Fedora + Nvidia + Secureboot

This guide provides instructions on installing the latest NVIDIA drivers on a Fedora desktop. It is primarily written for personal use, but it may also be useful (hopefully) for you.

⚠️ Note: This guide is based on the official RPM Fusion instructions. If you're using Fedora Silverblue, you may need to refer to the full documentation:

https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA

https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/Secure%20Boot

Preconditions:

1. This method has been tested on Fedora 39+ with the latest NVIDIA drivers. It works with KDE, GNOME, or any other desktop environment/window manager.
2. Secure Boot must be enabled in setup mode in your BIOS/UEFI settings (some BIOS versions call this "Custom Mode").
3. Remove any existing NVIDIA drivers before proceeding:

dnf remove xorg-x11-drv-nvidia\*

Reboot after removing old drivers.

4. For easier debugging, you can disable the 'quiet' boot option:

# Disable 'quiet' mode
sudo grubby --update-kernel=ALL --remove-args=quiet

# Re-enable 'quiet' mode
sudo grubby --update-kernel=ALL --args=quiet

(This is optional but can help debug if errors occur.)

Process:

1) Add RPM Fusion repositories:

# Free
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
# Non-Free
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

2) Fully update the system:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

3) Install signing modules:

sudo dnf install kmodtool akmods mokutil openssl

4) Generate a key:

sudo kmodgenca -a

5) Import your key and set a password for it (no need for a complex password):

sudo mokutil --import /etc/pki/akmods/certs/public_key.der

6) Reboot:

sudo systemctl reboot

7) MOK manager will ask if you want to proceed with booting or enroll the key. Choose "Enroll MOK" -> "Continue" and enter the password created in step 6.

8) Install NVIDIA drivers:

For GPUs supported by the current NVIDIA driver branch (some GeForce, Quadro, Tesla, should be suitable for any GPU found in 2017 and later):

sudo dnf install gcc kernel-headers kernel-devel akmod-nvidia \
 xorg-x11-drv-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.{i686,x86_64} \
 libva-nvidia-driver.{i686,x86_64} xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

For older GPUs that are no longer supported by the latest NVIDIA driver branch (GTX 800/900/10, GeForce 400/500/600/700, etc.), install the appropriate legacy driver version according to the official RPM Fusion documentation:

https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA

9) Wait for the modules to build! You can monitor the build process using htop or by typing:

modinfo -F version nvidia

It should return the driver version like this:

If it shows ERROR: Module nvidia not found, the modules are still building—keep waiting.

10) Ensure the modules are built for the currently running kernel and boot image:

sudo akmods --force && sudo dracut --force

11) Disable GSP Firmware

For newer NVIDIA drivers (555+) + Wayland, you may want to disable GSP firmware to reduce stuttering in GNOME/KDE.

However, this issue varies by system, and you may not need to disable it. Test your setup first before applying this change.

To disable GSP firmware, run:

sudo grubby --update-kernel=ALL --args=nvidia.NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0

Sources:

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/major-kde-plasma-desktop-frameskip-lag-issues-on-driver-555/293606

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/stutering-and-low-fps-scrolling-in-browsers-on-wayland-when-gsp-firmware-is-enabled/311127/15

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/570-release-feedback-discussion/321956/69

12) Reboot, and you're done!

Task manager app in the screenshot: https://flathub.org/apps/io.missioncenter.MissionCenter