TW dual boot reinstallation video probs

Hi Folks,
I’m attempting to re-install TW on a dual boot laptop. If finally got past the default Grub2-bls surprise setting to get a system that I can access. At this point, I tried to install nvidia drivers and cuda following Stefan’s blog post (https://sndirsch.github.io/nvidia/2025/07/16/nvidia-drivers.html), which seemed to work fine, although I have some remaining issues all of which seem to revolve around my attempts at installing video drivers:

  1. Unable to get 2nd external monitor to work on USB-C; HDMI external monitor working along with laptop display
  2. Severe tearing on HDMI screen
  3. Shutdown/reboot hangs at Acer bios splash screen
    Here is some information that might be useful:
inxi -SGax
  Kernel: 6.18.3-1-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.18.3-1-default
    root=UUID=5d09d622-2f11-402b-9a57-79365ab7cfa2 splash=silent nomodeset
    resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/4154c828-4bd8-4832-8565-e47bec40363d
    mitigations=auto quiet security=selinux selinux=1
    rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.5.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.21.0
    wm: kwin_wayland tools: avail: xscreensaver vt: 3 dm: SDDM Distro: openSUSE
    Tumbleweed 20260108
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel TigerLake-H GT1 [UHD Graphics] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: N/A alternate: i915, xe arch: Xe process: Intel 10nm built: 2020-21
    bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a60 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA106M [GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / Max-Q]
    vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 580.105.08
    alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as
    of 2025-11; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx
    process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 ports: active: HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2520 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Quanta HD User Facing driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-9:5 chip-ID: 0408:a061
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
    unloaded: vesa alternate: fbdev,intel,nouveau,nv
    gpu: nv_platform,nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch d-rect: 3840x1080 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 pos: right model: Samsung SME2320 serial: <filter>
    built: 2010 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 96 gamma: 1.2
    size: 510x287mm (20.08x11.3") diag: 587mm (23.1") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: Unknown-1 pos: primary,left res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60
    scale: 100% (1) dpi: 96 size: 508x285mm (20x11.22") diag: 582mm (22.93")
    modes: 1920x1080
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
    drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: swrast
    x11: drv: swrast inactive: device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.3.3 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.7 256 bits)
    device-ID: ffffffff:ffffffff memory: 61.11 GiB unified: yes
    display-ID: :1.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.335 layers: 3 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU driver: nvidia v: 580.105.08
    device-ID: 10de:2520 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
    (LLVM 21.1.7 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.3.3 (LLVM 21.1.7)
    device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

The original installation of the NVIDIA drivers comprised the following:

libnvidia-egl-wayland1-1.1.21-1.1.x86_64
nvidia-driver-G06-kmp-default-550.144.03_k6.12.9_1-30.2.x86_64
nvidia-gl-G06-32bit-550.144.03-30.1.x86_64
nvidia-gl-G06-550.144.03-30.1.x86_64

after removing these as per Stefan’s post and reinstalling from the CUDA repo I have the following:

libnvidia-egl-gbm1-1.1.2.1-150700.11.1.x86_64
libnvidia-egl-wayland1-1.1.21-1.1.x86_64
libnvidia-egl-x111-1.0.5-1.1.x86_64
libnvidia-gpucomp-580.105.08-44.1.x86_64
nvidia-common-G06-580.105.08-44.1.x86_64
nvidia-compute-G06-580.105.08-44.1.x86_64
nvidia-compute-utils-G06-580.105.08-44.1.x86_64
nvidia-gl-G06-580.105.08-44.1.x86_64
nvidia-modprobe-580.105.08-20.1.x86_64
nvidia-open-driver-G06-signed-cuda-kmp-default-580.105.08_k6.18.2_1-1.2.x86_64
nvidia-persistenced-580.105.08-2.1.x86_64
nvidia-userspace-meta-G06-580.105.08-24.1.x86_64
nvidia-video-G06-580.105.08-44.1.x86_64

and CUDA appears to be working from nvidia-smi output

Mon Jan 12 10:46:44 2026       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 580.105.08             Driver Version: 580.105.08     CUDA Version: 13.0     |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 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  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 ...    On  |   00000000:01:00.0  On |                  N/A |
| N/A   46C    P8             11W /   80W |      56MiB /   6144MiB |      0%      Default |
|                                         |                        |                  N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes:                                                                              |
|  GPU   GI   CI              PID   Type   Process name                        GPU Memory |
|        ID   ID                                                               Usage      |
|=========================================================================================|
|    0   N/A  N/A            1593      G   /usr/bin/Xorg.bin                         4MiB |
|    0   N/A  N/A            1808      G   /usr/bin/kwin_wayland                     2MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

So, can someone tell me what I’ve done wrong that has resulted in the 3 problems I’ve noted above, and where I can find guidance to correct my errors?
Cheers,
Brad

You need to remove nomodeset from the kernel command line…

sudo update-bootloader --del-option nomodeset
sudo update-bootloader --config

Big Sigh. Thank you…that solved a major part of my problem.
I made the changes and rebooted.
The HDMI screen is no longer tearing and at least TW System Settings recognizes the USB-C monitor, but it is not displaying the associated desktop.
I will reboot again to see if that resets things.

Sometimes only the background/wallpaper is missing on the second screen.

The freezing at the BIOS splash was resolved with the second reboot. Cheers.
I just tried resetting the background on the second screen via the System Settings/Wallpaper UI but the screen is still blank. I’ve tried disconnecting/reconnecting, unplugging/replugging all without effect.
I know that it physically works as it is functional on Windows…or at least as functional as windows can be. I’ll keep digging.
Thanks for all of your help so far!

@hui Rebooting again, as well as turning display off/on seems to have done the trick. It appears that things are working now. Thanks for your help!

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