How to Disable a Dedicated Nvidia GPU on Linux with udev

Introduction

Nvidia GPUs on Linux have always been a headache due to their propietary drivers, but this problem gets worse on Optimus laptops due to inexistent dynamic power management technologies on pre-Turing cards paired with Intel processors older than Coffee Lake. Read the official Nvidia documentation on dynamic PM for Turing and newer cards.

Turning off your Nvidia GPU will result in lower battery consumption when you don’t need it (eg programming, watching videos, etc).

Disable your Nvidia GPU

1. First blacklist the nouveau and nvidia kernel modules

   • Create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/block-nvidia.conf with the following content:
   /etc/modprobe.d/block-nvidia.confbash

   blacklist i2c_nvidia_gpu
   blacklist nouveau
   blacklist nvidia
   blacklist nvidia-drm
   blacklist nvidia-modeset

2. Add the Udev rules for disabling Nvidia GPU on boot

   • Create a file called /lib/udev/rules.d/50-disable-nvidia.rules with the following content:
   /lib/udev/rules.d/50-disable-nvidia.rulesbash

   # Remove NVIDIA USB xHCI Host Controller devices, if present
   ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="pci", ATTR{vendor}=="0x10de", ATTR{class}=="0x0c0330", ATTR{remove}="1"
   
   # Remove NVIDIA USB Type-C UCSI devices, if present
   ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="pci", ATTR{vendor}=="0x10de", ATTR{class}=="0x0c8000", ATTR{remove}="1"
   
   # Remove NVIDIA Audio devices, if present
   ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="pci", ATTR{vendor}=="0x10de", ATTR{class}=="0x040300", ATTR{remove}="1"
   
   # Remove NVIDIA VGA/3D controller
   ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="pci", ATTR{vendor}=="0x10de", ATTR{class}=="0x03[0-9]*", ATTR{remove}="1"

3. Now reboot!

Re-enable your Nvidia GPU

1. Remove the /etc/modprobe.d/block-nvidia.conf file
2. Remove the /lib/udev/rules.d/50-disable-nvidia.rules file
3. Reboot

Happy hacking!