Installed default graphics but I have hybrid graphics

[jfabernathy]

I’ve been switching my PC over to EOS one at a time. I finally upgraded my Dell laptop which has Intel and Nvidia hybrid graphics. The problem is I installed it from my Ventoy EOS Mercury image and I didn’t remember to select the Nvidia install. So I completed the install and after everything was set up and working I remembered that this was a hybrid graphic PC.

Is it possible to add the necessary packages to my system to implement Hybrid graphics?

I had this on Linux Mint 22.1 and liked being about to run most things with Intel GFX but launch apps that could take advantage of Nvidia GFX when needed.

[ricklinux]

I’m not sure how Mint handles this. Your system should show nouveau then if you installed with the default menu. Post inxi -Ga

Edit: Do you remember how you switched graphics on Mint?

[jfabernathy]

There’s a i915 driver for the Intel part and a nouveau driver for the Nvidia part.

As to LM 22.1; that is an X11 system and they installed a NVidia settings apps that put a widget in the task manager where you could change Intel or Nvidia. If you picked the Hybrid mode, right clicking an app allowed you to launch that app with graphic acceleration, meaning Nividia.

But LM 22.1 is broken on systems with dual monitors that sleep when inactive and have multiple users. That’s one reason I’ve been switching over all my PCs to EOS. My wife’s system is the Dual monitor system and she got tired to having to reset it when it got stuck in a login loop coming out of sleep. I got her to play with EOS Plasma and she’s happy.

Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics] vendor: Dell driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2,DP-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9bc4
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile] vendor: Dell
    driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: 550/565.xx+ status: current (as of
    2025-01; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Turing code: TUxxx process: TSMC 12nm FF
    built: 2018-2022 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1f95 class-ID: 0302
  Device-3: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-11:3 chip-ID: 0bda:5510
    class-ID: fe01 serial: 200901010001
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,intel,nouveau,nv,vesa dri: iris,nouveau gpu: i915
    display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: Sharp 0x14d1 built: 2020 res: mode: 1920x1200
    hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 145 gamma: 1.2 size: 336x210mm (13.23x8.27")
    diag: 396mm (15.6") ratio: 16:10 modes: 1920x1200
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia nouveau platforms:
    device: 0 drv: nouveau device: 1 drv: iris device: 2 drv: swrast gbm:
    drv: nouveau surfaceless: drv: nouveau wayland: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.3 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.0.1-arch1.2
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
    device-ID: 8086:9bc4 memory: 15.18 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :1.0
  API: Vulkan Message: No Vulkan data available.
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

[ricklinux]

With EOS you’ll have to install the nvidia drivers and then use a method for switching. I’m not sure what method Mint is using?

You can install the nvidia drivers with nvidia-inst

https://discovery.endeavouros.com/nvidia/new-nvidia-driver-installer-nvidia-inst/2022/03/

You could try optimus-manager after installing the nvidia drivers. With kde you can have the icon in the tray if you install the correct packages and hopefully it works okay for you.

https://discovery.endeavouros.com/hardware/optimus-manager-for-nvidia/2021/03/

[jfabernathy]

Thanks, I’ll test it after I take some snapshots of @ and @home. Here’s where btrfs and btrfs-assistant earn their keep.

[jfabernathy]

I was right. btrfs-assistant and snapshots saved my bacon.

I’m back to running with just what a standard install gives you. Intel i915 and nouveau drivers.

I had no real issues with installing the nvidia drivers but the optimus-manager was where the problems started.

It looks like the optimus -manager will not run on Wayland and that’s pretty much the default moving forward. I did the build from source with the plasma=true option.

It’s flaky at best. The PC locked up a few times.

I’m not a gamer so I don’t have any gfx cards in any of my PC except this Dell XPS 15 9500 laptop where it’s integrated. So I’m not really needing the Nvidia gfx except to accelerate the battery drain.

So in rethinking all this, if I don’t care about high-end graphics performance should I just take the default graphics installation (Intel) or Install the Nvidia drivers but not the Optimus-manager, keeping in mind I’d like to run Wayland.

[ricklinux]

Your other option is to try envy control.

https://discovery.endeavouros.com/hardware/envy-control/2023/03/

[jfabernathy]

I think envy control maybe the best option for me. I found out that by default I was running the hybrid mode with the nouveau driver installed by default. So after I installed the Nvidia drivers, I installed envy-control via

yay -S envycontrol

and the mode still defaulted to hybrid mode. Since 99% of what I do is fine with just the Intel Open source driver, I just set the mode to “integrated” which cuts off the power to the Nvidia chip.

sudo envycontrol -s integrated

Plasma/system info below

Operating System: EndeavourOS
KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.12.0
Qt Version: 6.8.2
Kernel Version: 6.13.7-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × Intel® Core​ i7-10750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
Memory: 31.1 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® UHD Graphics
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Product Name: XPS 15 9500

[joekamprad]

optimus-manager is not working in all cases, some like it and a lot of users have issues getting it working.. current situtaion is a bit unclear on all the ways to handle optimus hybrid gpu systems.

https://discovery.endeavouros.com/nvidia/nvidia-optimus-notebooks-hybrid-graphics/2021/03/

[jfabernathy]

IMHO, hybrid graphics is not a technology that is needed anymore. My Dell laptop is almost 5 years old and I’ve never used Nvidia graphics mode except to run benchmarks or just to test it. The laptop is an Intel Core i7-10750H and that is good enough for my needs including gaming. Solitaire doesn’t need much

All my other PCs are Intel integrated gfx or AMD integrated gfx. My next laptop will be integrated as well.

What I got out of this discussion was very helpful. I now know that my Nvidia is complete off and I will have to do something to turn it back on. That way I have my best possible battery life but can use Nvidia gfx if the need every arises.

Thanks for the help to all.