Nvidia Optimus Not working

tomkat · 2018-04-02 04:36:39

Ugh.

So I've got an old Alienware m14x that I'm trying to use for some 4-6 year old games. For better or worse, it has nVidia Optimus.

$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 650M] (rev ff)

Alas:

$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile
...

$ sudo optirun glxgears 
[ 1461.692174] [ERROR]Cannot access secondary GPU - error: [XORG] (EE) /dev/dri/card0: failed to set DRM interface version 1.4: Permission denied
[ 1461.692227] [ERROR]Aborting because fallback start is disabled.

I followed the directions here: Debian/Bumblebee, but to no avail, even when I add the suggested lines to /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia. I didn't try downgrading libdrm as the wiki suggested - how would I do that?

Also, in the very probable event that doesn't work, what else could I do?

ohnonot · 2018-04-02 05:46:55

tomkat wrote:

I didn't try downgrading libdrm as the wiki suggested - how would I do that?

i'd start with a web search like "debian downgrade package".

Also, in the very probable event that doesn't work, what else could I do?

why do you think it's in the wiki when it's "very probable" that it doesn't help?

all in all, i never had a dual graphics laptop and have only second hand knowledge about it, but the debian wiki does have a page for optimus:
https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers/Optimus
why did you choose the bumblebee page?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-04-02 12:10:51

tomkat wrote:

$ sudo optirun glxgears

Does it work without sudo? The wiki page says to run that command as your normal user.

Also note that you should *not* have an Xorg configuration file for Bumblebee.

downgrading libdrm

Don't do that.

Please list the *exact* steps you have taken so far, the page to which you have linked in your OP should work.

ohnonot wrote:

why did you choose the bumblebee page?

Because the wiki page which you have linked advises so wink

tomkat · 2018-04-02 23:27:08

So here's a funny event. I ran

optirun glxgears

to double check that the error message was the same, and a couple of seconds after that, my computer went black! Just turned off all of a sudden! It could be a Nvidia-Optimus-Bumblebee voodoo curse, or random. It didn't happen when I tried to duplicate it.

Here's my abridged command history, with some comments. I removed a bunch of repeated calls to "glxgears -info" and such for brevity. It was frustrating at the time, but in hindsight I find the running in circles a little amusing:

    9  sudo apt-get install bumblebee primus 
    # Just like the wiki said
    
   11  sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia primus primus-libs:i386
   # Per the wiki: I have a 64 bit computer and using bumblebee for 32 bit applications I might find sounds nice.
   
   12  sudo apt-get purge bumblebee-nvidia
   # Hey! why did the last command have bumblebee-nvidia in it! Get that out!
   
   18  sudo adduser tomkat bumblebee
   # Adding myself to the bumblebee group was a post installation step. I am already a sudoer, so I probably didn't need this.
   
   22  sudo nano /etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf
   # I was likely changing "KernelDriver=nvidia" to "KernelDriver=nvidia-current" like the wiki told me to.
   
   29  sudo geany /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia
   # Adding some lines in response to the weird permission denied error
   
   41  sudo apt-get purge bumblebee
   # giving up on the free version...
   
   42  sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia
   #  ... and installing the proprietary version just to see
   
   43  sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia primus primus-libs:i386
   # If at first you don't succeed...
   
   44  sudo adduser tomkat bumblebee
   50  sudo geany /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia
   # Not sure what was added here

Finally, I feel I should apologize for the earlier pessimism. Nvidia drivers drove even Linus crazy at one point, but we can't let the error messages get to us!

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-04-03 08:23:51

OK, from the top:

tomkat wrote:

    9  sudo apt-get install bumblebee primus 
    # Just like the wiki said

No, the wiki says to use that command if you have the open-source nouveau drivers, which you have decided not to use.

11  sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia primus primus-libs:i386
   # Per the wiki: I have a 64 bit computer and using bumblebee for 32 bit applications I might find sounds nice.

So now you have the nouveau bumblebee package for your 64-bit system and the NVIDIA proprietary bumblebee package for any 32-bit packages hmm

12  sudo apt-get purge bumblebee-nvidia
   # Hey! why did the last command have bumblebee-nvidia in it! Get that out!

Then you removed all 32-bit bumblebee drivers.

18  sudo adduser tomkat bumblebee
   # Adding myself to the bumblebee group was a post installation step. I am already a sudoer, so I probably didn't need this.

Yes, that's right, if you are in the sudo group then you don't need to be in the bumblebee group as well but I don't think it will do any harm.

41  sudo apt-get purge bumblebee
   # giving up on the free version...
   
   42  sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia
   #  ... and installing the proprietary version just to see
   
   43  sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia primus primus-libs:i386
   # If at first you don't succeed...

Yay! We have the correct bumblebee packages for both 32- & 64-bit, good.

Now the obvious question is: do you have the NVIDIA drivers installed?

sudo apt install nvidia-detect
nvidia-detect

^ That should tell you which version to install wink

I think you need to restore /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia to stock, we shouldn't need to change that.

tomkat · 2018-04-04 01:42:31

Thanks for that breakdown. I removed the additions I made to /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia, and installed nvivida-detect. However, nvidia-detect suggests I install the nvidia-driver package (which apt-get says is already installed).

Here's the whole output of nvidia-detect:

Detected NVIDIA GPUs:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 650M] [10de:0fd1] (rev a1)
Your card is supported by the default drivers and legacy driver series 304.
It is recommended to install the
    nvidia-driver
package.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-04-04 09:25:52

OK, that's fine then.

So what happens now if you try

optirun glxgears # as your normal user!

tomkat · 2018-04-04 11:21:32

Whoops, I meant to say in the previous post that the error message was unchanged. I am still denied permission.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-04-04 11:30:13

tomkat wrote:

So here's a funny event. I ran
optirun glxgears
to double check that the error message was the same, and a couple of seconds after that, my computer went black! Just turned off all of a sudden! It could be a Nvidia-Optimus-Bumblebee voodoo curse, or random. It didn't happen when I tried to duplicate it.

^ Does this not happen again?

Did you pass the `optirun` command as your normal user?

Please also confirm that there are no xorg configuration files (either under /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ or in /etc/X11/xorg.conf or perhaps even /etc/xorg.conf) and also that the Intel drivers are loaded for your desktop:

lspci -k | grep -A2 '\''[030[02]\]'

tomkat · 2018-04-06 15:17:38

Inside /etc/X11 I don't even see directories with names starting with xorg.conf:

/etc/X11$ ls
app-defaults             rgb.txt  Xreset      Xsession.d        Xwrapper.config
default-display-manager  X        Xreset.d    Xsession.options
fonts                    xinit    Xresources  xsm
openbox                  xkb      Xsession    XvMCConfig

None is /etc/ as well

Also:

lspci -k | grep -A2 '\''[030[02]\]'

Outputs nothing! Is that bad?

Below is the output of lspci -k

$ lspci -k
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: ivb_uncore
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: i915
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: mei_me
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev c4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM77 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 650M] (rev ff)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GK107 HDMI Audio Controller (rev ff)
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet (rev c0)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: atl1c
08:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Bigfoot Networks, Inc. Killer Wireless-N 1202 Half-size Mini PCIe Card
	Kernel driver in use: ath9k
09:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: rtsx_pci
09:00.1 SD Host controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0552
	Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci

#1 2018-04-02 04:36:39

Nvidia Optimus Not working

#2 2018-04-02 05:46:55

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#3 2018-04-02 12:10:51

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#4 2018-04-02 23:27:08

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#5 2018-04-03 08:23:51

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#6 2018-04-04 01:42:31

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#7 2018-04-04 09:25:52

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#8 2018-04-04 11:21:32

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#9 2018-04-04 11:30:13

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

#10 2018-04-06 15:17:38

Re: Nvidia Optimus Not working

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