The video explains that a recent Arch Linux update dropped official support for older Nvidia GPUs (Maxwell and Pascal series), causing driver issues and requiring affected users to manually install legacy drivers from the AUR. It criticizes both Nvidia for ending support and Arch Linux for poor communication, highlighting the challenges of relying on proprietary drivers in a rolling-release distribution.
Certainly! Here’s a five-paragraph summary of the video “RIP Nvidia GPUs On Arch Linux,” with spelling and clarity improved:
Recently, Arch Linux users with Nvidia graphics cards have encountered significant issues following a system update that upgraded the Nvidia drivers to version 590. This update, primarily driven by Nvidia’s decision to drop support for older GPUs, has resulted in Maxwell (900 series) and Pascal (10 series) cards—such as the GTX 1050 Ti, 1060, 1070, and 1080—no longer being supported. While these cards are nearly a decade old, a notable percentage of users still rely on them, as shown by the Steam hardware survey. The update has left many users with broken drivers and non-functional GPUs after updating their systems.
For users with Turing (16 and 20 series) or newer cards, the update replaces the old Nvidia packages with new ones (nvidia-open, nvidia-open-dkms, nvidia-lts-op). These packages utilize Nvidia’s open GPU kernel modules, which are open-source components for the kernel, though the user-space driver remains proprietary. Most users with supported cards should be able to migrate by simply accepting the package replacements during the update, though there are mixed reports about performance impacts.
However, for those with unsupported cards, the migration is more complicated. Users must remove the standard Nvidia packages and instead install legacy drivers (nvidia-580xx-dkms) from the Arch User Repository (AUR). Additional steps are required to restore functionality, such as installing lib32-nvidia-580xx-utils to satisfy dependencies for applications like Steam. The process involves force-removing packages, installing replacements from the AUR, and ensuring kernel headers are present, making it a challenging transition for less experienced users.
The video criticizes both Nvidia and Arch Linux for how this situation was handled. While Nvidia is ultimately responsible for dropping support, Arch Linux could have communicated the change more proactively and provided a smoother migration path. The legacy drivers could have remained in the main repositories for a transition period, rather than forcing users to rely on the AUR immediately. The Arch Wiki has been updated with guidance, but many users are likely to be caught off guard and frustrated by the abrupt change.
Finally, the video notes that while Arch Linux is the first to face this issue due to its rolling release model, other Linux distributions will eventually have to address it as well. The speaker encourages users to stay informed through community resources like the Arch Linux subreddit and thanks the CachyOS project for maintaining the legacy drivers. The situation serves as a reminder of the challenges of proprietary drivers and the importance of clear communication and support within the Linux ecosystem.