[Guide] Install Nvidia hybride graphics with Optimus and Vulkan support

wimmetje · September 23, 2019, 9:24pm

—> Please consider reading the EndeavorOS WIKI to see the latest updates and changes

Hi Everyone,

Here i want to share my guide to properly install the Nvidia drivers on a laptop with hybride graphics (Intel/Nvidia), and also get the full performance of the Nvidia proprietary drivers with Optimus Manager.

After a lot of trail and error, (non bootable Arch, editing conf files files etc.) i managed to find the best way and the easiest way to install the Nvidia drivers and get the full performance with Vulkan support for gaming. I tried this method on 2 different laptops with intel/nvidia graphics.

For who?
This guide is pure for hybride graphics laptops with Intel/Nvidia graphic cards, so no need for installing it on desktops.The nvidia-installer with comes with EOS is just fine to use, and works with no problem with the Bumblebee service to switch between Intel en Nvidia graphics. So you can save some battery when mobile.

So why use Optimus Manager instead of Bumblebee?
Optimus manager has the same functionality as bumblebee, (despite the technical differences) it allows you to switch between Intel and Nvidia graphics on hybride laptops. The difference is that Optimus Manager has better performance for gaming and has support for the Vulkan drivers so you can properly game with the latest games on Linux (Lutris, Steam, Wine)

First step

Nvidia-installer
Endeavour OS has his own nvidia-installer script that is ported from Antergos, with this script you can get the latest Nvidia proprietary drivers and the Bumblebee option to switch between Intel and Nvidia.
This install script with the Bumblebee is necessary to get the Nvidia driver working next to the Intel graphics.

Run in Terminal

sudo pacman -S nvidia-installer-dkms

(possible that is already installed by default)

nvidia-installer-dkms -b

(-b is bumblebee option)

reboot
After the reboot check the nvidia-settings in the Menu launcher or via Terminal:

nvidia-settings

If correct it will be showing the driver version and all the Nvidia graphics information.

At this point you got the Nvidia driver installed with the bumblebee option, so basically you can switch between the two graphics cards.
The only downside is that Bumblebee is lacking in performance and doesn’t support Vulkan drivers to proper run games with Wine, Lutris, Steam etc.

Second step

Optimus-manager
Now we are going to install Optimus Manager and disable Bumblebee so there is no interference.
Optimus Manager has basically the same function as Bumblebee, but does it with better performance and Vulkan support.

Run in Terminal

yay optimus-manager-qt

(this will install the Optimus Manager + Tray application to easy switch between Intel/Nvidia)

Don’t reboot

sudo systemctl disable bumblebeed.service

(By this we disabled the bumblebee daemon)

Go to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ and disable any graphic related configs. Instead deleting them, just rename them by adding .bak. (Possible that there isn’t any related files, so you can go to the next step)
Go to /etc/X11/ and disable any related graphic configs (The same situation as above, Probably there isn’t any related files, so you can get to the next step)
Reboot
After the reboot open Optimus Manager via the Menu launcher, a tray icon will appear with the “Intel” logo in it. Richt-click and go in settings and check “Launch at startup”.

Screenshot_2019-09-24_08-46-22800×578 33.6 KB
In Terminal:

systemctl status optimus-manager.service

check if it runs correctly and with no errors

Now switch to Nvidia GPU, right-click on the Tray and select "Switch to Nvidia "
After you login again type in terminal

nvidia-settings

If correct it will be showing the driver version and all the Nvidia graphics information.

Voila, you installed the Nvidia drivers with all the potential unlocked.
After this you can install all the supported Vulkan drivers and play games with Wine, Lutris and Steam with full performance.
If you want a guide for getting Endeavour OS ready to game with Lutris let me know

// edit: changed nvidia-installer to nvidia-installer-dkms aug-2021 //

bkaplan · September 24, 2019, 12:36am

This is an innocent question from a total noob, so please forgive if it isn’t relevant or correctly on-point.

I think I’ve seen discussion on the forum that using Nvidia drivers requires the dkms kernel and headers to be installed. If that is true, and assuming I haven’t misunderstood that requirement, perhaps including a discussion or an appropriate cross-link in this Guide about how and where in the process to install the dkms kernel elements, how to update them over time as the nvidia drivers are inevitably updated, etc. might help round-out this most excellent tutorial!

Thank you for putting so much time and thought into this tutorial/ Guide! I’m sure it will be of great value to the community.

His_Turdness · September 24, 2019, 1:42am

Is there any benefit for using this guide over just using package manager? I had no issues using pamac.

wimmetje · September 24, 2019, 5:34am

Hi Turdness

Pamac
You can use pamac to install optimus manager.
The nvidia-installer on the other hand is not possible because of the need of - b.function you need to add.

wimmetje · September 24, 2019, 1:56pm

Hi bkaplan,

This is for laptops with hybride graphics.

ringo · September 24, 2019, 7:20pm

just a question, does for gnome users has also something on panel ?

wimmetje · September 25, 2019, 8:07am

Hi Ringo

https://github.com/Askannz/optimus-manager

In the above github link it mentioned something about some Gnome quirks

IMPORTANT : Gnome and GDM users

If you use Gnome or the Gnome Display Manager (GDM), there are a couple extra requirements to be able to use optimus-manager :

The default gdm package from the Archlinux and Manjaro repositories is not compatible with optimus-manager, so you must replace it with this patched version : gdm-prime (also replaces libgdm ). The patch was written by Canonical for Ubuntu and simply adds two script entry points specifically for Prime switching. The package is otherwise identical to the official one.
Gnome launches Wayland sessions by default, which are incompatible with optimus-manager. To force Xorg sessions, You need to edit the file /etc/gdm/custom.conf and remove the # before the line #WaylandEnable=false .

Another quirk of GDM is that the X server may not automatically restart after a GPU switch. If you see an empty black screen or a black screen with a blinking cursor, try switching back to an empty TTY (with Ctrl+Alt+F5 for instance), then back to TTY1 with Ctrl+Alt+F1. See this FAQ question.

onyxnz · October 2, 2019, 1:13am

I have a new laptop with Optimus system in it ( ASUS G531GT with Intel / nVidia 1650 ), and a new install of EOS, updated, and Cinnamon added.

After following this guide I can get to step 3, then the system halts and looks stupid after the Starting version 243.51-1-arch, then the filesystem clean checks. No keypresses work from here.

I have tried suggestions here, without success:

github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee

Laptop freezes when starting X11 and discrete graphics are OFF

opened 07:45PM - 06 May 16 UTC

jgkamat

Power Management Bug P:Medium

[edit by @Lekensteyn] This issue affects newer laptops (from about 2015-2016) w…ith Skylake and GTX 9xxM/10xx cards/ A workaround exists for some laptops, see https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/issues/764#issuecomment-234494238 [/edit] ___ I'm having a weird issue, and I'm not sure what kind of debug information is neccesary, but let me know what to give and I'll supply anything you need. When I start my graphics (lxdm), I get a freeze (keyboard stops working, no response on monitor at all, even log files stop working), but I can work around this by enabling the graphics card before starting graphics. System (installed with `bumblebee-nvidia` in debian testing repos): ``` Debian Testing GTX 965M Nvidia Proprietary Driver: 352.79 Laptop: SAGER NP7258 ``` Optirun --version: ``` optirun (Bumblebee) 3.2.1 Copyright (C) 2011 The Bumblebee Project License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. ``` My laptop seems to not work without optimus, the intel drivers work fine, but trying to run w/o the intel drivers (nvidia only) seems to result in a frozen screen. Using the workaround works perfectly for me, however. Steps to Reproduce: 1. `systemctl start bumblebeed` 2. `systemctl start lxdm` 3. Freeze occurs Workaround: 1. `systemctl start bumblebeed` 2. `echo "ON" >/proc/acpi/bbswitch` 3. `systemctl start lxdm` Unfortunately, any X11 log files don't seem to survive after my system freezes (they show everything completed successfully, probably from the previous successfull boot). If you know any way of retreiving them I'd be happy to supply them though! (When the system freezes, even my shell history file gets corrupted). I did have to make some changes to my config files to get things to work in my situation though, I'll post anything I remember changing below. Let me know if you need any more information, I am happy to supply it! Without bumblebee, my laptop would be unusuable :+1: ### bumblebee.conf ``` # Configuration file for Bumblebee. Values should **not** be put between quotes ## Server options. Any change made in this section will need a server restart # to take effect. [bumblebeed] # The secondary Xorg server DISPLAY number VirtualDisplay=:8 # Should the unused Xorg server be kept running? Set this to true if waiting # for X to be ready is too long and don't need power management at all. KeepUnusedXServer=false # The name of the Bumbleblee server group name (GID name) ServerGroup=bumblebee # Card power state at exit. Set to false if the card shoud be ON when Bumblebee # server exits. TurnCardOffAtExit=false # The default behavior of '-f' option on optirun. If set to "true", '-f' will # be ignored. NoEcoModeOverride=false # The Driver used by Bumblebee server. If this value is not set (or empty), # auto-detection is performed. The available drivers are nvidia and nouveau # (See also the driver-specific sections below) Driver=nvidia # Directory with a dummy config file to pass as a -configdir to secondary X XorgConfDir=/etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.d ## Client options. Will take effect on the next optirun executed. [optirun] # Acceleration/ rendering bridge, possible values are auto, virtualgl and # primus. Bridge=auto # The method used for VirtualGL to transport frames between X servers. # Possible values are proxy, jpeg, rgb, xv and yuv. VGLTransport=proxy # List of paths which are searched for the primus libGL.so.1 when using # the primus bridge PrimusLibraryPath=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/primus:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/primus:/usr/lib/primus:/usr/lib32/primus # Should the program run under optirun even if Bumblebee server or nvidia card # is not available? AllowFallbackToIGC=false # Driver-specific settings are grouped under [driver-NAME]. The sections are # parsed if the Driver setting in [bumblebeed] is set to NAME (or if auto- # detection resolves to NAME). # PMMethod: method to use for saving power by disabling the nvidia card, valid # values are: auto - automatically detect which PM method to use # bbswitch - new in BB 3, recommended if available # switcheroo - vga_switcheroo method, use at your own risk # none - disable PM completely # https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/wiki/Comparison-of-PM-methods ## Section with nvidia driver specific options, only parsed if Driver=nvidia [driver-nvidia] # Module name to load, defaults to Driver if empty or unset KernelDriver=nvidia-current PMMethod=bbswitch # colon-separated path to the nvidia libraries LibraryPath=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/nvidia:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/nvidia:/usr/lib/nvidia # comma-separated path of the directory containing nvidia_drv.so and the # default Xorg modules path XorgModulePath=/usr/lib/nvidia,/usr/lib/xorg/modules XorgConfFile=/etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia ## Section with nouveau driver specific options, only parsed if Driver=nouveau [driver-nouveau] KernelDriver=nouveau PMMethod=auto XorgConfFile=/etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nouveau ``` ### xorg.conf.nvidia ``` Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Layout0" Option "AutoAddDevices" "false" Option "AutoAddGPU" "false" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "DiscreteNvidiaj" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" # If the X server does not automatically detect your VGA device, # you can manually set it here. # To get the BusID prop, run `lspci | egrep 'VGA|3D'` and input the data # as you see in the commented example. # This Setting may be needed in some platforms with more than one # nvidia card, which may confuse the proprietary driver (e.g., # trying to take ownership of the wrong device). Also needed on Ubuntu 13.04. BusID "PCI:01:00:0" # Setting ProbeAllGpus to false prevents the new proprietary driver # instance spawned to try to control the integrated graphics card, # which is already being managed outside bumblebee. # This option doesn't hurt and it is required on platforms running # more than one nvidia graphics card with the proprietary driver. # (E.g. Macbook Pro pre-2010 with nVidia 9400M + 9600M GT). # If this option is not set, the new Xorg may blacken the screen and # render it unusable (unless you have some way to run killall Xorg). Option "ProbeAllGpus" "false" Option "NoLogo" "true" Option "UseEDID" "false" Option "UseDisplayDevice" "none" EndSection # Section "Screen" # Identifier "Default Screen" # Device "DiscreteNvidia" # EndSection ```

Any further ideas?

onyxnz · October 2, 2019, 7:55am

Never mind. This has now worked so long as I don’t do the reboot at step 3!
I get the option of Intel, Nvidia, or Hybrid Mode. Thanks, @wimmetje <3

joekamprad · October 2, 2019, 9:11am

welcome to our community

wimmetje · October 2, 2019, 9:44am

@onyxnz Great to hear that it works now.

The option to not reboot at step 3 in this guide, and going straight installing optimus-manager sounds familiair.
My old laptop had the same issue that it wouldnt boot after the bumblebee was installed, so disabeling it right away and intall optimus-manager was the solution.

But what DE do you run?

noir12 · November 18, 2019, 7:13am

The current file which is 15/10 basically has dkms as default so what would be the possible steps to run the whole installation of optimus ?

liOnux · January 14, 2020, 3:22pm

Thank-you very much for this guide
I tested “optimus-manager” with both DM “LXDM” and “LightDM”, and only “LightDM” allows switching between Intel and Nvidia GPUs.
It can be useful to specify it in this link : EndeavourOS Nvidia users
Modifying : in fact, it’s all explained here : optimus-manager by Robin Lange

womp · April 12, 2020, 8:50pm

Good guide!!

womp

nate · May 7, 2020, 7:36am

Theoretically there would be no need for anything other than the Nvidia hybrid driver and following these instructions for Intel CPUs + Turing based GPUs (16xx and 20xx cards):
https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/435.17/README/primerenderoffload.html

I didn’t have the time and nerves to start fiddling again with my drivers but I’d be interested in hearing if anyone had success following those instructions and skipping the optimus-manager solution altogether.

wimmetje · May 7, 2020, 1:34pm

I will take a look at it, i am planning to (re) install endeavour OS this upcoming week!

His_Turdness · June 6, 2020, 11:40am

I can kinda get this to work on my PC, which is not a laptop. Automatically booting to hybrid doesn’t seem to work and in my latest attempt it did not switch to hybrid either, though it worked previously.

Currently I don’t have optimus enabled. If I run prime-run glxinfo | grep “OpenGL renderer” I get this:

prime-run glxinfo | grep “OpenGL renderer”
X Error of failed request: BadValue (integer parameter out of range for operation)
Major opcode of failed request: 152 (GLX)
Minor opcode of failed request: 24 (X_GLXCreateNewContext)
Value in failed request: 0x0
Serial number of failed request: 39
Current serial number in output stream: 40

His_Turdness · June 7, 2020, 2:47am

Working again. I guess I have to set boot option to Intel, then unbind my dGPU from the VM, then switch to hybrid. A bit annoying to always do this after a reboot. More annoing is the audio resetting to HDMI when the session is loaded or display is turned off and back on again.

wimmetje · June 7, 2020, 8:25am

Hi Turdness,

I assume you talking about the prime render offload. I didn’t tried it out yet, didn’t had time for it as I am in the middle of some exams.

But I looked at it after your post, and I am gonna try it out today and see if I can write a easy tutorial for it.

Regards wim

His_Turdness · June 8, 2020, 1:22am

Prime render offload works fine in hybrid mode, and it’s great. With turing cards it’s the most sensible option to use, since the dGPUs can utilise power management. Actually, should be used with 10xx series cards too. I read that while they can’t shut down completely on their own, their power consumption is quite low while idle.

I was initially trying to get prime to work without optimus-manager, since I don’t have a laptop. I just couldn’t get the hang of it.