nvidia-optimus interview questions
Top nvidia-optimus frequently asked interview questions
I have an ASUS N53S, and I am using bumblebee. I can see it from the frame rates in Tux Racer. Some people refer to Bumblebee and some to Ironhide. What is the difference?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I recently bought a new laptop with following configuration
- CPU: Intel i5 2450
- RAM: 8 GB DDR3
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 520 1GB
I've setup a virtual machine using VirtualBox with Windows 7 as guest. I want to use my (host's) graphics card in it but the virtual machine is only showing 128 MB of video memory.
I am using Bumblebee and start the virtual machine using
$ optirun VBoxManage startvm "Windows 7"
Please suggest me how should I use my graphics card for 3D acceleration in virtual machine.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I'm having an issue with my nvidia-331 driver. I can't seem to switch between Intel and Nvida via nvidia-settings. The option is there but when I click 'nvidia' a blank error window pops up. It's very weird because I've been using the Ubuntu daily for a while on 14.04, and it was not until yesterday's update that I've had this issue. Same driver. Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks. I've tried a clean install and have the same issue.
Source: (StackOverflow)
When I try to confirm than I can run Unity 3D on my Asus U31SD with intel's i5 Sandy Brigde and Nvidia 520 and Nvidia Optimus I receive this error:
Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0".
Of course, I cannot run any of the effects of Ubuntu 11.10, not even the simple app switcher.
Can anybody help me? Thank you
Source: (StackOverflow)
The previous methods i have used to set up Bumblebee on 13.10 based distributions is not working under Ubuntu 14.04 . How can I set up Bumblebee and Bumblebee GUI in Ubuntu 14.04 ?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I am considering buying a Dell XPS 15 laptop. The laptop has a Nvidia 420m card which should work with Linux but I keep reading that the Nvidia Optimus technology isn't supported on Linux. I am not really interested in switching from Nvidia to Intel to save power but need to know that the Nvidia card will in fact work if I installed Ubuntu.
If anyone has experience using a Nvidia card with Optimus technology or even better the exact laptop in question (Dell XPS 15 with 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420M) it would be great.
A major problem holding people back from adopting Linux is this sort of hardware issue.
I am a long term Ubuntu user and supporter who can't afford to make a mistake with a purchase like this.
I don't want to spend £500+ to find I have no graphics acceleration because Windows 7 is not an option.
Source: (StackOverflow)
When attempting to run various pieces of software (notably Steam and Yenka), I have come across an error similar to this: error while loading shared libraries: libGL.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
I'm running a 64 bit system, with an NVidia Optimus card (I dual boot for certain windows only software that requires a dedicated graphics card). I have bumblebee installed, and I am using the nvidia-current driver, rather that one downloaded from NVidia, as recommended.
The library (libGL.so.1) is not present in the top directory of /usr/lib, however it is present in /usr/lib32/nvidia-current, as a softlink to /usr/lib32/nvidia-current/libGL.so.304.64.
A section of the output from ldconfig -p:
libGL.so.1 (libc6,x86-64, OS ABI: Linux 2.4.20) => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mesa/libGL.so.1
libGL.so (libc6,x86-64, OS ABI: Linux 2.4.20) => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so
libGL.so (libc6,x86-64, OS ABI: Linux 2.4.20) => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mesa/libGL.so
Obviously a library with that name is being loaded, but they are located in /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu, however installed software doesn't seem to able to 'see' it. For Steam, running it with optirun causes it to work, but this is not the case for Yenka. I assume that optirun causes the library stored in /usr/lib32/nvidia-current to be used, which allows Steam to run, so I can't understant why Yenka won't run.
Can anyone explain why software can't see the normal mesa library, and why Yenka refuses to run with the nvidia-current library?
Source: (StackOverflow)
Recently I've bought my dream's notebook, a Dell XPS 15 but since then this dream became a kind of endless nightmare.
I'm almost getting crazy to make my graphic card driver work properly, but it seems to be just impossible. Yes, I have a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 540m (Optimus) in it! It simply doesn't work. Every time I generate the xorg.conf Ubuntu hangs on while starting up, which forces me to remove this file to be able to start the notebook with the standard graphic settings.
Another problem is that the Dell XPS 15 does NOT have a VGA output, but a HDMI. So, to be able to use a second monitor I have to configure it by the NVIDIA X Server Settings, which just works if the driver is properly initialized with the xorg.conf.
I've also tried to make it work with the Bumblebee, but unfortunately it didn't help me much with the HDMI output.
Do you guys have any idea to solve this deadlock?
Is there any way for me to use my second monitor?
Source: (StackOverflow)
Yesterday, I was very excited about initial support for optimus using nvidia-prime package on Ubuntu 13.10. It seemed to be the way to replace my bumblebee + hybrid-screenclone configuration, since there is no patch available for the intel video driver that ships with Ubuntu 13.10. After hours of trials and errors, I only got a system where external and LCD displays randomly works or not, LCD screen flickers, window decorations are broken, and display randomly freeze. Not really usable so far...
But now my question is: even if nvidia-prime was working as expected, why would I want to use it? The reason optimus is there is to allow switching off discrete card when I don't need it, to save on battery power. But with nvidia-prime, it seems discrete card is always powered. Why someone would want to use an unstable optimus support that doesn't save power?
The conclusion: if I need to save batteries and I don't need external display, I just need to boot with display adapter set to integrated in the BIOS. If I need external display and I'm connected on sector, I just need to boot with discrete display adapter. And if I need to boot in Windows, I just need to put back the display adapter setting to optimus.
Source: (StackOverflow)
If i type lspci| grep VGA into the terminal i get this output:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Ivy Bridge Graphics Controller(rev 09)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 0fd1 (rev a1)
When i install nvidia-current it installs 259.49 which is the wrong driver for the 650m (259.59 is the correct). Any thoughts?
EDIT: I employed this command dpkg --list | egrep '(nvidia|bumbl)' | grep ^ii which output
ii bumblebee 3.0-2~preciseppa1 nVidia Optimus support
ii bumblebee-nvidia 3.0-2~preciseppa1 nVidia Optimus support using the proprietary NVIDIA driver
ii nvidia-common 1:0.2.44 Find obsolete NVIDIA drivers
ii nvidia-current 295.40-0ubuntu1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
ii nvidia-settings 295.33-0ubuntu1 Tool of configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
So I guess this shows that since it has no idea which card it is, it doesn't pick the right drivers...
Also the computer is a Samsung Series 7 (700Z7C) if that helps
Running optirun glxspheres gives this output in kern.log
NVRM: GPU at 0000:01:00.0 has fallen off the bus.
NVRM: GPU at 0000:01:00.0 has fallen off the bus.
NVRM: RmInitAdapter failed! (0x26:0xffffffff:1170)
NVRM: rm_init_adapter(0) failed
Source: (StackOverflow)
I'm trying to connect my external monitor (via VGA cable) to my laptop, using Bumblebee and the Optimus configuration.
I have a Lenovo W520, with an Intel GMA HD 3000 and an Nvidia Quadro 2000M. The BIOS has three options regarding the graphic cards - integrated, discrete, and Optimus.
The use case is very simple. For work, I just use the integrated card and the laptop display; when I watch movies though, I want to use my projector. Now, what I have to do in this case is:
- reboot
- start windows
- watch the movie
Thanks to Bumblebee, I'm able now to keep the setup always as Optimus.
Before BB, I had to change the BIOS setting every time I wanted to watch a movie, because even in windows, using integrated graphics caused the projector not to be detected by the system (I suppose that this is what they generally mean by "hardwired output", and that the VGA output is hardwired to the discrete card).
Now, what I'd like to do, is to be able to connect the external monitor without having to switch O/S, that is, to use it in Ubuntu.
Is it possible?
Right now, if I want to use the external monitor on Ubuntu, the only option is to change the BIOS to use the discrete graphics, then use nvidia-settings.
If I use instead the Optimus setup, even when I run it using "optirun nvidia-settings -c :8", I don't get any option for an external monitor.
Is there something I can do?
Source: (StackOverflow)
My Lenovo T420S has a discrete graphic card with nvidia optimus technology. What I'm basically trying to achieve is the following:
- use a second display - connected via DVI/viewport - at work (VGA is blurry)
- achieve a moderate to good battery performance while travelling (2 hours)
As far as I figured out, I have the following options:
- disable Optimus, use internal graphics exclusively
- disable Optimus, use nvidia exclusively
- enable Optimus, use bumblebee (homepage) / ironhide
(1) disqualifies as I read (and experienced) that DVI / viewport is technically not usable via internal graphics
(2) haven't really tried so far, just a quick test-install that booted into a black screen after I added the nvidia drivers :-(
(3) followed this blog, used bumblebee instead of ironhide. Bumblebee worked (I can see impressive FPS on glxgears), but I did not get the second display to be recognized. I also felt lost in the nvidia-driver-hell and had no chance to run nvidia-xconfig, simply because it was not installed. No idea if a second display is supposed to be recognized out of the box? Do I need to install more? Do I need to mess with my xorg.conf? Many questions, few answers.
So, what can I do to achieve my goals? Which path to follow, and what are the next steps?
Any hint is welcome :-)
Update: Thanks to everyone who answered. I will migrate my work environment to a "discrete" installation, and will use "optimus/bumblebee" as a parallel play project and see how far I get... I will post future questions in new threads.
Source: (StackOverflow)
The following appears when running optirun glxgears with primus and nvidia-331-updates configured in bumblebee.conf:
This is on 14.04 Trusty Tahr, upgraded from 13.10. The application seems to run on the nvidia gpu, but doesn't display correctly as it did in the previous distro version. I suspect this is a bug in primus in the 14.04 repos, unless one of my packages is poorly configured.
The window does refresh and display part of the glxgears image, but only when I shrink the window, and once per frame that the window is being resized. The GL viewport is scaled incorrectly in this process as well.
Continuing some testing, the PRIMUS_UPLOAD=1 flag seems to make the window refresh properly and everything works as intended. This is not a permanent solution though.
Source: (StackOverflow)