Thursday, February 27, 2014

Install official nvidia driver on Arch Linux with my Lenovo Y400 (video card GT 650M)

I must be a stupid guy because it took me 2 weeks to resolve this issue. I've been switch drivers between nouvean and nvidia official driver for a long time and I never run it out. :(

1. The issue I met

If you follow the Arch Linux wiki to install the official nvidia driver and found the screen is turned to black, the fan starts spinning and the system completed die after a while, this article may help you out!

2. nvidia driver conflicts with new kernel

I found an article in nvidia forum, which mentioned there is a conflict between nvidia driver and kernel 3.10+. You have to re-compile your kernel, update your initramfs and then add a parameter to your boot file.

3. Recompile kernel

Download the latest kernel from http://www.kernel.org/
Change your .config file
from:
  1. # CONFIG_HZ_100 is not set
  2. # CONFIG_HZ_250 is not set
  3. CONFIG_HZ_300=y
  4. # CONFIG_HZ_1000 is not set
  5. CONFIG_HZ=300
to:
  1. # CONFIG_HZ_100 is not set
  2. # CONFIG_HZ_250 is not set
  3. # CONFIG_HZ_300 is not set
  4. CONFIG_HZ_1000=y
  5. CONFIG_HZ=1000

Follow the wiki page to compile your kernel
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Kernels/Compilation/Traditional

Note: remember to re-generate your initramfs file. This is very important

4. Add kernel parameter

Edit your gummiboot file: arch.conf
add a parameter at the end:
rw quiet rcutree.rcu_idle_gp_delay=1

Then reboot your system.

Now, test your xort with startx. You should be OK.

Install nouvean driver on Arch Linux with my Lenovo Y400 (video card GT 650M)

Install the open source nouvean video driver with Lenovo Y400 (with nvidia GT 650M) should be easy. Just follow the official wiki page should be good.

1. Install Arch Linux

If you already install the arch linux, you may skip this section. Just install Arch Linux follows the official wiki without installing xorg.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_guide

2. Install nouvean

By default, the nouvean module should be loaded after you installed the Arch Linux. You can use the following command line to double check if the module is loaded.

lsmod | grep nouvean

If it's loaded, you can continue installing the nouvean driver. Follow the wiki page to finish that.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/nouveau

After that, reboot your linux and then check if the module is loaded again.


3. Install xorg

Now it's the time to install xorg. Follow the wiki page to finish your installation.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_guide

After the installation, I still reboot my linux and check if the nouvean is loaded. But I guess you can skip this step.

4. Install KDE

I'm a KDE guy. So it's the time for me to install KDE. You can install other EE as your wish.