Questions[nvidia-prime](ubuntu)

I enabled the new "NVIDIA On-Demand" option in the NVIDIA X Server Settings. Now everything uses the iGPU by default, which should be better for battery life (at least, that's what I'm hoping for).

I'd like some applications (like Blender, for example) to use the dGPU by default.

According to the documentation:

To configure a graphics application to be offloaded to the NVIDIA GPU screen, set the environment variable __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD to 1. If the graphics application uses Vulkan or EGL, that should be all that is needed. If the graphics application uses GLX, then also set the environment variable __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME to nvidia, so that GLVND loads the NVIDIA GLX driver.

So I just created a shell script to act as a proxy to the Blender executable:

~/.local/bin/blender

#!/usr/bin/env bash
export __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1
export __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia
blender="$HOME/opt/blender-2.82a-linux64/blender"
exec -a "$0" "$blender" "$@"

This works fine, but it isn't a particularly clean solution.

The NVIDIA settings have an "Application Profiles" section where you can add application-specific profiles.
(Application profiles documentation)
There are all kinds of OpenGL-related options, but I couldn't find any setting to select which GPU is used. Is this not possible using the application profiles? Is there a cleaner alternative to the environment variables?

I have installed Nvidia proprietary driver on Ubuntu 19.10.
In the Prime Profiles section, there are three options:
* NVIDIA (Performance Mode)
* NVIDIA On-Demand
* Intel (Power Saving Mode)

First and last options are quite obvious, But I don't know how the second option works. How it detects which application needs NVIDIA driver and which doesn't?

Like the title says I can't figure out a way to force my laptop to use PRIME Synchronization and from what I understand, it may very well be the reason I get quite a lot of screen tearing when watching videos.

I've tried pretty much everything I could find that was reasonably recent and nothing works.

I've made sure that the drm file was configured properly:

(base) alex@alex:/etc/modprobe.d$ cat nvidia-drm.conf 
options nvidia-drm modeset=1

I tried to force it with xrandr --output eDP-1-1 --set "PRIME Synchronization" 1but it stays at 0.

I made sure to do the following command and reboot:

(base) alex@alex:/etc/modprobe.d$ sudo update-initramfs -u
[sudo] password for alex: 
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-24-generic
I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/nvme0n1p4
I: (UUID=4ef37681-250c-4d75-954b-c8cf78fd5e65)
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this.

*when I tried the same thing but by creating a zz-nvidia-modesetconf file like I read on some posts the update-initramfs command generated a lot of errors.

After all that I still get the following result:

(base) alex@alex:/etc/modprobe.d$ sudo cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset
N

I have a Dell xps 9570 with the GTX 1050 ti card and I'm running Ubuntu 19.10.

Here are a few more outputs to help (my monitor is eDP-1-1):

base) alex@alex:/etc/modprobe.d$ xrandr --prop
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 2560 x 1440, maximum 32767 x 32767
eDP-1-1 connected primary 2560x1440+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 194mm
    _MUTTER_PRESENTATION_OUTPUT: 0 
    EDID: 
        00ffffffffffff004d108d1400000000
        051c0104a52213780eef4fa95334bc25
        0d515400000001010101010101010101
        0101010101014dd000a0f0703e803020
        350058c2100000180000000000000000
        00000000000000000000000000fe0046
        4e564452804c51313536443100000000
        0002410328011200000b010a2020004c
    PRIME Synchronization: 0 
        supported: 0, 1
    scaling mode: Full aspect 
        supported: Full, Center, Full aspect
    max bpc: 12 
        range: (6, 12)
    Broadcast RGB: Automatic 
        supported: Automatic, Full, Limited 16:235
    link-status: Good 
        supported: Good, Bad
    CONNECTOR_ID: 86 
        supported: 86
    non-desktop: 0 
        range: (0, 1)
   3840x2160     60.00 +  59.98    59.97  
   3200x1800     59.96    59.94  
   2880x1620     59.96    59.97  
   2560x1600     59.99    59.97  
   2560x1440     59.99    59.99*   59.96    59.95  
   2048x1536     60.00  
   1920x1440     60.00  
   1856x1392     60.01  
   1792x1344     60.01  
   2048x1152     59.99    59.98    59.90    59.91  
   1920x1200     59.88    59.95  
   1920x1080     60.01    59.97    59.96    59.93  
   1600x1200     60.00  
   1680x1050     59.95    59.88  
   1600x1024     60.17  
   1400x1050     59.98  
   1600x900      59.99    59.94    59.95    59.82  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1400x900      59.96    59.88  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1440x810      60.00    59.97  
   1368x768      59.88    59.85  
   1360x768      59.80    59.96  
   1280x800      59.99    59.97    59.81    59.91  
   1152x864      60.00  
   1280x720      60.00    59.99    59.86    59.74  
   1024x768      60.04    60.00  
   960x720       60.00  
   928x696       60.05  
   896x672       60.01  
   1024x576      59.95    59.96    59.90    59.82  
   960x600       59.93    60.00  
   960x540       59.96    59.99    59.63    59.82  
   800x600       60.00    60.32    56.25  
   840x525       60.01    59.88  
   864x486       59.92    59.57  
   800x512       60.17  
   700x525       59.98  
   800x450       59.95    59.82  
   640x512       60.02  
   720x450       59.89  
   700x450       59.96    59.88  
   640x480       60.00    59.94  
   720x405       59.51    58.99  
   684x384       59.88    59.85  
   680x384       59.80    59.96  
   640x400       59.88    59.98  
   576x432       60.06  
   640x360       59.86    59.83    59.84    59.32  
   512x384       60.00  
   512x288       60.00    59.92  
   480x270       59.63    59.82  
   400x300       60.32    56.34  
   432x243       59.92    59.57  
   320x240       60.05  
   360x202       59.51    59.13  
   320x180       59.84    59.32  
DP-1-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
    PRIME Synchronization: 1 
        supported: 0, 1
    Content Protection: Undesired 
        supported: Undesired, Desired, Enabled
    max bpc: 12 
        range: (6, 12)
    Broadcast RGB: Automatic 
        supported: Automatic, Full, Limited 16:235
    audio: auto 
        supported: force-dvi, off, auto, on
    link-status: Good 
        supported: Good, Bad
    CONNECTOR_ID: 92 
        supported: 92
    non-desktop: 0 
        range: (0, 1)
DP-1-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
    PRIME Synchronization: 1 
        supported: 0, 1
    Content Protection: Undesired 
        supported: Undesired, Desired, Enabled
    max bpc: 12 
        range: (6, 12)
    Broadcast RGB: Automatic 
        supported: Automatic, Full, Limited 16:235
    audio: auto 
        supported: force-dvi, off, auto, on
    link-status: Good 
        supported: Good, Bad
    CONNECTOR_ID: 100 
        supported: 100
    non-desktop: 0 
        range: (0, 1)
DP-1-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
    PRIME Synchronization: 1 
        supported: 0, 1
    Content Protection: Undesired 
        supported: Undesired, Desired, Enabled
    max bpc: 12 
        range: (6, 12)
    Broadcast RGB: Automatic 
        supported: Automatic, Full, Limited 16:235
    audio: auto 
        supported: force-dvi, off, auto, on
    link-status: Good 
        supported: Good, Bad
    CONNECTOR_ID: 106 
        supported: 106
    non-desktop: 0 
        range: (0, 1)


(base) alex@alex:/etc/modprobe.d$ dmesg | grep drm
[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.3.0-24-generic root=UUID=3aed6bfe-476b-4f03-a33a-8265acaf1a5a ro quiet splash acpi_rev_override=1 acpi_osi=Linux nouveau.modeset=0 pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 scsi_mod.use_blk_mq=1 nouveau.runpm=0 mem_sleep_default=deep pti=off spectre_v2=off l1tf=off nospec_store_bypass_disable no_stf_barrier vt.handoff=7
[    0.131737] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.3.0-24-generic root=UUID=3aed6bfe-476b-4f03-a33a-8265acaf1a5a ro quiet splash acpi_rev_override=1 acpi_osi=Linux nouveau.modeset=0 pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 scsi_mod.use_blk_mq=1 nouveau.runpm=0 mem_sleep_default=deep pti=off spectre_v2=off l1tf=off nospec_store_bypass_disable no_stf_barrier vt.handoff=7
[    3.004066] [drm] Incompatible option detected: enable_guc=3, GuC submission not supported!
[    3.004066] [drm] Switching to non-GuC submission mode!
[    3.004671] fb0: switching to inteldrmfb from EFI VGA
[    3.016968] [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 2 (21.10.2013).
[    3.016969] [drm] Driver supports precise vblank timestamp query.
[    3.024951] [drm] Finished loading DMC firmware i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin (v1.4)
[    3.096695] [drm] HuC: Loaded firmware i915/kbl_huc_ver02_00_1810.bin (version 2.0)
[    3.107310] [drm] GuC: Loaded firmware i915/kbl_guc_32.0.3.bin (version 32.0)
[    3.107444] [drm] CT: enabled
[    3.137213] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20190619 for 0000:00:02.0 on minor 0
[    3.376284] [drm] [nvidia-drm] [GPU ID 0x00000100] Loading driver
[    3.376286] [drm] Initialized nvidia-drm 0.0.0 20160202 for 0000:01:00.0 on minor 1
[    3.413727] fbcon: i915drmfb (fb0) is primary device
[    3.413802] i915 0000:00:02.0: fb0: i915drmfb frame buffer device


(base) alex@alex:/etc/modprobe.d$ nvidia-smi
Sat Dec  7 13:10:10 2019       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 435.21       Driver Version: 435.21       CUDA Version: 10.1     |
|-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| GPU  Name        Persistence-M| Bus-Id        Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan  Temp  Perf  Pwr:Usage/Cap|         Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
|===============================+======================+======================|
|   0  GeForce GTX 105...  Off  | 00000000:01:00.0 Off |                  N/A |
| N/A   44C    P8    N/A /  N/A |    600MiB /  4042MiB |     31%      Default |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes:                                                       GPU Memory |
|  GPU       PID   Type   Process name                             Usage      |
|=============================================================================|
|    0      1520      G   /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg                            72MiB |
|    0      2495      G   /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg                           137MiB |
|    0      2768      G   /usr/bin/gnome-shell                         207MiB |
|    0      3410      G   ...quest-channel-token=2905873432716077065   133MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Any ideas is very much appreaciated, thanks!

Nvidia driver 384 ran well on Ubuntu 17.04 and 17.10. I switched to Ubuntu 18.04 (clean fresh install) and installed nvidia-driver-396 following this great answer

Then I installed cuda toolkit 9.2 using .run file. It failed to install with and without choosing to install nvidia driver along with it. Rebooted and tried again, then cuda was installed succesfully. But nvidia isn't running.

$ nvidia-settings
ERROR: NVIDIA driver is not loaded


ERROR: Unable to load info from any available system


$ nvidia-smi
NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.

$ lspci -v | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 5500 (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])

What I have tried so far:

1. Uninstalled nvidia (nvidia-uninstall) Successful but with warning: "Some symlinks could not be removed. The I removed cuda with rm -rf /usr/local/cuda* and installed nvidia-driver-396 but still the same error

2. Removed nvidia-396, installed 396 from nvidia's website (.run file). It started with a warning "Distribution provided pre-script failed". I proceeded and installation was successful. It also added nouveau to blacklist automatically. Still same result as 1.

3. Uninstalled previous one, removed blacklist entry, installed nvidia-390 Still same result

4. Uninstalled previous one, installed it from "Additional drivers" from GUI. No change.

5. Went to console mode. Stopped gdm. Then installed 396. No change. Installed 390 likewise. No change.

6. Tried using xorg-edgers ppa (Yes its is said they are same as graphics-drivers ppa but I am desperate now) Unmet dependency problems. So reverted to removed everything.

7. Uninstalled everything, went to recovery mode then installed nvidia-driver-390. No luck.

8. I felt nvidia driver from official website made some irrevesible changes. So tried installing it again so that I can uninstall it properly from recovery mode as suggested in the great answer using --unistall option. But now it fails to install. Error message says nouveau is running despite being blacklisted. I removed the blacklist entry later

I have Intel i5 with Intel HD graphics along with Nvidia GeForce 940M. Yes nvidia-prime was installed. Dual booted with Windows 10, Secure Boot is disabled

During all these steps, once I was able to start the nvidia x server app, though the nvidia-smi gave the same error. Once there was a resolution issue when cuda ran nvidia-xconfig. I removed the xorg.conf to fix it. Right now my pc has nouveau running, no other drivers installed, no blacklisting nvidia, no xorg.conf.

Can someone help. I don't see any reason why it should not work. nvidia driver 390.12 is reported to work well with kernel 4.15 but still it is not working on mine.

I recently made the switch to Ubuntu. Everything on my laptop works fine except my hybrid graphics card. It is Intel graphics combined with Nvidia GeForce GT650M. I tried Bumblebee, but primusrun doesn't work (segmentation fault, core dumped) and optirun works with glxspheres64, but steam games look worse with optirun than with Intel graphics (e.g. Surgeon Simulator 2013 runs fine with Intel and hangs a lot with optirun)

I tried Nvidia Prime, but it gives me a black screen on startup after install, so I can't do anything and have to power off my PC with the power button. I also tried nvidia-prime 0.5 on Ubuntu 14.04, and then I get 'low-graphics mode' and I can't get to Unity.