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CachyOS

CachyOS Hardware Detection

CachyOS Hardware Detection or better known as chwd is our hardware detection tool that enables us to power a variety of hardware. This includes systems running NVIDIA’s graphics cards, T2 Macbooks and handheld devices such as Steam Deck and ROG Ally.

Usage

chwd is typically ran during installation time to provide the necessary packages for your system. However, it is also possible to use it post-install.

Auto Configuration via Class IDs

We can get class IDs by running lspci

Terminal window
❯ lspci -nn
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA107BM [GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile] [10de:25e2] (rev a1)
#                                  ^ ^ ^ -- This is the class ID!

After finding the necessary class ID, we can pass it to chwd to install all the necessary profiles for your system.

Terminal window
❯ sudo chwd -a pci nonfree 0300
> Using profile 'amd' for device: 0000:05:00.0 (0300:1002:1681) VGA compatible controller Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Rembrandt [Radeon 680M]
> Using profile 'nvidia-open-dkms.prime' for device: 0000:01:00.0 (0300:10de:25e2) VGA compatible controller NVIDIA Corporation GA107BM [GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile]

Installing a profile

An alternative to the above method is to install each specific profile. You can find what profiles exist from chwd itself

List all available profiles
❯ chwd --list-all
╭─────────────────────────┬─────────╮
│ Name                    ┆ NonFree │
╞═════════════════════════╪═════════╡
│ nvidia-open-dkms.prime  ┆ true    │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ nvidia-dkms             ┆ true    │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ macbook-t2              ┆ false   │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ phoenix                 ┆ false   │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ steam-deck              ┆ false   │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ amd                     ┆ false   │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ intel                   ┆ false   │
╰─────────────────────────┴─────────╯

After that, we can install a profile with the -i flag

Installing a chwd profile
❯ sudo chwd -i pci amd
> Installing amd ...


> Successfully installed amd

Others

Consult the help output of chwd for command syntax and other usage.

Terminal window
❯ chwd --help
Usage: chwd [OPTIONS]


Options:
      --pci                                               Show PCI
  -i, --install <usb/pci> <profile>                       Install profile
  -r, --remove <usb/pci> <profile>                        Remove profile
  -d, --detail                                            Show detailed info for listings
  -f, --force                                             Force reinstall
      --list-installed                                    List installed kernels
      --list                                              List available profiles for all devices
      --list-all                                          List all profiles
  -a, --autoconfigure <usb/pci> <free/nonfree> <classid>  Autoconfigure
      --is_nvidia_card                                    Print if nvidia card found
      --ai_sdk                                            Toggle AI SDK profiles
      --pmcachedir <PMCACHEDIR>                           [default: /var/cache/pacman/pkg]
      --pmconfig <PMCONFIG>                               [default: /etc/pacman.conf]
      --pmroot <PMROOT>                                   [default: /]
  -h, --help                                              Print help
  -V, --version                                           Print version