RTX 3050 Mobile (Hybrid AMD + NVIDIA Laptop)
Reference Guide: Comprehensive-Wall28/Nvidia-Fedora-Guide
System Profile
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| OS | Fedora 43 Workstation |
| GPU (dGPU) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile |
| GPU (iGPU) | AMD Radeon Vega (Renoir) |
| LUKS Encryption | ❌ None |
| Secure Boot | ❌ Disabled |
| Driver Installed | 580.142 |
Why the Freeze Happened
The freeze + screen dimming during use was caused by the default Nouveau open-source driver, which has poor power management on modern NVIDIA GPUs — especially on hybrid AMD+NVIDIA laptops.
The Fix: Install Proprietary NVIDIA Drivers
Step 1 — Update your system
sudo dnf update
Step 2 — Enable RPM Fusion (provides NVIDIA drivers)
sudo dnf install \
https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm \
https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
Step 3 — Identify your GPU
lspci | grep -iE 'VGA|3D|nvidia'
Step 4 — Install the driver (RTX 3050 = current driver)
sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia
sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda
Step 5 — Watch the kernel module build in real time
⏳ This takes 5–10 minutes. Do NOT reboot until verified.
# Watch live build logs
journalctl --follow --grep=akmod
Then in a separate terminal, keep checking every 2–3 minutes:
modinfo -F version nvidia
✅ When you see a version number like 580.142 — the build is done. Safe to reboot.
❌ If it says Module nvidia not found — it's still building. Wait more.
Step 6 — Reboot
systemctl reboot
Step 7 — Verify after reboot
nvidia-smi
Expected output:
NVIDIA-SMI 580.142 Driver Version: 580.142 CUDA Version: 13.0
GeForce RTX 3050 ...
⚠️ Hybrid GPU Note (AMD + NVIDIA Laptops)
Since this is a hybrid laptop (AMD iGPU + NVIDIA dGPU), extra power management steps are sometimes needed.
Do you need to do this?
In this case — NO. The nvidia-powerd service was automatically installed and enabled during the driver install. You can confirm with:
systemctl status nvidia-powerd
It should show active (running).
When WOULD you need extra steps?
Only if you experience any of the following after the driver install:
- Still freezing during use
- NVIDIA GPU not being used for heavy tasks (games, ML workloads)
- Battery draining abnormally fast ### If needed — PRIME GPU offload (optional)
To force a specific app to use the NVIDIA GPU:
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia <your-app>
Or to check which GPU is rendering your desktop:
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
Quick Diagnostic Commands
# Check Fedora variant
cat /etc/os-release
# Check LUKS encryption
lsblk -o NAME,TYPE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT
# Check Secure Boot status
mokutil --sb-state
# Check GPU(s)
lspci | grep -iE 'VGA|3D|nvidia'
# Check driver version (before reboot)
modinfo -F version nvidia
# Check driver after reboot
nvidia-smi
# Check nvidia-powerd status
systemctl status nvidia-powerd
# Watch akmod build live
journalctl --follow --grep=akmod
Common Problems
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Module nvidia not found |
Still building | Wait 5–10 min, retry modinfo
|
| Black screen after reboot | Wrong driver version | Boot to TTY (CTRL+ALT+F2), run sudo dnf remove "*nvidia*"
|
nvidia-smi: command not found |
CUDA not installed | sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda |
| "Nvidia modules failed to load" | Secure Boot issue | Disable Secure Boot or redo MOK enrollment |
| Still freezing after install | Hybrid GPU power issue | Check nvidia-powerd status, consider PRIME config |