feat: NVIDIA fix only for RTX 20 series or newer, with the VRAM booster's chwd legacy check (vram_nvidia_legacy_id)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ one per merged pull request.
 - **fix: NVIDIA fix on Limine edits the KERNEL_CMDLINE[default] line (an appended += line ended up as literal text on the kernel command line, found in a VM); the modules are only loaded early when every installed kernel has them, and a Limine boot entry without the parameters is an error**
 - **test: tests/nvidia-hardware-test.sh for a real NVIDIA PC: check (read-only state of the detection, the live nvidia_drm modeset/fbdev, versions), apply, and visual (was the gaming mode picture clean), with a report file to paste**
 - **fix: the NVIDIA modules are loaded early only while every installed kernel has them, decided again at every kernel or driver change by a pacman hook (steamify-nvidia-initramfs): a later kernel without the modules (another kernel, a failed DKMS build, a downgrade) no longer makes its initramfs and Limine boot entry fail**
+- **feat: the NVIDIA fix is only for RTX 20 series or newer, decided like the VRAM booster does (vram_nvidia_legacy_id: chwd's legacy card lists); older cards are left alone**
 
 ## 2.9.6 - 2026-09-30
 

NVIDIA-RESEARCH.md

@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ may be the gamescope/driver combination. `tests/nvidia-hardware-test.sh` collect
 - No source found that mentions these parameters for gamescope; the fix is a standard NVIDIA/Wayland setup, applied
   automatically. Whether it cures the 5080's picture is only known after `tests/nvidia-hardware-test.sh`.
 
-## Which cards (the user hopes older than RTX 2000 work)
+## Which cards (decision 2026-10-01: RTX 20 series or newer only, same check as the VRAM booster)
+The code skips a card whose PCI id is on chwd's legacy lists (`vram_nvidia_legacy_id`); the notes below are why older
+cards are not promised.
 - Open kernel modules: Turing (RTX 20, GTX 16) and newer only; they need the GSP processor first built into Turing.
   Maxwell, Pascal and Volta (GTX 900/10 series, Titan V) only work with the proprietary driver, whose legacy branch
   is 580. Source: [NVIDIA README, open kernel modules](https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/560.35.03/README/kernel_open.html),

TECHNICAL.md

@@ -210,8 +210,10 @@ missing `-headers` package, which makes DKMS build the driver for it.
 
 gamescope drives the display itself through DRM/KMS, which with NVIDIA needs
 kernel modesetting and the framebuffer driver, and the driver loaded early;
-without them gaming mode can show a corrupted image. With an NVIDIA GPU and
+without them gaming mode can show a corrupted image. With a supported NVIDIA GPU (RTX 20 series or newer, decided like the VRAM
-its driver installed (`lib/nvidia.sh`), the SteamOS conversion adds
+booster does: a card on chwd's legacy lists `/var/lib/chwd/ids/nvidia-*.ids`
+is older and left alone, `vram_nvidia_legacy_id`; without those lists every
+card counts) and its driver installed (`lib/nvidia.sh`), the SteamOS conversion adds
 `nvidia-drm.modeset=1 nvidia-drm.fbdev=1` to the kernel command line (Limine,
 systemd-boot or GRUB; the file is backed up first) and
 `/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/90-steamify-nvidia.conf` (`MODULES+=(nvidia

TODO-nvidia.md

@@ -55,11 +55,14 @@ Today the fix runs unconditionally inside `gaming_enable`/`gaming_disable`.
 - [ ] README rows/screenshot rule (a release that adds a menu row retakes `assets/screenshot-menu.png`), TECHNICAL.md,
       CHANGELOG, `tests/nvidia-test.sh` (status/enable/disable through the component), VM menu test in
       steamify-cachyos-dev (`share/vmtest/menu`, TESTPLAN.md row).
-- [ ] What "compatible" means: see the research below. The parameters themselves apply to any card whose driver
+- [x] What "compatible" means (decided 2026-10-01): RTX 20 series or newer, the same check as the VRAM booster
-      provides `nvidia_drm` (what `nvidia_present` tests); whether gamescope works on a card is a separate question.
+      (`vram_nvidia_legacy_id`: a card on chwd's legacy lists `/var/lib/chwd/ids/nvidia-*.ids` is older; without the
+      lists every card counts). `nvidia_present` = such a card + `nvidia_drm` available; the toggle's `nvidia_available`
+      is the same function. Older cards (GTX 10/9 series) are left alone: no promise they work with gamescope.
 
 ## Older cards and other research
-The user hopes the fix also works for GPUs older than RTX 2000. Full notes with sources: **`NVIDIA-RESEARCH.md`**.
+Decision 2026-10-01: support RTX 20 series or newer only, with the VRAM booster's check (done in `lib/nvidia.sh`).
+The user had hoped older GPUs would work too; not promised. Full notes with sources: **`NVIDIA-RESEARCH.md`**.
 Short version: open kernel modules need Turing+, Maxwell/Pascal/Volta need the proprietary driver (580 legacy branch);
 `nvidia-drm.modeset/fbdev` exist in both, so the fix applies to any card with `nvidia_drm`, but nothing found says gamescope
 works better or worse there (a GTX 1050 Ti has a known gamescope>3.16.16 start problem on HDMI, not ours). Cannot be promised:

lib/nvidia.sh

@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 # through DRM/KMS; with NVIDIA that needs kernel modesetting and the
 # framebuffer driver (nvidia-drm.modeset=1 nvidia-drm.fbdev=1) and the
 # driver in the initramfs, or the screen shows a corrupted image.
-# Does nothing without an NVIDIA GPU that has its driver installed.
+# Does nothing without a supported NVIDIA GPU (RTX 20 series or newer) that has
+# its driver installed.
 # Sourced by steamify.sh; not meant to be run on its own.
 
 NVIDIA_PARAMS="nvidia-drm.modeset=1 nvidia-drm.fbdev=1"
@@ -16,15 +17,31 @@ NVIDIA_HOOK=${NVIDIA_HOOK:-/etc/pacman.d/hooks/85-steamify-nvidia-initramfs.hook
 NVIDIA_DRM_DIR=${NVIDIA_DRM_DIR:-/sys/class/drm}
 
 nvidia_present() {
-    # An NVIDIA GPU (PCI vendor 0x10de, display class) and its kernel driver.
+    # A supported NVIDIA GPU: PCI vendor 0x10de, display class, its kernel
+    # driver installed, and not older than the RTX 20 series, decided like the
+    # VRAM booster does (vram_nvidia_legacy_id: chwd's legacy card lists, every
+    # other card runs NVIDIA's open modules). Older cards are left alone.
     local d
     for d in "$NVIDIA_DRM_DIR"/card[0-9]*/device; do
         [[ "$(cat "$d/vendor" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x10de ]] || continue
-        [[ "$(cat "$d/class" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x03* ]] && modinfo nvidia_drm >/dev/null 2>&1 && return 0
+        [[ "$(cat "$d/class" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x03* ]] || continue
+        vram_nvidia_legacy_id "$(cat "$d/device" 2>/dev/null)" && continue
+        modinfo nvidia_drm >/dev/null 2>&1 && return 0
     done
     return 1
 }
 
+nvidia_legacy_gpu() {
+    # 0 when the only NVIDIA GPU(s) are older than RTX 20 (reported, not fixed).
+    local d found=0
+    for d in "$NVIDIA_DRM_DIR"/card[0-9]*/device; do
+        [[ "$(cat "$d/vendor" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x10de && "$(cat "$d/class" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x03* ]] || continue
+        vram_nvidia_legacy_id "$(cat "$d/device" 2>/dev/null)" || return 1
+        found=1
+    done
+    [[ $found == 1 ]]
+}
+
 nvidia_boot_file() {
     # Same boot loaders as the kernel command line elsewhere (lib/hdmi-refresh.sh).
     hdmi_boot_file

lib/vram-booster.sh

@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ vram_nvidia() {
 # 470xx, 390xx); every other NVIDIA card runs the open kernel modules.
 VRAM_CHWD_IDS=/var/lib/chwd/ids
 
+vram_nvidia_legacy_id() {
+    # vram_nvidia_legacy_id <pci device id, with or without 0x>: 0 when chwd
+    # lists the card for a closed legacy branch, i.e. it is older than the
+    # RTX 20 series. Also what lib/nvidia.sh uses to decide if a card is supported.
+    grep -qwi "${1#0x}" "$VRAM_CHWD_IDS"/nvidia-*.ids 2>/dev/null
+}
+
 vram_nvidia_case() {
     # Why an NVIDIA card's VRAM isn't registered, so the menu can say what to
     # do: "update" (open modules older than 615), "switch <chwd profile>"
@@ -62,8 +69,7 @@ vram_nvidia_case() {
     esac
     for d in /sys/bus/pci/devices/*; do
         [[ "$(cat "$d/vendor" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x10de && "$(cat "$d/class" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x03* ]] || continue
-        id="$(cat "$d/device")"; id="${id#0x}"
+        vram_nvidia_legacy_id "$(cat "$d/device")" && { echo legacy; return; }
-        grep -qwi "$id" "$VRAM_CHWD_IDS"/nvidia-*.ids 2>/dev/null && { echo legacy; return; }
     done
     for p in 580xx 470xx 390xx; do
         pacman -Q "nvidia-$p-dkms" >/dev/null 2>&1 && { echo "switch nvidia-dkms-$p"; return; }

tests/nvidia-hardware-test.sh

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 # Every run appends to ~/steamify-nvidia-report.txt: paste that file when asking for help.
 cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." || exit 1
 REPORT="${NVIDIA_REPORT:-$HOME/steamify-nvidia-report.txt}"
-source lib/common.sh; source lib/hdmi-refresh.sh; source lib/nvidia.sh
+source lib/common.sh; source lib/hdmi-refresh.sh; source lib/vram-booster.sh; source lib/nvidia.sh
 mode="${1:-check}"
 fail=0
 say() { echo "$*" | tee -a "$REPORT"; }
@@ -31,7 +31,13 @@ report_system() {
 
 check_state() {
     say "-- Steamify's view"
-    if nvidia_present; then pass "an NVIDIA GPU with its driver is detected"; else bad "no NVIDIA GPU/driver detected: the fix does nothing here"; fi
+    if nvidia_present; then pass "a supported NVIDIA GPU (RTX 20 series or newer) with its driver is detected"
+    elif nvidia_legacy_gpu; then bad "the NVIDIA GPU is older than RTX 20 (on chwd's legacy lists in $VRAM_CHWD_IDS): the fix is not applied"
+    else bad "no NVIDIA GPU with its driver detected: the fix does nothing here"; fi
+    for c in /sys/class/drm/card[0-9]*/device; do
+        [[ "$(cat "$c/vendor" 2>/dev/null)" == 0x10de ]] && note "NVIDIA PCI device id $(cat "$c/device") $(vram_nvidia_legacy_id "$(cat "$c/device")" && echo '(on a chwd legacy list)' || echo '(not on a legacy list: RTX 20 or newer)')"
+    done
+    ls "$VRAM_CHWD_IDS"/nvidia-*.ids >/dev/null 2>&1 || note "no chwd legacy lists found: every NVIDIA card counts as supported"
     local p
     for p in $NVIDIA_PARAMS; do
         if grep -qw -- "$p" /proc/cmdline; then pass "$p is on the running kernel's command line"

tests/nvidia-test.sh

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ T="$(mktemp -d)"; trap 'rm -rf "$T"' EXIT
 fail=0
 check() { if eval "$2"; then echo "ok   $1"; else echo "FAIL $1"; fail=1; fi; }
 
-SCRIPT_DIR="$PWD"; source lib/common.sh; source lib/hdmi-refresh.sh; source lib/nvidia.sh
+SCRIPT_DIR="$PWD"; source lib/common.sh; source lib/hdmi-refresh.sh; source lib/vram-booster.sh; source lib/nvidia.sh
 sudo() { "$@"; }
 info() { :; }; ok() { :; }; warn() { :; }; err() { echo "ERR $*"; }
 backup_file() { [[ -f "$1.bak" ]] || cp "$1" "$1.bak"; }
@@ -24,7 +24,16 @@ NVIDIA_SCRIPT="$T/libexec/steamify-nvidia-initramfs"; NVIDIA_HOOK="$T/hooks/85-s
 NVIDIA_MODULES_DIR="$T/mods"
 NVIDIA_LIMINE_CONF="$T/none/limine.conf"; NVIDIA_SDBOOT_DIR="$T/none/entries"; NVIDIA_GRUB_CFG="$T/none/grub.cfg"   # not generated here: not checked
 
-FAKE_DRIVER=1; check "finds the NVIDIA card as card1 beside an iGPU" nvidia_present
+mkdir -p "$T/chwd"; VRAM_CHWD_IDS="$T/chwd"
+FAKE_DRIVER=1; check "finds the NVIDIA card as card1 beside an iGPU (no legacy lists)" nvidia_present
+printf '1c03\n1b80\n' > "$T/chwd/nvidia-580.ids"   # a GTX 1060 and a GTX 1080: chwd's 580xx legacy list
+check "RTX 5080 (2c02) is not on a legacy list: supported" nvidia_present
+echo 0x1c03 > "$T/drm/card1/device/device"
+check "GTX 1060 (on chwd's legacy list, older than RTX 20): not supported" '! nvidia_present'
+check "...and reported as a legacy GPU" nvidia_legacy_gpu
+echo 0x2c02 > "$T/drm/card1/device/device"; check "RTX 5080 is not a legacy GPU" '! nvidia_legacy_gpu'
+printf '2c02\n' > "$T/chwd/nvidia-580.ids"; check "a card id that is on a legacy list is skipped, whatever it is" '! nvidia_present'
+printf '1c03\n' > "$T/chwd/nvidia-580.ids"
 FAKE_DRIVER=0; check "skips when the driver isn't installed" '! nvidia_present'
 FAKE_DRIVER=1; NVIDIA_DRM_DIR="$T/none"; check "skips without an NVIDIA GPU" '! nvidia_present'
 NVIDIA_DRM_DIR="$T/drm"