Building/reinstalling video drivers and modules

I am unsure how legit this is, but that is what Grok gave me.

1. Install Drivers

   • Command: pkg install nvidia-driver nvidia-drm-kmod
   • (No direct link; standard FreeBSD package install assumed.)

2. Enable NVIDIA DRM (NVIDIA README #1)

   • Edit /boot/loader.conf:

          nvidia_load="YES"
          nvidia-drm_load="YES"
          hw.nvidia-modeset=1
     

   • Reboot.

3. Identify GPU BusIDs (Xorg Man #2)

   • Run: pciconf -lv | grep -B 3 -i vga
   • Example:
     • Intel: PCI:0:2:0
     • NVIDIA: PCI:1:0:0

4. Configure Xorg for Hybrid (Xorg Man #2, Reddit #4)

   • Create /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-hybrid.conf:

          Section "Device"
              Identifier  "IntelGPU"
              Driver      "intel"        # Or "modesetting"
              BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"    # Adjust from pciconf
          EndSection
     
          Section "Device"
              Identifier  "NvidiaGPU"
              Driver      "nvidia"
              BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"    # Adjust from pciconf
              Option      "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration" "true"
          EndSection
     
          Section "Screen"
              Identifier  "IntelScreen"
              Device      "IntelGPU"
          EndSection
     

   • Intel displays; NVIDIA offloads.

DHOC_TAZH
Kindly keep your updates in a single thread rather than spreading them across multiple ones. It helps everyone follow your progress more easily. Thank you!

Here is a script to help. It does the following:

• GPU detection
• Driver and config installation
• Three GPU modes: intel, nvidia, hybrid
• Mode persistence across reboots via /etc/gpu-mode.conf
• Startup service via /usr/local/etc/rc.d/gpu-mode

#!/bin/sh
# Name: setup-gpu-modes.sh

set -eu

# Require root privileges
if [ "$(id -u)" -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "This script must be run as root." >&2
  exit 1
fi

fail() {
  echo "Error: $1" >&2
  exit 1
}

echo "Detecting GPUs..."

GPU_OUTPUT=$(pciconf -lv)
INTEL_BUSID=$(echo "$GPU_OUTPUT" | awk '/VGA compatible controller: Intel/ {getline; print $2}' | cut -d@ -f2 || true)
NVIDIA_BUSID=$(echo "$GPU_OUTPUT" | awk '/VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA/ {getline; print $2}' | cut -d@ -f2 || true)

[ -n "$INTEL_BUSID" ] || fail "Intel GPU not detected."
[ -n "$NVIDIA_BUSID" ] || fail "NVIDIA GPU not detected."

echo "Intel GPU BusID: PCI:$INTEL_BUSID"
echo "NVIDIA GPU BusID: PCI:$NVIDIA_BUSID"

for pkgname in nvidia-driver nvidia-drm-kmod; do
  if ! pkg info -e "$pkgname"; then
    echo "Installing $pkgname..."
    pkg install -y "$pkgname" || fail "Failed to install $pkgname"
  else
    echo "$pkgname is already installed."
  fi
done

LOADER_CONF="/boot/loader.conf"

add_sysrc_if_missing() {
  local key=$1
  local value=$2
  if ! grep -q "^$key=" "$LOADER_CONF" 2>/dev/null; then
    sysrc -f "$LOADER_CONF" "${key}=${value}" || fail "Failed to add $key to loader.conf"
  else
    echo "$key is already set in loader.conf"
  fi
}

echo "Enabling NVIDIA kernel modules..."
add_sysrc_if_missing nvidia_load YES
add_sysrc_if_missing nvidia-drm_load YES
add_sysrc_if_missing hw.nvidia.modeset 1

X11_DIR="/usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
mkdir -p "$X11_DIR" || fail "Failed to create $X11_DIR"

OFFLOAD_BIN="/usr/local/bin/nvidia-offload"
if [ ! -f "$OFFLOAD_BIN" ]; then
  echo "Creating nvidia-offload launcher..."
  cat <<'EOF' > "$OFFLOAD_BIN"
#!/bin/sh
export DRI_PRIME=1
exec "$@"
EOF
  chmod +x "$OFFLOAD_BIN" || fail "Failed to make nvidia-offload executable"
else
  echo "nvidia-offload already exists: $OFFLOAD_BIN"
fi

MODE_SWITCHER="/usr/local/sbin/gpu-mode"
if [ ! -f "$MODE_SWITCHER" ]; then
  echo "Creating GPU mode switcher..."
  cat <<EOF > "$MODE_SWITCHER"
#!/bin/sh
MODE="\$1"
CONF_DIR="/usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
CONF_FILE="/etc/gpu-mode.conf"

if [ -z "\$MODE" ]; then
  echo "Usage: gpu-mode {intel|nvidia|hybrid}"
  exit 1
fi

case "\$MODE" in
  intel)
    echo "Switching to Intel-only mode..."
    rm -f "\$CONF_DIR"/10-*.conf
    cat <<EOT > "\$CONF_DIR/10-intel-only.conf"
Section "Device"
    Identifier "IntelOnly"
    Driver "modesetting"
    BusID "PCI:$INTEL_BUSID"
EndSection
EOT
    ;;
  nvidia)
    echo "Switching to NVIDIA-only mode..."
    rm -f "\$CONF_DIR"/10-*.conf
    cat <<EOT > "\$CONF_DIR/10-nvidia-only.conf"
Section "Device"
    Identifier "NvidiaOnly"
    Driver "nvidia"
    BusID "PCI:$NVIDIA_BUSID"
    Option "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration" "true"
EndSection
EOT
    ;;
  hybrid)
    echo "Switching to Hybrid mode..."
    rm -f "\$CONF_DIR"/10-*.conf
    cat <<EOT > "\$CONF_DIR/10-hybrid.conf"
Section "Device"
    Identifier  "IntelGPU"
    Driver      "modesetting"
    BusID       "PCI:$INTEL_BUSID"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "NvidiaGPU"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    BusID       "PCI:$NVIDIA_BUSID"
    Option      "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "IntelScreen"
    Device      "IntelGPU"
EndSection
EOT
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Invalid mode: \$MODE"
    echo "Usage: gpu-mode {intel|nvidia|hybrid}"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

echo "\$MODE" > "\$CONF_FILE"
echo "Mode set to \$MODE. Please restart your display manager or reboot."
EOF

  chmod +x "$MODE_SWITCHER" || fail "Failed to make gpu-mode executable"
else
  echo "GPU mode switcher already exists: $MODE_SWITCHER"
fi

RC_SCRIPT="/usr/local/etc/rc.d/gpu-mode"
if [ ! -f "$RC_SCRIPT" ]; then
  echo "Creating GPU mode boot-time loader..."
  mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/rc.d
  cat <<EOF > "$RC_SCRIPT"
#!/bin/sh

# PROVIDE: gpu_mode
# REQUIRE: mountcritlocal
# KEYWORD: shutdown

. /etc/rc.subr

name="gpu_mode"
rcvar="gpu_mode_enable"
start_cmd="gpu_mode_start"
stop_cmd=":"

gpu_mode_start() {
    if [ -f /etc/gpu-mode.conf ]; then
        MODE=\$(cat /etc/gpu-mode.conf)
        echo "Restoring GPU mode at boot: \$MODE"
        /usr/local/sbin/gpu-mode "\$MODE"
    else
        echo "No saved GPU mode found, skipping..."
    fi
}

load_rc_config \$name
run_rc_command "\$1"
EOF

  chmod +x "$RC_SCRIPT"
  sysrc gpu_mode_enable=YES
else
  echo "Boot loader script already exists: $RC_SCRIPT"
fi

echo
echo "Setup complete."
echo
echo "To switch GPU modes now, run:"
echo "  gpu-mode intel     # Use Intel GPU only"
echo "  gpu-mode nvidia    # Use NVIDIA GPU only"
echo "  gpu-mode hybrid    # Hybrid mode (Intel display, NVIDIA offload)"
echo
echo "To launch a program on NVIDIA in hybrid mode:"
echo "  nvidia-offload firefox"
echo
echo "Your selected mode will be restored automatically on next boot."

DHOC_TAZH
Did you receive any errors when running the script?

DHOC_TAZH
Yes, you will need to be at a terminal console shell prompt and have network access.

Patch level 2 is packaged for GhostBSD.

DHOC_TAZH
Yes, it's true, having one computer is never enough.