akmods-nvidia-open not installing the open-source driver

[ethanbergstrom]

NVIDIA Open GPU Kernel Modules Version

570.144-1.fc42.x86_64

Please confirm this issue does not happen with the proprietary driver (of the same version). This issue tracker is only for bugs specific to the open kernel driver.

• I confirm that this does not happen with the proprietary driver package.

Operating System and Version

Fedora release 42 (Adams) - Silverblue / Atomic GNOME

Kernel Release

Linux exia 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May 9 20:11:19 UTC 2025 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Please confirm you are running a stable release kernel (e.g. not a -rc). We do not accept bug reports for unreleased kernels.

• I am running on a stable kernel release.

Hardware: GPU

NVIDIA Corporation GB203 [GeForce RTX 5070 Ti]

Describe the bug

The package akmod-nvidia-open (which also installs akmod-nvidia) install via rpm-ostree is compiling and installing the proprietary driver instead of the open source one, and the proprietary drivers are not compatible with Blackwell-and-higher / 5000-series card.

I've already tried the %_with_kmod_nvidia_open 1 trick, but that seems to not work in OSTree-based systems.

I have no issues with the proprietary driver on the same PC with a 3000-series card.

To Reproduce

• Start with a default installation (nouveau loads by default)
• rpm-ostree install akmod-nvidia-open xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
• Reboot

Expected results:

• modinfo -l nvidia should return Dual MIT/GPL or similar
• Loaded driver is compatible with 5000-series card

Actual results:

• modinfo -l nvidia returns NVIDIA
• Loaded driver indicates it is not open-source, despite what was installed:

NVRM: The NVIDIA GPU 0000:01:00.0 (PCI ID: 10de:2c05)
NVRM: installed in this system requires use of the NVIDIA open kernel modules.

Note, I'm not using Secureboot, and haven't seen any indications in the logs of failure due to driver signing problems:

May 18 09:34:38 fedora kernel: secureboot: Secure boot disabled

Bug Incidence

Always

nvidia-bug-report.log.gz

nvidia-bug-report.log.gz

More Info

No response

[aritger]

This sounds like a packaging issue, and not an issue with the open-gpu-kernel-modules itself. Does the discussion here:
#700
help at all?

[ethanbergstrom]

Thanks for taking a look!

Yeah, I'd already reviewed those, but unfortunately they did not help.

[zcobol]

It's definitely a packaging issue. I run into the same issue on FC42 Workstation, no rpm-ostree, and after reboot there were this kind of entries in the logs:

[    6.712455] NVRM: The NVIDIA GPU 0000:01:00.0 (PCI ID: 10de:2d04)
               NVRM: installed in this system requires use of the NVIDIA open kernel modules.

To use the nvidia-open driver I had to force a rebuild:

zcobol@paloalto:~$ sudo akmods --kernels $(uname -r) --rebuild --force
Checking kmods exist for 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64            [  OK  ]
Building and installing nvidia-kmod                        [  OK  ]
Building and installing nvidia-open-kmod                   [  OK  ]

On restart the correct module was loaded:

zcobol@paloalto:~$ modinfo nvidia
filename:       /lib/modules/6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64/extra/nvidia/nvidia.ko
import_ns:      DMA_BUF
alias:          char-major-195-*
version:        570.144
supported:      external
license:        Dual MIT/GPL

[Codalarache]

@zcobol I don't know how you managed to make it work... I have the same fedora (42 workstation), same kernel. I installed akmod-nvidia-open, launched the same command you did, reboot but I still got the same error and license :

NVRM: installed in this system requires use of the NVIDIA open kernel modules.

modinfo nvidia
filename: /lib/modules/6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64/extra/nvidia/nvidia.ko
alias: char-major-195-*
version: 570.144
supported: external
license: NVIDIA
firmware: nvidia/570.144/gsp_tu10x.bin
firmware: nvidia/570.144/gsp_ga10x.bin

Which GPU do you have ? Mine is a Geforce 5080 running in a Razer Blade 16 2025.

Thanks in advance.

[zcobol]

I'm using a RTX 5060 Ti. To get the nvidia open source driver to work on Fedora 42 I followed the instruction in this post:

https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/nvidia-driver-install-issues-on-fedora-42/149091/6

INSTALL NVDIA OPEN SOURCE DRIVERS

sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

sudo dnf install rpmfusion-nonfree-release-tainted

sudo dnf swap akmod-nvidia akmod-nvidia-open

sudo reboot now

[Codalarache]

Thanks for the reply. So it seems there is a bug somewhere. I tried again to follow the instructions but nothing changed.

> sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
Updating and loading repositories:
 RPM Fusion for Fedora 42 - Free tainted                              100% |  26.4 KiB/s |   8.0 KiB |  00m00s
 Fedora 42 - x86_64 - Updates                                         100% |  20.2 KiB/s |  12.8 KiB |  00m01s
 Fedora 42 - x86_64 - Updates                                         100% | 617.7 KiB/s |   3.1 MiB |  00m05s
Repositories loaded.
 https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-42. 100% |  54.1 KiB/s |  11.3 KiB |  00m00s
 https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-relea 100% |  53.9 KiB/s |  11.4 KiB |  00m00s
Package "rpmfusion-free-release-42-1.noarch" is already installed.
Package "rpmfusion-nonfree-release-42-1.noarch" is already installed.

Nothing to do.
> sudo dnf install rpmfusion-nonfree-release-tainted
Updating and loading repositories:
Repositories loaded.
Package "rpmfusion-nonfree-release-tainted-42-1.noarch" is already installed.

Nothing to do.
> sudo dnf swap akmod-nvidia akmod-nvidia-open
Updating and loading repositories:
Repositories loaded.
Package "akmod-nvidia-open-3:570.144-1.fc42.x86_64" is already installed.
No packages to remove for argument: akmod-nvidia

Nothing to do.

And still complaining "this system requires use of the NVIDIA open kernel modules"

[elsaco]

As mentioned by @ethanbergstrom you also need to add an rpm macro to /etc/rpm/macros.nvidia-kmod containing
%_with_kmod_nvidia_open 1. If the file is not present create one.

[Codalarache]

Hi, I already did this when searching for a solution

> cat /etc/rpm/macros.nvidia-kmod 
%_with_kmod_nvidia_open 1
> ll /etc/rpm/macros.nvidia-kmod 
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 26 May 20 18:58 /etc/rpm/macros.nvidia-kmod

[Codalarache]

If finally managed to install correctly the drivers.

For those who struggle with this :

• Install akmod-nvidia and akmod nividia-open
• Add "%_with_kmod_nvidia_open 1" to /etc/rpm/macros.nvidia-kmod
• run sudo akmods --kernels $(uname -r) --rebuild --force

DO NOT RUN the following : dnf swap akmod-nvidia akmod-nvidia-open
For me, it removes akmod-nvidia and causes the problem...

> sudo dnf swap akmod-nvidia akmod-nvidia-open
Updating and loading repositories:
Repositories loaded.
Package "akmod-nvidia-open-3:570.144-1.fc42.x86_64" is already installed.

Package                           Arch   Version                          Repository                      Size
Removing:
 akmod-nvidia                     x86_64 3:570.144-1.fc42                 rpmfusion-nonfree-nvidia-d  92.2 KiB
Removing unused dependencies:
 xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-kmodsrc      x86_64 3:570.144-1.fc42                 rpmfusion-nonfree-nvidia-d  76.0 MiB

Transaction Summary:
 Removing:           2 packages

After this operation, 76 MiB will be freed (install 0 B, remove 76 MiB).

Hope it helps.

I don't know if it's normal but it worked for me.

[ethanbergstrom]

Regardless, the issue is still present on OSTree-based systems.

[ptr1337]

Regardless, the issue is still present on OSTree-based systems.

You should report this to your distribution. Make an issue upstream, since NVIDIA does not package these drivers.

[elsaco]

Or switch to CachyOS 😀

[rafnogueira]

Or switch to CachyOS 😀

Please don't suggest broken distros for Nvidia users. I’ve been trying to use CachyOS for over a year, and the distro doesn’t work well with NVIDIA and Wayland. Suggest Arch Linux instead. I’m using the latest NVIDIA 580 drivers and Kernel 6.16, and I’m still having games that don’t work—like Digimon Cyber Story, Age of Mythology: Retold, and others. I don’t have any of these problems on Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, or other distros.