen now and again over the coming years as people use wayland with more success, and don’t bail out to xorg desktops when something fails.