Tumbleweed, LUKS, and NVIDIA

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Apologies if I accidentally posted this twice: I posted it then couldn’t find it anywhere on the site, so posting again.

I’ve got quite a strange problem several parts of which seem to be vaguely related to other reported problems, but not quite.

I’m trying to install Tumbleweed on an AMD 9950X with an NVIDIA 5070. After hardware detection, the screen goes black except for a tiny non-blinking cursor top left. The only way to get through the install process is to boot with nomodeset. This is fine: the install to a LUKS partition works, and the PC boots into a very low resolution screen.

Then I open YaST, and it automatically tries to install the G06 NVIDIA drivers. I let it do this, and reboot, but they don’t load. If then reboot and take off the nomodeset (which it presumably adds to GRUB during installation), but then I can’t get past the LUKS password prompt. I can type a password, but it insists it’s wrong. If I put nomodeset back in GRUB, the LUKS password succeeds. But then obviously I have no NVIDIA drivers.

Am I being optimistic trying to install NVIDIA drivers on a LUKS installation? I don’t even get how the NVIDIA driver might affect LUKS.

2

@nickelarse Hi, you need to add the grub installer option nomodeset once install finished and have the Nvidia driver installed, remove the nomodeset. Tumbleweed has moved to grub-bls, so make sure /boot/efi is 4GB (2GB should be enough). You can select grub-efi but need to do that at the install screen.

So could be the difference between grub-efi and grub-bls…

3

Yes, but if I remove nomodeset, LUKS won’t accept my password, so I can’t get anywhere. But if this is unfixable after install, I can reinstall and pay closer to attention to what GRUB the installer chooses. Maybe it was the wrong one.

4

@nickelarse No, it should be reported as a bug as Grub2-BLS is the default…
@arvidjaar may have some thoughts…

5

This is my partitioning:

> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /
> devtmpfs                  31G     0   31G   0% /dev
> tmpfs                     31G     0   31G   0% /dev/shm
> efivarfs                 128K   27K   97K  22% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
> tmpfs                     13G  2.0M   13G   1% /run
> tmpfs                    1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-cryptsetup@cr_nvme\x2deui.002538a551406d85\x2dpart2.service
> tmpfs                    1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service
> tmpfs                     31G  4.0K   31G   1% /tmp
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /.snapshots
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /opt
> /dev/nvme0n1p1          1022M  307M  716M  30% /boot/efi
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /root
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /srv
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /usr/local
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /var
> /dev/mapper/system-root  3.6T   13G  3.6T   1% /home
> tmpfs                    1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/getty@tty1.service
> tmpfs                    6.1G   60K  6.1G   1% /run/user/1000
6

So YaST, when it chose partition sizes, chose too small for /boot/efi? Is this the bug I need to report? Though I still don’t understand how this affects the LUKS password.

7

Further experimentation suggests maybe the NVIDIA 5070 isn’t supported at all. I’ve done a fresh install without LUKS, and it automatically installs the G06 NVIDIA driver when you run YaST after first boot, but this doesn’t result in a usable screen resolution (stuck on 1152x768). Downgrading to G05 drivers is not better.

So I think there are two issues:

  1. nomodeset removal stops LUKS accepting password.
  2. NVIDIA 5070 isn’t supported at all by Tumbleweed. Or, if it is, the automatic installation of drivers doesn’t work.

I’m happy to file two bug reports for this, but only if I’ve not obviously done something wrong.

8

@nickelarse no, the card is too new, you need to use the open driver. There is a mis-match at the moment so would suggest rolling with the latest cuda run file (cuda_13.1.0_590.44.01_linux.run).

9

@malcolmlewis Thanks for the reply. So would this also be the cause of the LUKS issue? Not sure I quite follow the cuda run file suggestion: not that bothered about CUDA, just want full graphics capability. Will try the open driver shortly.

10

Are you sure? I just installed my brand-new Core Ultra 7 PC with an NVidia RTX 5060 which (so Google tells me) is even a month newer, and it runs great on Slowroll.

I did have to struggle a bit to get the NVidia binary driver going (hadn’t done that in 8 or 10 years), but following the SDB instructions worked.

11

I tried those instructions, but got stuck on:
cp /usr/etc/transactional-update.conf /etc/transactional-update.conf
since the source file doesn’t exist.

12

But you don’t need that on Tumbleweed: It’s not a transactional system, unlike MicroOS, Kalpa or Aeon.

13

The open driver won’t install because nothing provides ksym.

14

Ok will try without. I missed the bit that said it was not needed for Tumbleweed.

15

@shundhammer I’ve noticed while installing the repositories via zypper, that the MicroOS NVIDIA repository is installed. Maybe the issue is that running YaST after install erroneously adds this? I certainly didn’t add it manually.

16

Ok, tried the SDB Instructions, and the same behaviour: resolution stuck on 1024x768 and driver apparently not loaded. Clearly not supported (easily, at least), and open drivers can’t be installed without providing ksym. I’ve tried the .run file from NVIDIA directly, and this doesn’t compile. I think it looks like the 5070 isn’t yet supported on Tumbleweed. Presumably this also means it won’t work on Leap?

17

If the bleeding edge Tumbleweed doesn’t support it, it will only be worse in Leap (even 16.0) which is always older than Tumbleweed.

18

@nickelarse It is, and I’m running the driver (run file) here, it compiles fine;

Ref: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/details/258750/ Supported Products;

GeForce RTX 50 Series (Notebooks)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop GPU

GeForce RTX 50 Series
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D v2, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

 nvidia-smi 
Tue Dec  9 18:28:16 2025       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 590.44.01              Driver Version: 590.44.01      CUDA Version: 13.1     |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU  Name                 Persistence-M | Bus-Id          Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan  Temp   Perf          Pwr:Usage/Cap |           Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
|                                         |                        |               MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
|   0  Quadro RTX 4000                On  |   00000000:07:00.0 Off |                  N/A |
| 30%   32C    P8              9W /  125W |      91MiB /   8192MiB |      0%      Default |
|                                         |                        |                  N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+

 inxi -GSaz
System:
  Kernel: 6.18.0-1-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.18.0-1-default
    root=UUID=1ab675ed-aba2-4593-9ebc-1c893015b607 splash=silent quiet
    security=apparmor intel_iommu=on iommu=pt fbdev=1
    nvidia_drm.modeset=1 mitigations=auto
  Desktop: GNOME v: 49.2 tk: GTK v: 3.24.51 wm: gnome-shell
    tools: gsd-screensaver-proxy avail: xscreensaver dm: GDM v: 49.2
    Distro: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20251205
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel DG2 [Arc A380] vendor: ASRock driver: i915 v: kernel
    alternate: xe arch: Xe-HPG code: Alchemist process: TSMC n6 (7nm)
    built: 2022+ pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 ports:
    active: DP-1,DP-2,DP-3 empty: HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3, HDMI-A-4
    bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:56a5 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU104GL [Quadro RTX 4000] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: nvidia v: 590.44.01 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm
    non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-11; EOL~2026-12-xx)
    arch: Turing code: TUxxx process: TSMC 12nm FF built: 2018-2022 pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports:
    active: none empty: DP-4, DP-5, DP-6, Unknown-1 bus-ID: 07:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1eb1 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Realtek RTL2838 DVB-T driver: dvb_usb_rtl28xxu,rtl2832_sdr
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-4:2
    chip-ID: 0bda:2838 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: vesa
    alternate: fbdev,intel,nouveau,nv dri: iris gpu: i915 d-rect: 5760x2160
    display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: bottom-c model: Sceptre F24 built: 2023 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 100 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
    size: 530x300mm (20.71x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: DP-2 pos: primary,top-left model: Sceptre F24 built: 2023 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 100 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
    size: 530x300mm (20.71x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-3: DP-3 pos: top-right model: Sceptre F24 built: 2023 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 100 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
    size: 530x300mm (20.71x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
    inactive: device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.3.1 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Arc A380 Graphics (DG2)
    device-ID: 8086:56a5 memory: 5.81 GiB unified: no display-ID: :0.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.328 layers: 4 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
    name: Quadro RTX 4000 driver: nvidia v: 590.44.01 device-ID: 10de:1eb1
    surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.6 256 bits)
    driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.3.1 (LLVM 21.1.6) device-ID: 10005:0000
    surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo gpu: gputop,
    intel_gpu_top, lsgpu, nvidia-settings, nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

Is secure boot enabled and did you accept the MOK key? Check the log file journalctl -b | grep -iE "drm|nvidia"

19

Oh dear, I stupidly assumed the newer cards would be better supported when I specced the new PC! Maybe I need to return the card, which is a shame, as it looks like it should be pretty good.

20

@shundhammer it does…