Lukas' Notes

NVIDIA

2 min read

cooperates

Firmware

Protection Mode

The NVIDIA firmware enables protection mode as soon as a specific number of fans
are missing or malfunctioning. In that mode, the other fans are turning at full
speed such that damage to the GPU is prevented. 1

Unix

575.51.02

575.51.02

This version introduces significantly improved stability on Wayland through the adoption of explicit synchronisation protocols.

  • Explicit Synchronisation: Implementation of explicit_sync and explicit_sync_kms to ensure frame delivery order, effectively eliminating flickering on high-refresh-rate displays.
  • Direct Scanout: Disabled direct_scanout to avoid flickering associated with XWayland-to-Wayland transitions in Steam.
  • VRR Optimisation: Configured vrr to 2 (fullscreen only) to prevent voltage-induced flickering during desktop usage.
  • Kernel Parameters: Inclusion of nvidia_drm.fbdev=1 for proper console initialisation and NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations=1 for VRAM persistence during system suspension.

580 Series

580 Series

The 580 series serves as the final branch supporting Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta architectures, while introducing critical Wayland protocols.

  • HDR Metadata Support: Introduction of Wayland HDR metadata protocols, allowing for high-dynamic-range communication between the driver and Wayland compositors.
  • fifo-v1 Protocol: Support for wp_fifo_v1 in Vulkan applications, ensuring correct V-Sync behaviour and reducing micro-stutter on high-refresh-rate displays.
  • Smooth Motion Backport: AI-based interpolated frame generation backported to RTX 40 series hardware.

590.48.01

590.48.01

The 590 series modernises system requirements and stabilises complex Wayland interactions.

  • Vulkan Swapchain Optimisation: Refined swapchain recreation logic to eliminate stuttering during window resizing or mode changes in Wayland.
  • Modern Requirements: Official requirement bump to Wayland 1.20+ and glibc 2.27+.
  • Open Module Default: Transition towards the Open GPU Kernel Modules as the primary recommendation for modern Linux distributions.

Footnotes

  1. https://www.overclock.net/threads/any-way-to-disable-fail-safe-from-driver-to-stop-100-fan-speed.1718602 ↩

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