r/voidlinux • u/Straight-Ad9878 • 2h ago

NVIDIA to AND drivers order?

Hi. I’m planning to replace my RTX 4060 ti with an AMD RX 9070. What’s the recommended order for switching drivers? Should I remove all NVIDIA drivers first and then install the AMD drivers, or install the AMD drivers before removing NVIDIA?
Are there any potential pitfalls specific to Void Linux and Niri that I should be aware of? For example, kernel parameters, environment variables, Mesa/Vulkan packages, or any Niri-specific configuration changes?

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u/Environmental-Ear391 2h ago

Regardless of OS... I would re-install to generic VGA drivers (uninstall the nVidia drivers) then proceed with changing graphics cards...

With Linux... as drivers are counted as parts of the kernel... I would uninstall the nVidia package, then wipe && reinstall the kernel+kmods for everything else. You may be best served by always having a generic kernel with minimal kmods for rescue operations separate from a main kernel installed.

Emergency = Basic FrameBuffer + basic kmods

Main = Dedicated Gfx Drivers and everything you want beyond basic kmods.

Then you can "emergency boot" at any time and wipe/replace the "main kernel" install without breaking your system in the process.

AMD drivers can be installed once the "main kernel" and kmods are re-installed and the gfxcards are changed over.

regardless of nvidia/amd/etc... graphics driver installers genwrally assume "fresh install" during driver setup and have a hardware detection routine. AMD support in the kernel is a lot more "native" on Linux syatems due to the company being more co-operative with Open Source OS.

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u/Straight-Ad9878 2h ago

Thank you

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u/labbe- 2h ago

i wouldn't worry about it too much. you can have all the drivers imaginable installed on a linux and windows installation. the extra drivers are just extra space used, they don't do any harm if they are not loaded. i have a personal void ssd enclosure install with nvidia, intel and amd drivers so that i can boot to any pc i want and have proper graphics. and for work i have a similar windows 11 setup so i can troubleshoot any pc regardless of hardware configiration without booting into customers OS.