# HOWTO: set up nVidia Geforce 750ti and KDE5 [using proprietary nVidia drivers and FreeBSD 12.0-RELEASE]



## 13elltovver (Aug 30, 2019)

I didn't find a working HowTo or Guide for this, so I made one, may it serve you well dear reader.

*Starting point:*

You have a pc with a 750ti running FreeBSD 12.0-RELEASE. You are now logged in as "root".

*Objective:*

Getting the 750ti to work properly with the proprietary nvidia-driver. Install KDE5. Boot automatically into the GUI.

*Do this:*
`freebsd-update fetch`

`ee /etc/rc.conf`

add _linux_enable=„YES“_

`shutdown -r now`

`pkg install nvidia-driver`

`pkg install nvidia-settings`

`ee /boot/loader.conf`

add _nvidia-modeset_load="YES"_

`shutdown -r now`

`pkg install xorg`

`pkg install kde5 sddm`

`sysrc sddm_enable=YES`

`sysrc hald_enable=YES`

`sysrc dbus_enable=YES`

`service sddm start`

`shutdown -r now`

And that's it. After boot you should be right in the GUI login screen.

*Afterthoughts:*

The GPU works well and stable. nvidia-settings is a nice, good looking tool to take a closer look at your GPU in the GUI.

Vulkan support: https://github.com/shkhln/nvshim

Thanks to all the incredible FreeBSD developers for making this beautiful OS possible.
Edit:

Replaced `nano` with `ee`
Deleted xorg configuration
Replaced `reboot` with `shutdown -r now`
Replaced nvidia-not-supporting-vulkan-on-freebsd-rant with link to nvshim


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## SirDice (Aug 30, 2019)

Remove that xorg.conf, you don't need it.

There's no need to start a service before you reboot. And please use `shutdown -r now` instead of `reboot`. The latter actually kills processes and doesn't run the proper service shutdown scripts.


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## scottro (Aug 30, 2019)

I'm going to add that if you build from ports, you can choose to not use the Linux module. Also, I have not had to use HAL. What I have had to do, I think since 10.x, use install and use nvidia-xconfig and just let it run. Sometimes, (not always), I've needed the PCI specified in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, which nvida-xconfig seems to do for me.


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## tedbell (Aug 30, 2019)

SirDice said:


> Remove that xorg.conf, you don't need it.
> 
> There's no need to start a service before you reboot. And please use `shutdown -r now` instead of `reboot`. The latter actually kills processes and doesn't run the proper service shutdown scripts.



Sometimes you do. I have not been able to get my nvidia devices to work on SLI or newer card without using nvidia-xconfig. My cards needed the specific BusIDs.


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## shkhln (Aug 30, 2019)

Personally, I always use xorg.conf rather than xorg.conf.d directory. It's a matter of preference, not necessity. As for autoconfiguration, I don't think Xorg ever probes Nvidia's driver if it's not explicitly told to do so.



13elltovver said:


> Keep in mind, as of now, Vulkan API does not work with the closed source driver nVidia provides. It's a shame.



https://github.com/shkhln/nvshim


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## Sevendogsbsd (Aug 30, 2019)

I also wouldn't unequivocally tell someone to install nano. That's a Linux app although it works fine on BSD and is a preference, not a requirement. The EE editor and vi work just fine. EE is actually easier to use than nano...


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## shkhln (Aug 30, 2019)

Sevendogsbsd said:


> EE is actually easier to use than nano...



I wish it were… That menu delay gets old very fast.


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## Sevendogsbsd (Aug 30, 2019)

Lol, it's pretty short but I understand. Nano is quick and so is vi. It bugs me when people who do howtos mix in app personal preferences - I use Linux as well as FreeBSD but try to keep the two separated as far as software, commands, etc.


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## Terpentijn (Aug 30, 2019)

Sevendogsbsd said:


> I also wouldn't unequivocally tell someone to install nano. That's a Linux app although it works fine on BSD and is a preference, not a requirement. The EE editor and vi work just fine. EE is actually easier to use than nano...


They both might work fine but (a) I hate vi and only use it if I really have to and (b) nano is faster to work with than EE. At least for me because I also  work a lot on Linux boxes.


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## 13elltovver (Aug 30, 2019)

SirDice said:


> Remove that xorg.conf, you don't need it.
> 
> There's no need to start a service before you reboot. And please use `shutdown -r now` instead of `reboot`. The latter actually kills processes and doesn't run the proper service shutdown scripts.



Thanks, done.


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## 13elltovver (Aug 30, 2019)

Sevendogsbsd said:


> I also wouldn't unequivocally tell someone to install nano. That's a Linux app although it works fine on BSD and is a preference, not a requirement. The EE editor and vi work just fine. EE is actually easier to use than nano...



Thanks, edited it. It's good to minimize the number of commands and using whats already there.


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## 13elltovver (Aug 30, 2019)

shkhln said:


> Personally, I always use xorg.conf rather than xorg.conf.d directory. It's a matter of preference, not necessity. As for autoconfiguration, I don't think Xorg ever probes Nvidia's driver if it's not explicitly told to do so.
> 
> 
> 
> https://github.com/shkhln/nvshim



Thanks for that, will try it out and I added it to the guide. Is this nvshim official, are you in any way associated with nVidia?


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## shkhln (Aug 30, 2019)

13elltovver said:


> Is this nvshim official, are you in any way associated with nVidia?



No, of course not. It's a little hack I've initially thrown together in 3 days (after waiting for official Vulkan support for two years!) in order to be able to play The Witcher 3 with dxvk under Wine. It's about as YOLO as it gets.


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## 13elltovver (Aug 30, 2019)

shkhln said:


> No, of course not. It's a little hack I've initially thrown together in 3 days (after waiting for official Vulkan support for two years!) in order to be able to play The Witcher 3 with dxvk under Wine. It's about as YOLO as it gets.



Well, a big thanks for sharing your "little hack".

It's realy a shame that nVidia does obviously think this is not important.


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## CraigHB (Aug 31, 2019)

shkhln said:


> ...in order to be able to play The Witcher 3 with dxvk under Wine.



So how is running Wine under FreeBSD and how is it playing games under it?  I actually have some old Windows games I like to play once in while.  I run Windows on my laptop computer, but putting together a desktop computer to run FreeBSD.  Wondering if I can run those old Windows games on it.


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## shkhln (Aug 31, 2019)

CraigHB said:


> So how is running Wine under FreeBSD and how is it playing games under it? I actually have some old Windows games I like to play once in while.



Take a look at my post history, I've been complaining about Wine all over this forum. That said, If you only want to run _old_ games, you should be fine.


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## CraigHB (Sep 1, 2019)

Okay thanks, I'll take a look.  Not something critical, but if it works okay I might use it.


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## Alita (May 12, 2020)

13elltovver said:


> I didn't find a working HowTo or Guide for this, so I made one, may it serve you well dear reader.
> 
> *Starting point:*
> 
> ...


I am guessing You have the quote in the wrong place?
add 
	
	



```
linux_enable=„YES“
```


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## SirDice (May 13, 2020)

Alita said:


> You have the quote in the wrong place?


Speaking  of quotes, those are wrong indeed.


```
linux_enable="YES"
```

But besides that, the Linux emulation isn't required for the NVidia driver to work.


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## kpedersen (May 13, 2020)

Just for completeness, the deleted xorg.conf needed to be replaced with:

/usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

or:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

containing:


```
Section "Device"
  Identifier "Card0"
  Driver "nvidia"
EndSection
```

(This can be found by generating the xorg.conf (using the tool provided by the nvidia driver) and then simply extracting just this part because the rest is implicit)


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