Enabling Wayland on Ubuntu 21.10 with NVIDIA Drivers

In this article, we will delve into the process of enabling Wayland on Ubuntu 21.10 with NVIDIA drivers. Wayland is a modern replacement for Xorg, the older display server for Linux. It offers a more efficient and secure approach to managing windows, but it’s not always enabled by default, especially when using NVIDIA graphics drivers. This guide will help you enable Wayland and overcome potential issues.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure that you have administrative access to your Ubuntu system and that your NVIDIA drivers are updated to the latest version.

Modifying GRUB Configuration

To begin with, we need to modify the GRUB configuration. GRUB is the bootloader used by Ubuntu, and it controls various parameters of the Linux kernel at startup.

1. Open a terminal and type the following command to open the GRUB configuration file in a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

2. Look for the line that begins with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX. This line allows us to pass parameters to the Linux kernel at boot time. We need to add the nvidia-drm.modeset=1 parameter to enable DRM kernel mode setting, which is necessary for Wayland to work with NVIDIA drivers.

Modify the line to look like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nvidia-drm.modeset=1"

3. Save the file and exit the text editor. In nano, you can do this by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y to confirm saving changes, and finally Enter to confirm the file name.

Updating GRUB and Rebooting

After modifying the GRUB configuration, we need to update GRUB and reboot the system for the changes to take effect.

1. In your terminal, run the following command to update GRUB:

sudo update-grub

This command will generate a new GRUB configuration file based on your changes.

2. Once the command completes, reboot your system:

sudo reboot

Selecting Wayland at Login

After your system restarts, you should be able to select Wayland on the login screen.

1. At the login screen, select your user but don’t enter your password yet.
2. Click on the gear icon in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
3. In the menu that opens, select “Ubuntu on Wayland”.

If you can’t see this option, you might have an issue with your NVIDIA drivers or your hardware. Check the NVIDIA documentation and Ubuntu forums for potential solutions.

Additional Steps

Some users have reported that installing the libnvidia-egl-wayland1 package can fix hardware rendering issues for programs running under XWayland. To install this package, run the following command:

sudo apt install libnvidia-egl-wayland1

This command installs the NVIDIA EGL Wayland library, which provides support for hardware-accelerated rendering in Wayland.

Conclusion

Enabling Wayland on Ubuntu 21.10 with NVIDIA drivers can provide a more efficient and secure window management experience. However, be aware that there may be limitations, such as the NVIDIA X Server Settings app not working in Wayland. Always check the NVIDIA documentation for any specific requirements or limitations related to your NVIDIA driver version.

With the steps provided in this guide, you should be able to enable Wayland successfully and enjoy a better graphical experience on your Ubuntu system.