Nvidia driver installation

User Support Testing 4.1
#1

Hello,

I am using Qubes 4.1 with kernel 5.8.16, but I am not sure if this issue belongs to Testing 4.1.
Currently I am trying to install nvidia drivers. I’ll summarize here a few issues I’ve encountered so as not to create too many posts.

First, I tried to apply this docu (https://github.com/Qubes-Community/Contents/blob/master/docs/configuration/install-nvidia-driver.md).

In a fedora-32 standalone VM I first did

sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

and get stuck with the error:

[user@dev-testing ~]$ yumdownloader --resolve xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
Last metadata expiration check: 0:44:43 ago on Wed Dec 30 12:07:54 2020.
No package xorg-x11-drv-nvidia available.
Exiting due to strict setting.

To get on with it already, I then looked at the next steps: In most forums there is something about editing the grub/efi/xen config file.
However, I can’t find such anywhere.

Neither in

[root@dom0 boot]# ls -R grub2/
grub2/:
grubenv  themes

grub2/themes:
qubes

grub2/themes/qubes:
progress_bar2_c.png    qubes.png            unifont-regular-14.pf2
progress_bar_c.png     theme.txt            unifont-regular-16.pf2
progress_bar_hl_c.png  unifont-bold-16.pf2  unifont-regular-32.pf2

or

[root@dom0 boot]# ls -R efi
efi:
EFI

efi/EFI:
BOOT  fedora  qubes

efi/EFI/BOOT:

efi/EFI/fedora:

efi/EFI/qubes:
fonts  grub.cfg  grubx64.efi  xen-4.14.0.efi  xen.efi

efi/EFI/qubes/fonts:

nor

[root@dom0 etc]# ls | grep grub
grub2.cfg
grub2-efi.cfg
grub.d

I find corresponding config files. How do I continue?

Edit: My system spec are listed in Qubes 4.1 installation failure.

Edit: I followed the steps in

and downloaded the related rpmfusion files (i downloaded and installed
https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/releases/32/Everything/x86_64/os/repoview/rpmfusion-free-release.html and https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/releases/32/Everything/x86_64/os/repoview/rpmfusion-nonfree-release.html since my dom0 has fedora 32.

Then I tried

[root@dom0 Downloads]# sudo qubes-dom0-update akmod-nvidia
Using debian-clone as UpdateVM to download updates for Dom0; this may take some time…
Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: rpmfusion-free. Please verify its path and try again

and there is the next obstacle.

Deletion policy
#2

This was my approach based on issue #2526 and works on kernel-5.9.14-1:

  1. Install the necessary tools:
    dom0: qubes-dom0-update gcc kmod grub2-tools perl-bignum make
  2. Install kernel-devel package from RPM file;
    dom0: dnf install kernel-latest-devel-5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64.rpm
  3. Download the latest Nvidia driver from www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/
    In my case “NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.45.01.run”
  4. Copy the downloaded driver to dom0:
    dom0: qvm-run -p ${VM} 'cat /home/user/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.45.01.run' > NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.45.01.run
    dom0: chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.45.01.run
  5. Extract driver sources
    dom0: ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-455.45.01.run --ui=none --no-x-check --keep --extract-only
  6. Build nvidia.ko kernel driver
    dom0: cd NVIDIA-*/kernel/; make module IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y CC="gcc -DNV_VMAP_4_PRESENT -DNV_SIGNAL_STRUCT_RLIM"
  7. Copy compiled driver to /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra
    dom0: sudo cp nvidia.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/
  8. Load the driver and check
    dom0: sudo depmod -a; modinfo nvidia
  9. Edit grub2 entry add rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau to the end of GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX
    dom0: sudo vim /etc/sysconfig/grub
  10. Update grub.cfg for UEFI
    dom0: grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/qubes/grub.cfg
  11. Disable nouveau driver; add to blacklist
    dom0: echo "blacklist nouveau" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
  12. Reboot the system and enjoy the Nvidia driver

I’ve uploaded my build kernel rpm files to my git repository: GitHub Repo

#3

Hi, thanks for the detailed response!
It’s working fine until step 6:

[user@dom0 Downloads]$ cd NVIDIA-*/kernel/; make module IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y CC="gcc -DNV_VMAP_4_PRESENT -DNV_SIGNAL_STRUCT_RLIM"
make[1]: *** /lib/modules/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/build: No such file or directory.  Stop.
make: *** [Makefile:80: modules] Error 2

Before I run this command I rebooted and verified

    [user@dom0 Downloads]$ uname -r
    5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64

Then I checked the folder

[root@dom0 5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64]# ll /lib/modules/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/
total 4612
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      38 Dec 15 01:00 build -> /usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root    4096 Jan 11 22:06 extra
drwxr-xr-x 13 root root    4096 Jan 11 22:07 kernel
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1150198 Jan 11 22:07 modules.alias
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1125299 Jan 11 22:07 modules.alias.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    1550 Dec 15 01:00 modules.block
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    9473 Dec 15 01:00 modules.builtin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   25490 Jan 11 22:07 modules.builtin.alias.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   12074 Jan 11 22:07 modules.builtin.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   74116 Dec 15 01:00 modules.builtin.modinfo
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  415504 Jan 11 22:07 modules.dep
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  583209 Jan 11 22:07 modules.dep.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root     375 Jan 11 22:07 modules.devname
-rw-r--r--  1 root root     176 Dec 15 01:00 modules.drm
-rw-r--r--  1 root root      34 Dec 15 01:00 modules.modesetting
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    2215 Dec 15 01:00 modules.networking
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  149542 Dec 15 01:00 modules.order
-rw-r--r--  1 root root     738 Jan 11 22:07 modules.softdep
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  501178 Jan 11 22:07 modules.symbols
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  609192 Jan 11 22:07 modules.symbols.bin
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       5 Dec 15 01:00 source -> build
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    4096 Dec 15 01:00 updates
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root    4096 Jan 11 22:07 vdso
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root    4096 Dec 15 01:00 weak-updates
[root@dom0 5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64]#

and noticed that the folder with the symlink is empty.

[root@dom0 kernels]# ll /usr/src/kernels/
total 0

This seems kinda related to known issues. Do you also know how to fix this?
Do I have to do more than dnf install kernel.rpm to upgrade the kernel?

#4

Install kernel-latest-devel-5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64.rpm should fix the problem. This package include the files:

rpm -ql kernel-latest-devel-5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64.rpm
[...]
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/usr/include/Makefile
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/Makefile
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/kvm
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/kvm/Kconfig
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/lib
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/lib/Kconfig
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/lib/Makefile
#5

Same error as before. The folder is still empty

[root@dom0 kernels]# ll /usr/src/kernels/
total 0

Even though the log of
[user@dom0 kernel]$ sudo rpm -ql kernel-latest-devel-5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64.rpm
[…]
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/usr/Makefile
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/usr/include
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/usr/include/Makefile
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/Makefile
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/kvm
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/kvm/Kconfig
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/lib
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/lib/Kconfig
/usr/src/kernels/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/virt/lib/Makefile

Seems to copy in this folder.

[user@dom0 Downloads]$ cd NVIDIA-*/kernel/; make module IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y CC="gcc -DNV_VMAP_4_PRESENT -DNV_SIGNAL_STRUCT_RLIM"
make[1]: *** /lib/modules/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/build: No such file or directory.  Stop.
make: *** [Makefile:80: modules] Error 2
[user@dom0 kernel]$ sudo cd NVIDIA-*/kernel/; make module IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y CC="gcc -DNV_VMAP_4_PRESENT -DNV_SIGNAL_STRUCT_RLIM"
/usr/bin/cd: line 2: cd: NVIDIA-*/kernel/: No such file or directory
make[1]: *** /lib/modules/5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64/build: No such file or directory.  Stop.
make: *** [Makefile:80: modules] Error 2
#6

Only to be sure; the rpm command that I former posted is just a command to list the content of the rpm package. If you like to install the package you have to use dnf instead :).

#7

Ahhh… and I thought it was an extension somehow. I’m just getting into fedora - was using ubuntu until now.

However

$ sudo dnf install kernel-latest-devel-5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64.rpm 
Qubes OS Repository for Dom0                                              2.9 MB/s | 3.0 kB     00:00    
Error: 
 Problem: conflicting requests
  - nothing provides elfutils-libelf-devel needed by kernel-latest-devel-1000:5.9.14-1.qubes.x86_64
(try to add '--skip-broken' to skip uninstallable packages)

Shall I use the --skip-broken flag?

Edit: Or download (RPM resource elfutils-libelf-devel) and install it?

#10

Now I am until step 11. but at the echo command i got an error permission denied. weahter I run it with sudo or not. That is bad at the last step:( hope to fix that soon;)

#11

May you stop deleting your previous problems over and over? This post should help others as well.

Just add your new results with an ‘edit:’.

1 Like
#12

I resolved the issue by simply
sudo qubes-dom0-update elfutils-libelf-devel
I previously tried
sudo dnf install elfutils-libelf-devel
which failed (obviously)

Edit: Step 6 failed aigan with permission denied error
dom0: cd NVIDIA-*/kernel/; make module IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y CC="gcc -DNV_VMAP_4_PRESENT -DNV_SIGNAL_STRUCT_RLIM"
but sudo works fine:
dom0:
cd NVIDIA-*/kernel/
sudo make module IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y CC="gcc -DNV_VMAP_4_PRESENT -DNV_SIGNAL_STRUCT_RLIM"

edit step 7 changes then to
dom0: sudo cp /NVIDIA-*/kernel/nvidia.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/

edit step 11:
I also got the permission denied error on
dom0: sudo echo "blacklist nouveau" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
however:
dom0: sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf works fine.

#13

On the last step there occurs an error while booting:

Usually I’m getting asked with which kernel I want to boot. This screen was omitted and I was directly prompted the disk password. After that the screen stuck at bootup (see image)

IMG_20210120_131437

I had to ctrl+alt+f2 and reset the additional grub parameter to get it working aigan. Do you know what’s happening here?

#14

sorry for deleting the post. I will write a summary later. i just taught too much post aren’t good, too. Will change it :wink: I can disable the nouveau, too but cannot boot because of the same error as u, and cannot select the the kernel

and if u press ctrl alt f2 to reset the additonal grub parameter then the nvidia driver isn*t enable or?

sys-whonix failed to boot at ur screen, but I have disable the qube a long time before installing the driver the it don’t boot automatically on start up and be stocked at the sam eror. So sys-whonix shouldnt be the problem. Hm that will be really great to fix it and to use my nvida cards for video/audio …But I think it is just a small step and we can fix it soon.
At step6 I was stucked because of the wrong syntax after "gcc-DNV . Here is just need to delete a space and didnt look correctly at the description. And at the very first I didnt notice the under step 12. he has uploaded the rpm. files to install the kernels. But with kernel 5.9… I have some problems, too and my network is just working over my wirelesscard. The wired connection always says that it is disconected. If I change to a lower kernel it will be working again. Maybe anybody nows how to do that?
Thank you for ur help and sorry again for deleting the posts, but now I summarized all the trial and erors…
another problem at step 11 is that via vim and the path to the .conf file it open a empty file. is that correct and I just need to add the lines there or is there a error before and this file shouldnt be empty?
stay healthy

1 Like
#15

nobody a solution how to get this working? it is really disappointing to be stucked at the last step:D @Rnd3sB3g13rng did u find anything else what can solve this problem?