Arch Linux NVIDIA drivers installation guide

Important links

• Arch Linux Homepage
• Arch Linux Wiki

Default Prerequisites

This is a quick tutorial on how you can install proprietary NVIDIA drivers for Arch Linux. Please note if you are using anything other than the regular linux kernel, such as linux-lts, you need to make changes accordingly. All the commands marked like this are meant to be run on the terminal. Do not reboot before you have finished all the steps below!

Step 1: Installing required packages and enabling multilib

1. Update the system: sudo pacman -Syu
2. Install required packages: sudo pacman -S base-devel linux-headers git nano --needed
3. Install the AUR helper, yay
   • cd ~
   • git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
   • cd yay
   • makepkg -si
4. Enable multilib repository
   • sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf
   • Uncomment the following lines by removing the # -character at the start them
     • [multilib]
     • Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
   • Save the file with CTRL+S and close nano with CTRL+X
5. Run yay -Syu, to update the system package database

Step 2: Installing the driver packages

1. First find your NVIDIA card from this list here. Alternatively you can take a look at the Gentoo wiki.
2. Check what driver packages you need to install from the table below

Driver name	Kernel	Base driver	OpenGL	OpenGL (multilib)
Maxwell (NV110) series and newer	linux or linux-lts	nvidia	nvidia-utils	lib32-nvidia-utils
Maxwell (NV110) series and newer	not linux and not linux-lts	nvidia-dkms	nvidia-utils	lib32-nvidia-utils
Kepler (NVE0) series	any	nvidia-470xx-dkms	nvidia-470xx-utils	lib32-nvidia-470xx-utils
GeForce 400/500/600 series cards [NVCx and NVDx]	any	nvidia-390xx-dkms	nvidia-390xx-utils	lib32-nvidia-390xx-utils
Tesla (NV50/G80-90-GT2XX)	any	nvidia-340xx-dkms	nvidia-340xx-utils	lib32-nvidia-340xx-utils

3. Install the correct Base driver, OpenGL, and OpenGL (multilib) packages
   • Example: yay -S nvidia-470xx-dkms nvidia-470xx-utils lib32-nvidia-470xx-utils
4. Install nvidia-settings with yay -S nvidia-settings

Step 3: Enabling DRM kernel mode setting

In this step please complete all the parts: Setting the Kernel Parameter, Add Early Loading of NVIDIA Modules, and Adding the Pacman Hook.

Setting the Kernel Parameter:

Setting the kernel parameter depends on what bootloader you are using. Complete only one of the options below (A or B). After that, continue to Add Early Loading of NVIDIA Modules.

Option A) For GRUB users

1. Edit the GRUB configuration file:
   • sudo nano /etc/default/grub
   • Find the line with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
   • Append the words inside the quotes with nvidia-drm.modeset=1. If you are using Linux kernel 6.11 or newer, you must also add nvidia-drm.fbdev=1
     • Example for Linux kernel 6.10 or older: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvidia-drm.modeset=1"
     • Example for Linux kernel 6.11 or newer: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvidia-drm.modeset=1 nvidia-drm.fbdev=1"
   • Save the file with CTRL+S and close nano with CTRL+X
2. Update the GRUB configuration: sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Option B) For systemd-boot users

1. Navigate to the bootloader entries directory: cd /boot/loader/entries/
2. Edit the appropriate .conf file for your Arch Linux boot entry
   • sudo nano <filename>.conf
3. Append nvidia-drm.modeset=1 to the options line
   • If you are using Linux kernel 6.11 or newer, you must also add nvidia-drm.fbdev=1
4. Save the file with CTRL+S and close nano with CTRL+X

Add Early Loading of NVIDIA Modules:

1. Edit the mkinitcpio configuration file:
   • sudo nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
   • Find the line that says MODULES=()
   • Update the line to: MODULES=(nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm)
   • Find the line that says HOOKS=()
   • On the HOOKS=() line, find the word kms inside the parenthesis and remove it
   • Save the file with CTRL+S and close nano with CTRL+X
2. Regenerate the initramfs with sudo mkinitcpio -P

Adding the Pacman Hook:

1. Get the nvidia.hook -file from this repository
   • cd ~
   • wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/korvahannu/arch-nvidia-drivers-installation-guide/main/nvidia.hook
2. Open the file with your preferred editor.
   • nano nvidia.hook
3. Find the line that says Target=nvidia.
4. Replace the word nvidia with the base driver you installed, e.g., nvidia-470xx-dkms
   • The edited line should look something like this: Target=nvidia-470xx-dkms
5. Save the file with CTRL+S and close nano with CTRL+X
6. Move the file to /etc/pacman.d/hooks/ with: sudo mkdir -p /etc/pacman.d/hooks/ && sudo mv ./nvidia.hook /etc/pacman.d/hooks/

Step 4: Reboot and enjoy!

You can now safely reboot and enjoy the proprietary NVIDIA drivers. If you have any problems check the Arch Linux Wiki or the forums for common pitfalls and questions.