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CachyOS

Switching Between NVIDIA and AMD GPUs

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • Your replacement GPU is properly installed and connected.
  • Ensure your system is fully up to date
    Terminal window
    sudo pacman -Syu

Migration Steps

Section titled “Migration Steps”

While the AMD drivers are included in the Linux Kernel, you may need to clean up the old NVIDIA configuration and ensure that the necessary AMD packages are installed.

  1. Check which NVIDIA driver profile is currently installed:
    Terminal window
    sudo chwd --list-installed
  2. Remove the specific profile using the -r flag:
    Terminal window
    sudo chwd -r <profile-name>
  3. Shutdown your system and proceed to install your AMD GPU.
  4. After booting. Use chwd to automatically detect your GPU and install the correct AMD packages.
    Terminal window
    sudo chwd -a
  5. After installing the new drivers, update your initramfs and bootloader configuration

    CachyOS includes a pacman hook that automatically rebuilds initramfs when drivers are added or removed. This ensures the correct drivers are loaded at boot.

    • GRUB: sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
    • systemd-boot: sudo sdboot-manage gen
    • Limine: sudo limine-mkinitcpio
  6. Reboot to apply changes.
    Terminal window
    sudo reboot
  7. After rebooting, verify that the AMD drivers are active.
    Terminal window
    vulkaninfo | grep "deviceName"
    or
    Terminal window
    glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
    If you see your AMD GPU listed, the drivers are working correctly.