[KDE][iGPU+NVIDIA] Unable to use dedicated GPU

Issues & Assistance
1

Hello everyone, I switched from a desktop environment to a brand new laptop and now I'm facing some complication due the the first time handling iGPU and dedicated GPU together.

I have always used the Garuda Gnome on the desktop, never had a problem. Now on this device I had to install KDE Plasma version only cos Gnome is not offering the HiDPI scaling as KDE..

Well, now I have fresh installation of Garude KDE on this laptop, the inxi is below.

System:
Kernel: 5.16.2-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=57da1448-c4a3-4d85-8d38-ebb99dfbd414 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
resume=UUID=5d122b70-8c17-413c-af1d-f120eb80f63a loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.23.5 tk: Qt 5.15.2 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11
vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: Vivobook_ASUSLaptop X7400PC_N7400PC
v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X7400PC v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: X7400PC.207 date: 07/14/2021
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 63.0 Wh (98.9%) condition: 63.7/63.0 Wh (101.0%)
volts: 12.0 min: 12.0 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery type: Li-ion serial: N/A
status: Charging cycles: 1
CPU:
Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11370H bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Tiger Lake family: 6 model-id: 0x8C (140) stepping: 1 microcode: 0x88
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 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: 683 high: 966 min/max: 400/4800 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 802 2: 806 3: 634 4: 535
5: 577 6: 966 7: 546 8: 602 bogomips: 52838
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass
mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1
mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2
mitigation: Enhanced IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a49
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GA107M [GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile] vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: nouveau v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:25a2
class-ID: 0302
Device-3: IMC Networks USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
bus-ID: 3-6:2 chip-ID: 13d3:5458 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
loaded: intel,modesetting,nouveau alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2880x1800 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 762x476mm (30.0x18.7")
s-diag: 898mm (35.4")
Monitor-1: eDP1 res: 2880x1800 hz: 90 dpi: 244
size: 300x190mm (11.8x7.5") diag: 355mm (14")
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel Xe Graphics (TGL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.3.4
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl
bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0c8 class-ID: 0403
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.2-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.43 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0f0 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX201 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 3-10:5 chip-ID: 8087:0026 class-ID: e001
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
RAID:
Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a0b rev:
class-ID: 0104
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 41.53 GiB (4.4%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: SK Hynix model: HFM001TD3JX013N
size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 41000C20
temp: 31.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 936.72 GiB size: 936.72 GiB (100.00%)
used: 41.53 GiB (4.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 576 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 936.72 GiB size: 936.72 GiB (100.00%)
used: 41.53 GiB (4.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 936.72 GiB size: 936.72 GiB (100.00%)
used: 41.53 GiB (4.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 936.72 GiB size: 936.72 GiB (100.00%)
used: 41.53 GiB (4.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 16.84 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 15.31 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2500
Info:
Processes: 310 Uptime: 13m wakeups: 204 Memory: 15.31 GiB
used: 2.78 GiB (18.2%) Init: systemd v: 250 tool: systemctl Compilers:
gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 13.0.0 Packages: pacman: 1408 lib: 403 Shell: fish
v: 3.3.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.12

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My question now is: how the hell can I decide which of the two gpu to use?

First of all, when I had to boot up the live media for installing the os, I was only able to boot it up with opensource drivers, proprietary driver had me a blank screen.
Then, when installation was over, from the Hardware Configuration I also clicked "Auto install proprietary drivers" and when it was over, opensource driver was kept too. Apart from this, prime-select nvidia was not giving me no output while nvidia-smi was telling me there was no driver available for this operating system. Adding nomodeset to kernel arguments gives a blank screen while booting.

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What am I missing? By the way now I restored a manual snapshot to keep the installation clean

Thanks in advance for helping a lost dude!

2

When you installed garuda did you disable fastboot and secure boot ?
That is more than likely the reason why you could not install with nvidia proprietary drivers

1 Like
3

It's possible that MHWD doesn't know the PCIID for your GPU, so it didn't install the correct driver.

Assuming you have a working system using the open source drivers, adding NVIDIA manually is trivial:

sudo pacman -Syu nvidia-dkms nvidia-settings linux-zen-headers nvidia-prime --needed

Then reboot, verify nvidia-smi shows the correct information, and you can run applications on the dGPU using the prime-run wrapper.

4 Likes
4

Yes, first thing I did when unpacked the laptop was: F2 -> Disable Fastboot + Secureboot Off -> USB Key and format!

3 Likes
6

Okay, the magic command you wrote was more useful than the hardware tool. Now nvidia-smi is displaying something ie is working!

A question: Is it possible to force rendering everything under the dGPU or am I forced to always use prime-run ?

Thanks sir!

7

The best way to do that is to change a setting in the BIOS/UEFI to disable switchable graphics.

Otherwise, look here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA_Optimus#Use_NVIDIA_graphics_only

4 Likes
8

Unfortunately in the bios there are not options that allow me to disable switchable
graphics or maybe I do not know where it is located.

Edit:

By the way there could be something missing for the installation, I tried running a game through Lutris, the game is Magic: The Gathering Arena, it is laggy af even at low graphic… a 3050 should not sucks until that point!

I fixed the above problem playing around with some Lutris Flags!

If there is a smart way to use only NVIDIA Graphic I am glad to hear it :slight_smile:

9

  

2 Likes
10

#onlygoodnews

I did sudo pacman -S xorg-xrandr, created the config in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf and did this

micro /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup
+xrandr --setprovideroutputsource modesetting NVIDIA-0
+xrandr --auto

rebooting the device it was laggy af, BUT typing nvidia-drm.modeset=1 in the kernel parameter and rebooting, BOOM we made it! Thanks a lot jonathon for all the input you gave. Bless you

2 Likes
11

Does it now consume more battery?

12

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