[SOLVED] Nvidia drivers brick Manjaro installation

Well, it seems I’m again having issues with my nvidia gpu and Linux.

After daily driving Manjaro for a while, I was extremely happy. When I had to dual boot windows and Linux again, I decided to upgrade my Manjaro install media from Ornara to Qonos and installed the video-nvidia-470xx driver and rebooted, it would always say “Failed to load kernel modules” and get stuck. I would then reinstall Manjaro and try again, but to no avail. Because of my monitor setup, I can’t use the open source driver. I need to use the proprietary driver, but I am unable to. What can I do?

Did you run the mkinitcpio after installing the NV driver.

nVidia needs the DKMS kernel module to load at boot to hook to their driver. If your system is not automagically making the initramfs after install, that is probably the issue.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA#mkinitcpio

The other issue is that maybe the nVidia driver is not compatible with the kernel that you are using, if you are upgrading both at the same time. You should be able to live boot and tell pacman to install the previous nVidia driver.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA#pacman_hook

I use ArchLinux so that would be the go to since Manjaro is based on it. however, I now Manjaro makes some one off changes everyonce in while since their aim to is to make a noob friendly version of ArchLinux. Noble in idea, but sometimes they miss the mark between upgrades.

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Fair enough, about manjaro. While I’m definitely not new, I don’t know enough to just think of these things off-hand. I’ll try it, but I think it does it on its own, as I was just trying to use the GUI to update it. My current kernel version is 5.15, which is the default in Qonos. I do know that 5.10 and 5.17 work with video-nvidia-470xx, but it may be my kernel. Just in case, I’ll install 5.10 if I need to select a different one through GRUB, so that I might not need to reinstall.

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I recently went through a similar nvidia Manjaro hell. (emphasis on nvidia, i dont think it had anything to do with Manjaro)

So lets start with the basics,

what is your output of:

mhwd -li
nvidia-smi
inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --width
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Thanks for your replies. I have tried different kernels, but to no avail. I had to reinstall again. While I enjoy the humor of blaming all my computer problems on nvidia, I can say that over 80% of my computer problems have been nvidia’s fault. This is probably no different. Anyways, mhwd -li gave me

Warning: config '/var/lib/mhwd/db/pci/network_drivers/r8168/MHWDCONFIG' is invalid!
Warning: config '/var/lib/mhwd/db/pci/network_drivers/rt3562sta/MHWDCONFIG' is invalid!
Installed PCI configs:
                  NAME               VERSION          FREEDRIVER           TYPE
           video-linux            2018.05.04                true            PCI
Warning: No installed USB configs!

nvidia-smi gave me nothing, as I am not able to install the nvidia driver.

inxi gave me

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.16-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-x86_64 lang=en_US keytable=us tz=UTC
    misobasedir=manjaro misolabel=MANJARO_KDEM_2122 quiet
    systemd.show_status=1 apparmor=1 security=apparmor driver=free
    nouveau.modeset=1 i915.modeset=1 radeon.modeset=1
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.23.5 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M4A79XTD EVO v: Rev X.0X
    serial: <superuser required> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 2102
    date: 06/17/2010
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M570 serial: <filter> charge: 40%
    rechargeable: yes status: Discharging
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.63 GiB used: 1.83 GiB (11.7%)
  RAM Report:
    permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K10
    family: 0x10 (16) model-id: 0xA (10) stepping: 0 microcode: 0x10000DC
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 768 KiB
    desc: d-6x64 KiB; i-6x64 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 6 MiB
    desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1063 high: 1982 min/max: 800/3200 boost: enabled
    scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 1982 2: 880
    3: 880 4: 880 5: 880 6: 880 bogomips: 42261
  Flags: 3dnow 3dnowext 3dnowprefetch abm aperfmperf apic clflush cmov
    cmp_legacy constant_tsc cpb cpuid cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de extapic extd_apicid
    fpu fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibs lahf_lm lbrv lm mca mce misalignsse mmx
    mmxext monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl npt nrip_save nx osvw pae pat
    pausefilter pdpe1gb pge pni popcnt pse pse36 rdtscp rep_good sep skinit
    sse sse2 sse4a svm svm_lock syscall tsc vme vmmcall wdt
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Not affected
  Type: spectre_v1
    mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2
    mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107GL [Quadro P620] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: nouveau v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1cb6 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.org 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
    loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa resolution: <missing: xdpyinfo>
  Message: Unable to show advanced data. Required tool glxinfo missing.
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK M4A785TD driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.2 chip-ID: 1002:4383 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb9
    class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.16-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.20 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.43 running: no
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK M4A785/P7P55 driver: r8169 v: kernel port: c800
    bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 5-2:3 chip-ID: 0bda:8771 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 718.65 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Acer model: SSD SA100 240GB
    size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 08 scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST9500325AS
    size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 1.5 Gb/s
    type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> rev: BSM1 scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Dial
    size: 29.32 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: <unknown>
    type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  Message: No partition data found.
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 223.57 GiB fs: ext4 label: N/A
    uuid: 3f6b6ed8-35e7-4f0e-bb5b-0019a891d6ac
  ID-2: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 size: 3.03 GiB fs: iso9660
  ID-3: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34 size: 4 MiB fs: vfat label: MISO_EFI
    uuid: F103-4C16
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-3:4 info: SanDisk Cruzer Dial type: Mass Storage
    driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 224mA
    chip-ID: 0781:5599 class-ID: 0806 serial: <filter>
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-2:2 info: Microdia USB DEVICE type: Keyboard,Mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 0c45:8073 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 5-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 5-1:2 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: Keyboard,Mouse,HID
    driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
    power: 98mA chip-ID: 046d:c52b class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: 5-2:3 info: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: Bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 0bda:8771 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Hub-6: 6-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-7: 7-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0 C mobo: 35.0 C gpu: nouveau temp: 49.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2566 case-1: 545 case-2: 901 gpu: nouveau fan: 2784
  Power: 12v: 12.42 5v: N/A 3.3v: 3.33 vbat: N/A
Info:
  Processes: 200 Uptime: 15m wakeups: 3 Init: systemd v: 250 tool: systemctl
  Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 13.0.0 Packages: pacman: 1103 lib: 306
  Shell: Zsh v: 5.8 default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.12

I haven’t tried again, but I’m tired of having to reinstall every time.

This is the constant struggle with team Green on GNU/Linux, BSD, and Solaris. That is why the sentiment against nVidia in the open source community is so strong.

I don’t know about Manjaro, but you can visit the front page of the ArchLinux wiki or the ArchLinux site to see what currently know issues are. It is possible that this is a known issue for your setup and has not been mitigated. At least on the ArchLinux sites, they tell you what you need to do to mitigate it or will advise not updating until a solid path forward has been reproduced.

Ok, lets get you on the closed source drivers because that is probably the issue.

Can you please list the installed kernals?

mhwd-kernel --listinstalled

You should have:
516
515 (LTS)
510 (LTS)

sudo mhwd -r video-linux
sudo mhwd -f -i pci video-nvidia

if you get a bunch of errors and listed files that cant be overwritten you may need to remove them first. use the sudo rm cmd and then re-run the sudo mhwd -f -i pci video-nvidia cmd.

it can also help after installing the driver updating grub to make sure its pointing to the right kernal so run sudo update-grub

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is this mhwd?

https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Manjaro_Hardware_Detection

Its a series of scripts that Manjaro uses to detect and set drivers/settings to match your hardware.

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Hello, all. Thank you SO much for all of your replies, especially @Mastic_Warrior. Your suggestion to check the Arch Linux forums and bug reports had not even crossed my mind. Ultimately, I did find out that there is a pretty huge bug with nvidia’s GP107-based cards. While mine isn’t technically GP107, it is GP107GL. They’re basically the same, with the GL being cut down. I hope to find a fix for this soon, but I guess I’ll have to wait until someone much smarter than I fixes it. I’ll update this thread if anything changes.

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That is something that may be useful to ship with ArchLinux as well. Nice.

I recommend this with any Rolling Release. I hope your issue is resolved soon.