Here is more information. I am moving this away from dracut since it isn't a matter of that system failing against Nvidia setup cases that affect SDDM on my older laptop MSI Optimus laptop.
Even if I place /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf blacklist nvidia blacklist nvidia-drm blacklist nvidia-modeset blacklist nvidia-uvm blacklist nouveau Things were not working out for this old Optimus laptop since it would try to load the modules causing SDDM to fail. Maybe I should make it an SDDM issue instead? Anyway, if you install the following packages as I like to load the nvidia modules dynamically from a script > linux-modules-nvidia-570-6.14.0-22-generic 6.14.0-22.22 amd64 Linux kernel > nvidia modules for version 6.14.0-22 > linux-objects-nvidia-570-6.14.0-22-generic 6.14.0-22.22 amd64 Linux kernel > nvidia modules for version 6.14.0-22 (objects) > linux-signatures-nvidia-6.14.0-22-generic 6.14.0-22.22 amd64 Linux kernel > signatures for nvidia modules for version 6.14.0-22-generic It leaves SDDM to fail to boot using i815 and Nvidia trying to take over. I literally couldn't figure out why SDDM was still failing. I ran lsmod | grep nvidia|nouveau and of course the modules were loading regardless of the blacklist script. I also had in /etc/default/grub GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nogpumanager modprobe.blacklist=nouveau,nvidia,nvidiafb,nvidia-uvm,nvidia-drm,nvidia-modeset and ran the grub2 update but still found SDDM failing to load with issues of permissions and the modules mentioned of nvidia being loaded. I finally masked the following files from these packages > nvidia-kernel-common-570: /lib/systemd/system/nvidia-powerd.service > nvidia-compute-utils-570: /usr/lib/systemd/system/nvidia-persistenced.service And now finally, I have a SDDM that boots properly. I can load/unload nvidia modules easily and run software using custom scripts such as https://gist.github.com/m1st0/e6348a7ef50d5e17d41485fdac9292f3 . In summary, you need the blacklist files in /etc/modprobe.d , systemctl mask those services I mentioned, and the kernel options in /etc/default/grub and update-initramfs. SDDM will boot to i915 Intel graphics as needed thereby. ** Package changed: dracut (Ubuntu) => nvidia-kernel-common (Ubuntu) ** Summary changed: - Grub Won't Boot After Dracut Failure + SDDM Won't Boot After Nvidia Setup -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Debcrafters packages, which is subscribed to dracut in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2115336 Title: SDDM Won't Boot After Nvidia Setup Status in nvidia-kernel-common package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: Description: Ubuntu 25.04 Release: 25.04 dracut-core: Installed: 106-2ubuntu5 Candidate: 106-2ubuntu5 Version table: *** 106-2ubuntu5 500 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky/universe amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status Lets say you place a file in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99nvidia Calling a script you want to use to ensure nvidia drivers are ready for any new kernal install. The apt config hook notes: Pkg::Post-Invoke { "/home/$USER/workspace/nvidia_module_install.zsh"; }; and although the zsh script fails, Grub will no longer be listed as a bootable entry even as dracut-core finishes with no errors. Understandably whatever this ZSH script does may lead you to question whether it is the culprit, however the focus should be on the loss of being able to boot if the script is simply just a failing workable tool. If you want to see the script, it is at https://gist.github.com/m1st0/3957db900736b5a01d16b8ef1b0ddd69 It simply installs nvidia drivers and blacklists them so that sddm can boot until they can be dynamically loaded when needed on certain laptops. There may be work to do on the ZSH script, but it shows off how I think dracut-core can fail miserably leaving a system that cannot boot. I removed the hook in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99nvidia, and ran the following just to be sure: sudo update-initramfs -v -u sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg sudo update-grub2 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-kernel-common/+bug/2115336/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~debcrafters-packages Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~debcrafters-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
