[BUG]: modeset not configured after installing nvidia-open

[nikolapavkovic-png]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Current Behavior

Summary

After a fresh install of AlmaLinux 9.8 and installation of nvidia-open via the almalinux-release-nvidia-driver repo, the system boots to a black screen following the post-driver-install reboot. The nvidia, nvidia_modeset, and nvidia_drm kernel modules are loaded successfully, but DRM kernel mode setting is not active, and no configuration enabling it is present anywhere in the boot chain. Manually creating a modprobe.d config to set nvidia_drm modeset=1 and rebuilding the initramfs resolves the issue. This suggests the package/repo does not set modeset on by default, and nothing in the install/setup flow prompts the user to do so, leaving the driver in a non-functional state out of the box.

Environment

• OS: AlmaLinux release 9.8 (Olive Jaguar)
• Kernel: 5.14.0-687.15.1.el9_8.x86_64
• Driver package: nvidia-open-610.43.02-1.el9_8.x86_64
• GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1660
• Install method: Fresh AlmaLinux 9 install, driver installed via:

  sudo dnf install almalinux-release-nvidia-driver
  sudo dnf install nvidia-open
  

Expected Behavior

Expected Behavior

After reboot, the system should boot to a working graphical session (display manager / Plasma), or at minimum the nvidia driver stack should be in a state capable of providing kernel mode setting out of the box, or the install flow should prompt/document that this configuration step is required.

Steps To Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install AlmaLinux 9 from the official ISO.
2. sudo dnf upgrade followed by reboot.
3. sudo dnf install almalinux-release-nvidia-driver
4. sudo dnf install nvidia-open
5. Reboot.

Anything else?

Actual Behavior

System boots to a black screen. Dropping to a TTY and inspecting the system shows:

• lsmod | grep nvidia shows nvidia, nvidia_modeset, and nvidia_drm all loaded.
• cat /etc/modprobe.d/*.conf | grep -i nvidia returns nothing, no nvidia-related modprobe configuration exists.
• cat /proc/cmdline contains no nvidia_drm.modeset=1 (or equivalent) kernel parameter.
• Attempting startx manually fails; Xorg.0.log shows the X server terminating with error (1).
• The kernel/Xorg log contains the error could not find NvKmsKapiDevice, indicating nvidia_drm could not obtain a kernel-mode-setting capable device handle from nvidia-modeset, consistent with KMS not being enabled.

Workaround

Manually creating /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-drm.conf:

options nvidia_drm modeset=1

followed by:

sudo dracut -f --kver $(uname -r)
reboot

resolves the issue and the system boots to a working graphical session.

Notes

• The nvidia kernel modules load successfully and are present at boot; this is not a missing-driver or kmod-build-failure issue. The driver stack is present but non-functional for display purposes without the above manual step.
• Neither almalinux-release-nvidia-driver nor nvidia-open appear to set nvidia_drm.modeset=1 by default via modprobe.d or kernel cmdline, and no warning or post-install message indicates this step is required.
• This was reproduced twice (across two separate fresh installs), with the same root cause and same fix both times.

Search terms

nvidia modeset nvidia-open nvidia_drm nvidia driver nvidia_driver nvidia-driver

[alaurie]

I have the same issue, in my testing just regenerating the initramfs after install will enable modeset. Should be no need to create the modprobe conf.

sudo dracut --regenerate-all --force

[jonathanspw]

modeset=1 is built into the open source driver. You can verify this without the kernel argument as so:

# cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset
Y

The dracut command is all that did anything here, not the modeset. The dracut shouldn't be required but some people seem to consistently run into a case where it is. We've been trying to isolate this but have yet to reproduce the issue.

[alaurie]

@jonathanspw I think the issue is that on install of the nvidia driver these options are configured but as part of the install no regen of the initramfs is run, so the existing initramfs still lacks the blacklist configuration and contains the nouveau/nova-core modules. During boot, the initramfs loads nouveau early, allowing it to claim the GPU. Once the system pivots to the real root, the nvidia driver fails to bind to the hardware because nouveau is already running it, resulting in a black screen or driver fallback.

Specifically, the package installs the following files:

/usr/lib/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf

  # Nouveau/Nova must be blacklisted here as well besides the initrd to avoid                                                                                                                               
  # a delayed loading (for example on Optimus laptops where the Nvidia card is                                                                                                                              
  # not driving the main display).                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  blacklist nouveau                                                                                                                                                                                         
  blacklist nova-core                                                                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  # Add soft dependencies for extra modules as adding the module loading to                                                                                                                                 
  # /usr/lib/modules-load.d/*.conf for systemd consumption, makes the                                                                                                                                       
  # configuration file to be added to the initrd but not the module, throwing an                                                                                                                            
  # error on plymouth about not being able to find the module.                                                                                                                                              
  # Ref: /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/00systemd/module-setup.sh                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  # Even adding the modules is not the correct thing, as we don't want it to be                                                                                                                             
  # included in the initrd, so use this configuration file to specify the                                                                                                                                   
  # dependency.                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  softdep nvidia post: nvidia-uvm nvidia-drm                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  # Enable complete power management. From:                                                                                                                                                                 
  # file:///usr/share/doc/nvidia-driver/html/powermanagement.html                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  options nvidia NVreg_TemporaryFilePath=/var/tmp                                                                                                                                                           
  options nvidia NVreg_EnableS0ixPowerManagement=1                                                                                                                                                          
  options nvidia NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations=1                                                                                                                                                     

/usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/99-nvidia.conf

  # Omit the nvidia driver from the ramdisk, to avoid needing to regenerate                                                                                                                                 
  # the ramdisk on updates.                                                                                                                                                                                 
  omit_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_peermem "                                                                                                                              

Without a post-install hook to trigger dracut --regenerate-all --force, the initramfs remains un-updated: it won't block nouveau during early boot, nor will it properly register the driver omission
setup.