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Driver not loading with Secure Boot (nvidia-smi error)

After a kernel/driver update, nvidia-smi can stop working if Secure Boot is enabled and the NVIDIA module is not signed with a trusted key.

Symptoms

Section titled “Symptoms”
  • nvidia-smi returns an error
  • System falls back to basic graphics
  • dmesg shows verification/lockdown messages

What to check

Section titled “What to check”
Terminal window
nvidia-smi
dmesg | grep -iE 'nvidia|secure|verification|lockdown'

Why this happens

Section titled “Why this happens”

With Secure Boot enabled, unsigned kernel modules may be blocked. This directly affects the NVIDIA module.

What to do

Section titled “What to do”
  1. First choose and install the correct driver package for your GPU and kernel: How to choose an NVIDIA driver in Arch Linux
  2. If you use Secure Boot, configure NVIDIA module signing and enroll the key in firmware
  3. Reboot and check nvidia-smi

Source

Section titled “Source”