F36 KDE fails to install proprietary Nvidia graphics driver when in SecureBoot mode

Ask Fedora
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1

There is a description for how to install a proprietary Nvidia graphics driver on Fedora at Howto/NVIDIA - RPM Fusion.

By following the above link the Nvidia graphics driver fails to install on my computer which is running F36 KDE. I believe the reason for this is that the computer is in SecureBoot mode. The first link hints about possible SecureBoot issues by stating

... Please have a look on Howto/Secure Boot in order to sign the nvidia kmod. You will have to enter the BIOS/EFI to import your self generated key.

but no clear step-by-step instructions are given for how to do this.

In order to successfully install and use the Nvidia proprietary graphics driver when the computer is in SecureBoot mode please confirm that I need to follow the steps as laid out in Working with Kernel Modules :: Fedora Docs.

Thanks,

Lyman Neuschaefer

2

Halleluja!! The Nvidia graphics card now works at full resolution on F36 KDE!!!

I confirm that Working with Kernel Modules :: Fedora Docs provides enough details in order to:

  1. Create a Machine Owner Key (MOK).
  2. Enrolling the MOK key in the UEFI BIOS.
  3. Signing the nvidia driver modules with the MOK key.
  4. Installing the nvidia driver modules using modprobe (after rebooting and completing the MOK key enrollment within the UEFI BIOS).

However, there were three snags along the way I want to note:

  • The first time I created a MOK it was in some way corrupt – even though UEFI accepted the enrollment of that MOK I couldn’t use it to sign any nvidia driver modules. I regenerated a new MOK, enrolled it, and was able to sign with it successfully. I’m not exactly sure what was wrong with the first MOK, but for that first MOK the openssl utility asked for me to type a passphrase (to which I typed a sentence with embedded spaces), whereas for the second MOK openssl did not ask me for a passphrase.
  • Signing the nvidia driver modules first required uncompressing the modules, e.g., ‘xz --decompress nvidia.ko.xz’, before signing.
  • Installing the nvidia drivers required compressing those same modules, e.g., ‘xz nvidia.ko’ – modprobe rejects nvidia.ko, but accepts nvidia.ko.xz.

Thanks!

3

Well, it’s not really a halleluja because it is so unnecessary overcomplicated. Compare this process with the one for Ubuntu: https:/inv.vern.cc/watch?v=A0gxy3xaJlE :roll_eyes:

4

If one is using the nvidia drivers installed from rpmfusion it is an even simpler process.
Simply follow the steps in /usr/share/doc/akmods/README.secureboot.