Talk:Kernel mode setting

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Latest comment: 6 March by Hanabishi in topic kms hook is now included by default

Modesetting Driver Flips Off Atomic By Default

Users switching from xf86-video-intel to modesetting driver may experience random xorg crashes due to this. see Phoronix article [1] -- cirrus (talk) 19:43, 7 November 2019 (GMT)

Thank you for the reference, I can confirm the crashes. Is there a way to work around them? (Appart from switching back to xf86-video-intel) -- Pogojotz (talk) 12:29, 21 November 2019 (UTC)Reply

Not that im aware of, sorry, though you could try Option "AccelMethod" "none" -- cirrus (talk) 15:23, 29 November 2019 (GMT)

I had that setting all along. I am back now to using xf86-video-intel -- Pogojotz (talk) 12:39, 4 December 2019 (UTC)Reply

xorg-server 1.16

Wrt [2], AFAIK you need root rights if you're not using KMS too. -- Karol (talk) 17:58, 2 August 2014 (UTC)Reply

Early KMS start for GMA500 chip set

My computer is a Poulsbo. intel_agp and i915 didn't work for me. I finally solved the problem by MODULES="gma500_gfx". Shall we mention this on this page? Haochen (talk) 19:33, 26 February 2015 (UTC)Reply

My fonts are too tiny

This is an issue for HiDPI laptops. The solution to changing TTY font is very vague, and the link "See Fonts#Changing the default font" is broken. Can someone clarify how to do this, the right way. Jadelord (talk) 10:34, 11 February 2016 (UTC)Reply

I think the link should be to Fonts#Console fonts. So for instance you could install terminus-font and run setfont ter-c32n. That should make the fonts a lot larger. See Fonts#Console fonts for how to list all available fonts and how to make it permanent. Lonaowna (talk) 11:19, 11 February 2016 (UTC)Reply
Thanks! I managed to change it permanently by adding a consolefont hook in mkinitcpio.conf. The setfont command was not working for me, since I was trying it on a terminal emulator instead on TTY!
Good you managed to change it! In a terminal emulator it should be really simple.. For instance in GNOME Terminal you can simply do Edit->Profile Preferences->Custom font. But of course this is different for each one. Lonaowna (talk) 12:58, 11 February 2016 (UTC)Reply

Is the advise to always disable "video=..." really a good one?

Quoting Installation:

At first, note that for any method you use, you should always disable:
• Any vga= options in your bootloader as these will conflict with the native resolution enabled by KMS.
• Any video= lines that enable a framebuffer that conflicts with the driver.

This advise got me into trouble when I recently installed Arch for the first time. My monitor (a 4k TV) simply displays "Invalid Format" if I do not use any "video=" statement to set a compatible mode, and I wondered whether "that enable a framebuffer that conflicts with the driver" was a statement that was valid for the amdgpu KMS driver that I use.

Is there any more detailed information available on what "video=..." parameters could cause conflicts? --Lvml (talk) 19:13, 18 March 2017 (UTC)Reply

I've been using video= virtually always for well over a decade without discovering but one reason not to use it. That one reason is using the xf86-video-intel DDX will cause it's specification to be inherited by Xorg as a default, which may not be an intended result. I generally use vga= as well. It is applied only until KMS engages, so its life is brief, but may engage init screen output earlier than otherwise. If KMS is broken and vga= is not applied, screen output on the ttys may be either pure black, or 80x25 text mode.Mrmazda (talk) 19:12, 14 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
First, an extremely partial quote of X glossary
• DDX: Device Dependent X.
As for using "video=...", at the time of this writing there is KMS#Forcing mode, as well as other references in the article.
Regid (talk) 23:28, 31 October 2022 (UTC)Reply

question

Quoting Installation:

At first, note that for any method you use, you should always disable:
• Any vga= options in your bootloader as these will conflict with the native resolution enabled by KMS.
• Any video= lines that enable a framebuffer that conflicts with the driver.
• Any other framebuffer drivers (such as uvesafb).

Does "disable" here mean, disable in my kernel config, or just in the grub boot parameters? It's very common to have framebuffer drivers built in to the kernel. Does that conflict with KMS?

--Njn (talk) 00:56, 29 September 2017 (UTC)Reply

It's just about removing the parameters from the bootloader configuration etc. -- Lahwaacz (talk) 06:32, 29 September 2017 (UTC)Reply

Calculating GTF VESA Modelines for xorg.conf using gtf & xvidtune

Why is there no discussion on this page about the use of gtf to create modelines for xorg.conf for monitors from the manufacturer's documentation? (e.g. from the published [h][w][hsync][vsync] information) It is provided with the xorg-server package for that purpose. For older monitors that do not provide EDID (or correct EDID) information, that is the only way to configure the display correctly. There are still many high res/high frequency CRT's working away. In many cases there is no EDID reporting.

Arch provides both gtf (in xorg-server) and xvidtune (in the xorg-xvidtune package) that are used to precisely tune the graphics mode for older monitors. It would be nice to include discussion in this article. (or at least on the xorg page)

David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. -- Rankin Law Firm, PLLC (talk) 21:17, 2 March 2018 (UTC)Reply

The ArchWiki is a colaborative effort. There probably is no section on this topic because no one either had the necessary knowledge or put in the effort. Please feel free to add whatever you see fit. -- Edh (talk) 22:30, 2 March 2018 (UTC)Reply
As of this writing, there is KMS#Forcing modes and EDID. The xrandr article also refer to this topic, as well as to gtf and cvt. Regid (talk) 23:42, 31 October 2022 (UTC)Reply

Why anyone thinks CVT or GTF can calculate modelines any better than Xorg is a mystery. All X needs is the same specifications one feeds either of those calculators, and it calculates and applies the needed mode automagically. When EDID doesn't present the data correctly, HorizSync, VertRefresh & PreferredMode have always IME filled in as competent substitute. The bonus with letting X calculate is later switching to a different display typically won't stop it from working until the manual config can be rediscovered and removed, like a no longer applicable mode specification is likely to do. CVT/GTF and manual modeline specification are anachronisms.Mrmazda (talk) 01:14, 1 November 2022 (UTC)Reply

Disabling KMS

Quoting KMS# Disabling modesetting
Along with the nomodeset kernel parameter, for an Intel graphics card, you need to add i915.modeset=0, and for an Nvidia graphics card, you need to add nouveau.modeset=0. For Nvidia Optimus dual-graphics system, you need to add all the three kernel parameters (i.e. "nomodeset i915.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0").
  • nomodeset disables KMS for any and every GPU!
amdgpu.modeset=0 disables only AMD APUs/GPUs.
  • i915.modeset=0 disables only Intel IGPs.
  • nouveau.modeset=0 disables only NVidia GPUs.
  • radeon.modeset=0 disables only Radeon GPUs/IGPs.
  • nomodeset simultaneously with *.modeset=0 is redundant.

Mrmazda (talk) 19:12, 14 February 2021 (UTC)Reply

kms hook is now included by default

Since mkinitcpio v32, the kms hook is included by default and will automatically load some GPU drivers, enabling early KMS for typical setups.

Some articles might therefore need a rewrite, including :

I cannot find the exact list of included vendors though. I also think that "in-tree" and "out-of-tree" modules is too confusing a wording.

-- Cvlc (talk) 14:20, 13 January 2023 (UTC)Reply

Perhaps this warrants an addition to ArchWiki talk:Requests#Modification requests? -- CodingKoopa (talk) 01:10, 16 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
sure why not. OTOH, some articles are just simply inaccurate and out of date, (eg, late loading is not the default anymore) and don't warrant much of a debate. --Cvlc (talk) 01:21, 16 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
Why was early KMS added by default? When I use it, it causes my system to hang for a few seconds, then outputs the following error, then allows me to type my luks password. Without early KMS, I still get the error in my logs, but at least it doesn't block me from unlocking encryption or other startup processes.
linux kernel: amdgpu 0000:06:00.0: amdgpu: Secure display: Generic Failure.
linux kernel: amdgpu 0000:06:00.0: amdgpu: SECUREDISPLAY: query securedisplay TA failed. ret 0x0
I will continue to leave the KMS hook out for now, but it might be worth adding a warning to the wiki, or explaining how to disable secure display? How do you disable secure display anyways? YhaNd (talk) 22:37, 5 March 2024 (UTC)Reply

how to disable secure display?

In short: you can't. It requires compiling a custom kernel with CONFIG_DRM_AMD_SECURE_DISPLAY option disabled. There is no runtime driver knob for it afaik [3].
But I don't think your issue is caused by it. Early KMS itself is known to be problematic and completely unnecessary. I don't see any explanations why it was enabled by default though [4].
Hanabishi (talk) 07:03, 6 March 2024 (UTC)Reply

Problem upon bootloading and dmesg

As the message says, is this section even necessary nowadays? It has been already ~12 years since that was written. I doubt people have problems like that nowadays. In my case, I have never assisted a person with such problem and it has never happened to me. Fijxu (talk) 03:05, 29 February 2024 (UTC)Reply

I have never seen that myself either in the last 7~ years and I frequent support spaces very often. If anything it seems like a bug behavior to me that should be reported... and after I wrote the prior sentences, I went on a google spree, it's 99.9% a Xorg bug with Intel GPU driver... fixed in 2011. I have removed the section. https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22126 C0rn3j (talk) 11:38, 29 February 2024 (UTC)Reply