Tinkering with Conky... And hitting a wall

Issues & Assistance Unsupported Software (AUR & Other)
1

I´m trying to get my nvidia data to appear in my modest first try at Conky.
Sacrificing goats and other witchcraft has had very little to no effect.

I´v found several methods to extract the data needed:

  • Calling nvidia-smi directly. But that actually seems to impede performance.
  • Calling nvidia-smi to store data in a file. But that involves scripts, which is beyond my competence.
  • Using the built-in function ${nvidia temp}. This is, to me, the preferred solution. BUT I get the very annoying: “conky: print_nvidia_value: NV-CONTROL X extension not present”

nvidia-settings is installed, Conky is compiled with nvidia features.

I haven´t found the answer to this specific question on the forum. Is this a Wayland issue? Explain to me like I´m a toddler.

All help is appreciated.

System:
Kernel: 6.15.5-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.1.1
clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=e52d1137-1629-472c-ae1b-49f397ecfa81 rw rootflags=subvol=@
nvidia-drm.modeset=1 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.4.2 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.15.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME H610M-R D4 v: Rev 1.xx
serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
UEFI-[Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 2801 date: 09/09/2023
CPU:
Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i3-12100F bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Alder Lake gen: core 12 level: v3 note: check built: 2021+
process: Intel 7 (10nm ESF) family: 6 model-id: 0x97 (151) stepping: 5
microcode: 0x3A
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2
smt: enabled cache: L1: 320 KiB desc: d-4x48 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 5 MiB
desc: 4x1.2 MiB L3: 12 MiB desc: 1x12 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3457 min/max: 800/5500 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
governor: powersave cores: 1: 3457 2: 3457 3: 3457 4: 3457 5: 3457 6: 3457
7: 3457 8: 3457 bogomips: 52838
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA AD107 [GeForce RTX 4060] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nvidia
v: 575.64.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-570.xx+
status: current (as of 2025-04) arch: Lovelace code: AD1xx
process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022+ pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 8
ports: active: none off: DP-1 empty: DP-2,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2882 class-ID: 0300
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia
unloaded: modesetting,nouveau alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa
gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: DP-1 model: Samsung LC34G55T serial: <filter> built: 2022 res:
mode: 3440x1440 hz: 100 scale: 114% (1.15) to: 2991x1252 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2
size: 798x334mm (31.42x13.15") diag: 869mm (34.2") modes: max: 3440x1440
min: 640x480
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: nvidia
x11: drv: nvidia inactive: device-1
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 575.64.03
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060/PCIe/SSE2
memory: 7.81 GiB display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.313 layers: 15 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 driver: nvidia v: 575.64.03
device-ID: 10de:2882 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
(LLVM 20.1.7 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.1.5-arch1.1 (LLVM
20.1.7) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: corectrl, lact, nvidia-settings,
nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-S HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs,snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
chip-ID: 8086:7ad0 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA AD107 High Definition Audio vendor: Gigabyte
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 8
bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:22be class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.15.5-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.6 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
class-ID: 0200
IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-8:4 chip-ID: 8087:0029
class-ID: e001
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: N/A
RAID:
Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 216.45 GiB (46.5%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: SNV3S500G
size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: SDS00101 temp: 40.9 C
scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 448.79 GiB size: 448.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 216.45 GiB (48.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-2: /home raw-size: 448.79 GiB size: 448.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 216.45 GiB (48.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /var/log raw-size: 448.79 GiB size: 448.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 216.45 GiB (48.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-4: /var/tmp raw-size: 448.79 GiB size: 448.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 216.45 GiB (48.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.42 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 16.97 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: 40.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 940 fan-4: 0 fan-6: 0 fan-7: 0
Info:
Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.42 GiB used: 3.57 GiB (23.1%)
Processes: 359 Power: uptime: 0m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 6.09 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: 1862 pm: pacman pkgs: 1856 libs: 563 tools: octopi,paru
pm: flatpak pkgs: 6 Compilers: clang: 20.1.7 gcc: 15.1.1 Shell: garuda-inxi
default: fish v: 4.0.2 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.38
Garuda (2.7.3-1):
System install date:     2025-07-05
Last full system update: 2025-07-07
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
Windows dual boot:       <superuser required>
Failed units:
2

Is python-pynvml / wlnfancurve installed ?

But i read not your preferred method.

4 Likes
3 
${color grey}GPU 0:${alignr}$color${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=name --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}VBIOS Version:$color${alignr}${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}Driver Version:$color${alignr}${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=vbios_version --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}GPU Usage:$color${alignr}${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=utilization.gpu --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}Memory Usage:$color${alignr}${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=utilization.memory --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}Temperature: ${alignr}$color${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=temperature.gpu --format=csv,noheader,nounits} °C
${color grey}Fan Speed:${alignr}$color${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=fan.speed --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}Memory:$color${alignr}${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=memory.used --format=csv,noheader} / ${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=memory.total --format=csv,noheader}
${color grey}Power Draw:${alignr}$color${exec nvidia-smi -i=0 --query-gpu=power.draw --format=csv,noheader}

This is what I use, not effecting performance. but I did install conky with

sudo pacman -S conky

2 Likes
4

I actually read someone could pinpoint that the 9 calls every 5 seconds affected fps.
Dunno if it´s accurate. Thanks for your help. Will go with the nvidia-smi direction.

5

good luck

1 Like
6

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