NVIDIA Drivers Not Working

Short answer: NVIDIA doesn't open-source their drivers.

When you install Linux, it comes with an open-source driver called nouveau. It's reverse-engineered by the community because NVIDIA doesn't help. Nouveau works for basic display, but it can't properly manage GPU power, clocks, or 3D acceleration on most modern cards.

To get proper performance, you need NVIDIA's proprietary driver, which you have to install separately. This driver is a binary blob that NVIDIA builds outside the Linux kernel, so it can break when your kernel updates.

Good news: NVIDIA has recently started open-sourcing their kernel modules (for Turing and newer GPUs, GTX 1600+/RTX 2000+). This is slowly improving the situation, but it will take years before things "just work" like AMD does.

AMD and Intel GPUs use open-source drivers built into the Linux kernel. They work out of the box with no extra steps. If you're buying a new GPU for Linux, AMD is the easier choice.

Modern NVIDIA drivers (470+) support PRIME render offload. This keeps the integrated GPU active for normal use and lets you run specific apps on the NVIDIA GPU:

# Run a specific application on the NVIDIA GPU
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia your-application

# For Vulkan applications (games)
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __VK_LAYER_NV_optimus=NVIDIA_only your-game

# Create a shortcut alias in your shell config (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
alias nvrun='__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia'

# Then just use:
nvrun glxgears

To check which GPU an app is using:

# Should say your integrated GPU
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"

# Should say your NVIDIA GPU
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"

If you're on Arch or Manjaro, optimus-manager gives you a simple way to switch between GPUs:

# Install from AUR
yay -S optimus-manager optimus-manager-qt

# Enable the service
sudo systemctl enable --now optimus-manager

# Switch to NVIDIA GPU
optimus-manager --switch nvidia

# Switch to integrated GPU
optimus-manager --switch integrated

# Use hybrid mode (like PRIME offload)
optimus-manager --switch hybrid

Pop!_OS has built-in hybrid graphics switching:

# Switch to NVIDIA
sudo system76-power graphics nvidia

# Switch to integrated
sudo system76-power graphics integrated

# Hybrid mode (default)
sudo system76-power graphics hybrid

# Check current mode
sudo system76-power graphics

You can also switch from the system tray on Pop!_OS - no terminal needed.

If you installed NVIDIA drivers and now get a black screen, here's how to recover:

1. At the black screen, press Ctrl+Alt+F2 to switch to a text console (TTY)
2. Log in with your username and password
3. Remove the NVIDIA driver:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt remove --purge 'nvidia-*'
sudo apt autoremove
sudo reboot

# Fedora
sudo dnf remove 'akmod-nvidia*' 'xorg-x11-drv-nvidia*'
sudo reboot

# Arch
sudo pacman -Rns nvidia nvidia-utils
sudo reboot

This will put you back on the nouveau driver. From there, try installing the NVIDIA driver again following the steps above.

# Is the NVIDIA module loaded?
lsmod | grep nvidia

# What driver version is installed?
nvidia-smi

# Is nouveau running instead?
lsmod | grep nouveau

# Check for errors in the log
dmesg | grep -i nvidia
journalctl -b | grep -i nvidia