artix, change flow and how the text that needs typed is presented.

content/posts/guides/tech/20260911-intel-gpu-stuff.md

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ title: "Artix w/ Intel Integrated XE Graphics"
 subtitle: "Resolving GTK Rendering Issues"
 feathericon: "monitor"
 author: Hyperling
-date: 2026-09-11T08:00:00-07:00
+date:    2026-09-11T08:00:00-07:00
 #started:    2026-07-15T14:59:10-07:00
-#lastmod: 2026-07-15T14:59:10-07:00
+lastmod: 2026-09-11T13:00:00-07:00
 toc: true
 audio: false
 images:
@@ -43,18 +43,20 @@ aliases:
 ## Introduction
 
 After installing Artix with LXQT and `runit` on my NovaCustom laptop I was finding that many GUI applications were failing to run properly.
-When running the failing applications via terminal to see output, there were all sorts of `dconf` related errors.
-These were related to issues in the `/run/user/` hierarchy, such as the `1000` directory not being created
+When running them via terminal to see the error output there were all sorts of `dconf` related errors.
+
+These were related to issues in the `/run/user/` hierarchy, such as the `1000` directory not being created.
 When trying to get it and elogind working properly the directories were just getting deleted if created manually.
 
-Eventually this being related to dconf helped me realize that it was only the GTK programs such as `kitty`, `transmission-gtk`, `gnome-system-monitor`, etc.
+Eventually this helped me realize that it was only the GTK programs such as `kitty`, `transmission-gtk`, `gnome-system-monitor`, etc.
 Apps such as `qterminal`, `firefox`, and `transmission-qt` were working with no issues!
-This seemed odd since on my mid-2010s Macbook everything had been working flawlessly from the start, but it was installed with a Cinnamon `runit` ISO
-, so I thought maybe I was missing some graphics drivers that come with GTK desktop environment.
 
-After doing some pacman-fu with `-Qqn` from the Macbook to the newer system it still did not resolve the issues
-, so I figured it must be something specific to the laptop
-, similar to how the ISO needed booted with `nomodeset` [see this article](/artix-new-hardware).
+This seemed odd since on my mid-2010s Macbook everything had been working flawlessly from the start, but it was installed with a Cinnamon `runit` ISO,
+ so I thought maybe I was missing some graphics libraries that come with a GTK desktop environment.
+
+After doing some pacman-fu with `-Qqn` from the Macbook to the newer system it still did not resolve the issues,
+ so I figured it must be something specific to the laptop,
+ similar to how the ISO needed booted with `nomodeset` [see this article](/artix-new-hardware).
 
 The steps below are what got me successfully running all GUI applications properly with Intel Integrated 12th-gen XE graphics.
 
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ The steps below are what got me successfully running all GUI applications proper
 
 Check the GPU and driver in use.
 
-```shell
+```console
 $ lspci -k -d ::03xx
 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] (rev 0c)
         DeviceName: VGA compatible controller
@@ -71,56 +73,63 @@ $ lspci -k -d ::03xx
         Kernel modules: i915, xe
 ```
 
-Ensure the Intel drivers are all installed.
+You may need to enable the 32-bit repo in `pacman.conf` with these two lines.
 
-```shell
-sudo pacman -Sy mesa vulkan-intel lib32-mesa lib32-vulkan-intel intel-media-driver
-```
-
-You may need to enable the 32-bit repo in /etc/pacman.conf first.
-
-```shell
-$ sudo vi /etc/pacman.conf
+```conf
 [lib32]
 Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
 ```
+```console
+$ sudo vi /etc/pacman.conf
+```
 
-Get the PCI ID (value after the colon in [xxxx:yyyy]).
+Ensure all the Intel drivers are all installed.
 
-```shell
+```console
+$ sudo pacman -Sy mesa vulkan-intel lib32-mesa lib32-vulkan-intel intel-media-driver
+```
+
+Grab the PCI ID of the GPU (value after the colon in [xxxx:yyyy]).
+
+```console
 $ lspci -nn | grep VGA
 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] [8086:46a6] (rev 0c)
 ```
 
 Switch to `xe` driver using the PCI ID above in the kernel parameters for GRUB.
+`i915.force_probe=!46a6` and `xe.force_probe=46a6` do this.
 
-```shell
+```console
 $ sudo vi /etc/default/grub
-GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT='quiet i915.force_probe=!46a6 xe.force_probe=46a6 ...'
-$ sudo update-grub
 ```
 
-Enable `xe`'s hardware acceleration modes (GuC and HuC).
+So it should look something like this:
 
-```shell
-echo 'options xe enable_guc=3' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/intel-xe.conf
+```ini
+GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT='quiet i915.force_probe=!46a6 xe.force_probe=46a6 ...'
+```
+
+Then reload GRUB to install the changes.
+
+```console
+$ sudo update-grub
 ```
 
 Remove legacy drivers which may get in the way.
 
-```shell
-sudo pacman -Rns xf86-video-intel
+```console
+$ sudo pacman -Rns xf86-video-intel
 ```
 
 Reboot the system.
 
-```shell
-reboot
+```console
+$ sudo reboot
 ```
 
 Check which driver is now in use.
 
-```shell
+```console
 $ lspci -k -d ::03xx
 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] (rev 0c)
 	DeviceName: VGA compatible controller
@@ -131,9 +140,14 @@ $ lspci -k -d ::03xx
 
 Validate whether GTK applications are happy now.
 
-In my case, `kitty`, `gnome-system-monitor`, `codium`, `transmission-gtk`, `mullvad-vpn`, and all other GTK apps are now all running properly and their GUI interfaces are now working flawlessly. :D
+In my case, `kitty`, `gnome-system-monitor`, `codium`, `transmission-gtk`, `mullvad-vpn`,
+ and all other GTK apps are now all running properly and their GUI interfaces are now working flawlessly. :D
 
-Artix is feeling fast as ever and the simplicity of using a feature-complete init system like `runit` are at their full power! >:)
+Artix is feeling fast as ever and the simplicity of using a feature-complete init system like `runit` is at its full power! >:)
+
+## Credits
+
+Thanks to Ask Brave for helping me troubleshoot this.
 
 ---