Created attachment 905027 [details] Output of emerge --info The news entry on 2024-05-17 said that if we think a package should have the initramfs USE flag we should file a bug. Would the modules from the nvidia-drivers package help Plymouth to load faster? If so, then nvidia-drivers dhould have an initramfs flag to include the modules in the initramfs. I've attached my emerge --info output in a file since I can't post URLs yet.
This been considered before given I was there to review when the eclass added support, and it's not a configuration I intend to support at the moment. NVIDIA modules on initramfs been both messy and afaik not really useful. Together with firmware files, it's also ~140MB and does not compress that well making the initramfs considerably bigger which could come as a poor surprise for users that enable USE=initramfs globally. And I don't see why it'd load faster? NVIDIA doesn't really do much until X or a wayland compositor is started. At best there's a new off-by-default "fbdev=1" since nvidia-drivers-550 to handle the console but its primary purpose is to be loaded "later" and replace the DRM device used for early boot (DRM_SIMPLEDRM or possibly even DRM_NOUVEAU). That option also been buggy and sometime been causing crashes for some setups. If it does make a difference, I think it'd be insignificant and simply not worth it. On a related note, DRM_SIMPLEDRM is probably faster than using e.g. FB_EFI or FB_SIMPLE for early boot and may or may not work out better for plymouth if it works at all. But you'll be forced to use fbdev=1 then (see /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf if want to try that out). This was also was already asked for before in bug #932781, albeit won't mark a duplicate given that bug just had the wrong impression that they needed it which made the request invalid.
I was under the impression that Plymouth is supposed to provide a seamless (or somewhat seamless) transition from bootup to desktop, so I thought it used the NVIDIA modules, but you're saying that it only uses framebuffer video anyway? Hmmm... Thanks for the info and prompt reply, and I understand.
(In reply to Kenny Bentley from comment #2) > I was under the impression that Plymouth is supposed to provide a seamless > (or somewhat seamless) transition from bootup to desktop, so I thought it > used the NVIDIA modules, but you're saying that it only uses framebuffer > video anyway? Hmmm... > > Thanks for the info and prompt reply, and I understand. Yes, historically nvidia does nothing before X/wayland and lets FB_EFI or such handle the console. The "new" fbdev=1 I mentioned changes that but as I noted I don't think it'll really help given will still need to use another FB or DRM device for early boot and whether nvidia replaces it during or after the initramfs should have no real impact (I don't see why waiting until after filesystems are mounted would mean anything).
(In reply to Ionen Wolkens from comment #3) > (In reply to Kenny Bentley from comment #2) > > I was under the impression that Plymouth is supposed to provide a seamless > > (or somewhat seamless) transition from bootup to desktop, so I thought it > > used the NVIDIA modules, but you're saying that it only uses framebuffer > > video anyway? Hmmm... > > > > Thanks for the info and prompt reply, and I understand. > Yes, historically nvidia does nothing before X/wayland and lets FB_EFI or > such handle the console. Well, there may still be a flicker when it loads pre-X/wayland with modeset=1 (even with fbdev=0) -- not that nvidia really drives the console still and just tries to maintain the current display mode (set by e.g. FB_EFI) when switching between X/wayland and the console. If it's what you're observing, having it on the initramfs would just make it flicker slightly earlier.
