Nvidia-settings are not saved

[Fred-VIE]

I have set "force composition pipeline" in nv-settings, but after a restart it is not set anymore.

nvidia-settings --query CurrentMetaMode shows the following after setting it.

(process:12942): Gtk-WARNING **: 19:41:35.795: Locale not supported by C library.
Using the fallback 'C' locale.

Attribute 'CurrentMetaMode' (fred-kubuntu:0.0): id=50, switchable=no, source=nv-control :: DPY-2:
nvidia-auto-select @1920x1080 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=1920x1080, ViewPortOut=1920x1080+0+0,
ForceCompositionPipeline=On}

I dont understand what the first part means and if I could/should do something about that. The second does just show the settings.

After a restart of Kubuntu the setting is gone again:

(process:2778): Gtk-WARNING **: 19:50:01.788: Locale not supported by C library.
Using the fallback 'C' locale.

Attribute 'CurrentMetaMode' (fred-kub:0.0): id=50, switchable=yes, source=xconfig :: DPY-2:
nvidia-auto-select @1920x1080 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=1920x1080, ViewPortOut=1920x1080+0+0}

When I start nvidia-settings via sudo, activate "force composition pipeline", accept the settings and close nvidia-settings I get a message that I have to save the setting in a file. But when I am trying to do so it gives me an error, that it can not write to the file, which is no surprise because there is no such file under "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" (which is the suggested path in the nvidia-settings).

So I wonder, why is there no config file and if someone changes the config why cant it create the file?
Why are saved configurations not persisting after restarting the system?
Is the file at another location? If yes where and why does nvidia-settings not know where it's own config files are supposed to be?

Checking the path reveals "such file does not exist".

On both paths:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf and
/etc/X11/mhwd.d/nvidia.conf

The second path is supposedly for Manjaro as to: https://spacebums.co.uk/nvidia-linux...n-tearing-fix/
(Just fyi: I did not use this as tearing fix but to fix the black screen on Kubuntu start.)

[bweinel]

You probably need to place your xorg.conf file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ and the xorg.conf file should be formatted like below:

Section "Device"
  Identifier "Nvidia Card" Driver "nvidia"
  VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
  BoardName "GeForce GTX 1050 Ti"
  Option "ForceCompositionPipeline" "1"
 EndSection

You may need to change some specifics above for your particular card. See the following posts on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gamin...ine_on_system/
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gamin...ionpipelineon/

man xorg.conf.d is also helpful in formatting xorg.conf files.
Hopefully those will get you headed in the right direction...

cheers,
bill

[Fred-VIE]

I have to manually set up config files for an installed settings program?

What is a settings program like nvidia-settings good for when it can not create a settings file in the first place?
I understand it can not know all the paths of all the distributions out there but creating the file it should be able to doon it's own.

There is too much that can go wrong If a beginner like me has to create such files.

Also it does not fix the problem that the nvidia-settings app can not save any settings. They all have to be manually added.
It does not matter if sudo is being used or not, nvidia-settings can not write to the path which seems to be a Kubuntu issue because on Manjaro thats supposedly possible.

[claydoh]

I think you need to run the nvidia settings tool with sudo for these kind of changes to stick, it has been a while since I have had an Nvidia GPU, but I thought that the closed-source driver tool created a menu entry to do so, but that could have need way "Back in The Day", and probably on another distro, perhaps, but that puts me back to 2005.

Nvidia, being such an open-source friendly company, creates an xorg.conf file (which needs root access to write to), while, generally speaking, other graphics card brands do not require one any more. It has been a long time since an xorg.conf file has been a necessary thing, except for NVIDIA's proprietary drivers. The driver install should have created at least a basic xorg.conf file when it was installed
Using the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory for short, option-specific custom config files is just there to allow custom options to be used without mucking with one's existing, working and 'clean' xorg.conf file.

The Nvidia settings tool does not cover each and every single possible configuration option for every single card, so often one has to manually tweak things for some usually arcane or card-specific settings to gain a few FPS.

With AMD, for the most part, you just install the card, boot, and play games.

[Fred-VIE]

Like I have already mentioned before.

Sudo does not help. The nvidia-settings app can not access the folder/file for some unknown reason to save the settings made. No matter in which folder, it always prompts an error message that it can not open the file for writing (see screener). I have even manually created the file and tried to save changes with the app after. It prompts the same error as soon as the app is supposed to save the changes.

Also now I am not sure anymore if I have to create a xorg.conf file or a 20-nvidia.conf file like suggested in bweinel's first link or even both?

[Snowhog]

Well, you can always create the 'missing' file so it can be written to. As it's a root owned file: sudo touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

[Fred-VIE]

Well, you can always create the 'missing' file so it can be written to. As it's a root owned file: sudo touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

So what do I need now? A xorg.conf a 20-nvidia.conf or both? (With the same content?)

[Fred-VIE]

Since I did not get any answer I tried xorg.conf

Now the system does not start anymore. It stops before loading the desktop (showing old error messages it showed on every boot due to an unfixed kernel bug, but not the black desktop - the error I started this whole thing for).

I have tried to repair all files. It froze displaying following error: Line 80: /etc/default/rcS: no such file or dir

After that every option in repair mode froze including trying to load the console.

Basicly now every boot option I am trying locks up the computer.

Operating System: Kubuntu 22.04
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.92.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3
Kernel Version: 5.15.0-46-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz
Memory: 15,6 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080/PCIe/SSE2

The xorg.conf file was placed at /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ and contained the following info in the same format used by bweinel:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Nvidia Card"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce RTX 2080"
Option "ForceCompositionPipeline" "1"
EndSection

[Fred-VIE]

Nevermind I recently installed Manjaro to test there so I booted into it and deleted the xorg.conf from there with "sudo rm /path/filename".

I guess I have to live with manually activating the setting everytime I would like to play since the xorg.conf caused so much trouble.

Maybe I'll try later if the 20-nvidia.conf will work, now that I know howto get rid of it if it does not.

[bweinel]

Sorry to hear that you were unable to get it working. As claydoh said earlier, the nvidia proprietary drivers are not the easiest thing to get working in kubuntu. I have run into the same issue in the past with proprietary nvidia drivers since they seem to be very picky as to their configuration. The default Nouveau drivers provide a much better user experience with nvidia cards.

cheers,
bill

[claydoh]

Like I have already mentioned before.

Sudo does not help. The nvidia-settings app can not access the folder/file for some unknown reason to save the settings made. No matter in which folder, it always prompts an error message that it can not open the file for writing (see screener). I have even manually created the file and tried to save changes with the app after. It prompts the same error as soon as the app is supposed to save the changes.

Also now I am not sure anymore if I have to create a xorg.conf file or a 20-nvidia.conf file like suggested in bweinel's first link or even both?

I just noticed something from the image in this post:
it is trying to write to the wrong file, or rather the wrong location:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf, not /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

Not sure if this will help, especially with distro-hopping, though Nvidia configuration, and xorg files are, are manages in the same ways and in the exact same places no matter the distro.

[Snowhog]

it is trying to write to the wrong file, or rather the wrong location:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf, not /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

Look again. It is attempting /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

[claydoh]

Look again. It is attempting /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

I looked three times.
But that is the incorrect location for a 'normal' xorg.conf file. Plus it also says "unable to write" which also can indicate that the file does not exist, and/or has the wrong perms, with typical Linux clarity

[Snowhog]

But that is the incorrect location for a 'normal' xorg.conf file.

While I don't have an nvidia card (Intel HD Graphics), the xorg.conf is located at:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

It's empty, and interestingly, its file date is Aug 23 (2022).

[Fred-VIE]

I looked three times.
Plus it also says "unable to write" which also can indicate that the file does not exist, and/or has the wrong perms, with typical Linux clarity

It does say "unable to write" even when the file exists.
It can not write in both paths even when the file exists. (I have created it for testing purposes.)
It also claims it saves the config to ~/nvidia-settings-rc and ~/nvidia-settings when you exit with "quit" but it does not. Those files do not exist. That is probably why the setting is gone on reboot but I wonder where it is actually saved to for the current session.

And yes, it does give the wrong path on saving the file.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf rather than /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

Which does not actually matter because the system does not boot into the desktop anymore when the file is at the right path.

edt.: Wait now I just read this is not the right path? I have read it is the right path if someone does not want to damage the file in the /etc/X11/ path. Which I found odd because neither path has that file. But ofc someone here said already that the xorg.conf is not really used anymore nowadays.

Still this is getting more confusing. That two admins are contradicting each other does add to the confusion.