#NVIDIA prime-select functionality like Ubuntu's

22 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

fierce geyser
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Hi, I guess I've got a really unusual scenario where I need to switch between NVIDIA-only and Intel-only modes. Why?

  1. I've got a laptop, Legion 5, and I would really like to get more battery out of it.
  2. I tested offloading prime but it's just not it. I primarily use GNOME and it has an Information section in its settings (There is either shown Graphics: Intel + NVIDIA or one of these). More on that later
  3. I use an external monitor when the laptop is plugged in, kind of a docked state. And here I would like to have everything rendered by NVIDIA. (HDMI is wired to the NVIDIA GPU)
  4. Both displays are 144Hz (1080p + 1440p). The Intel iGPU doesn't keep up with rendering both smoothly in 144Hz. That's why I want GNOME desktop (or just GNOME session, not sure) to be rendered by NVIDIA.
  5. Ubuntu did it like this: option in top bar: NVIDIA, Intel or On-demand. I don't think I'm interested in on-demand. Click on one of these, log out, log in, card is changed, simple. I couldn't get this working on arch, maybe I'm doing something wrong or just there isn't much interest in switching the whole desktop's primary GPU.
  6. Changing the GPU in the BIOS is always not a smooth experience. And the extremely locked-down Legion 5's BIOS only has NVIDIA-only mode or Hybrid mode so in the battery scenario the NVIDIA card still uses power no matter what. Ubuntu turned the NVIDIA card when in Intel-only mode (I think it was acpi-call)
    So: Intel for portable battery usage and NVIDIA only for more demanding tasks with AC and HDMI.

For some reason when inserting offload commands into /etc/environment GNOME refuses to start
I tried a few of archwiki's methods for PRIME and they either didn't work or I had no idea how to set these things up
I would like to achieve Ubuntu's way of switching the cards, is it possible?

Thanks in advance

rocky sonnet
sonic craterBOT
rocky sonnet
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Oh come on. Stupid bot.

fierce geyser
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Oh I didn't mention I have a GTX1650 mobile, if that changes anything.

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Optimus-manager seems like a good option but I'm gonna go back into it after a few days

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Also is this setup possible in Wayland?

rocky sonnet
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Do you have a model number for your laptop? Posting that might be helpful.

I did something similar once a year ago but I’ve forgotten how I got it going.

slate wind
fierce geyser
fierce geyser
ionic shoreBOT
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teknishun received a thank you cookie!

slate wind
fierce geyser
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Alright

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Does envycontrol support Wayland?

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It says it defaults to hybrid in Wayland, I guess I'll stick to xorg then

fierce geyser
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Alright it seems to be working great but only on Xorg (on Wayland its still intel + NVIDIA) but for some reason I can't change the built-in screen's refresh rate after changing the resolution (I would like 1600x900 at 144Hz) is there a way to fix this?

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Also is there a way to log-out to apply changes instead of rebooting? I was able to do that in Ubuntu

slate wind
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Did you try killing the x server with ctrl+alt+backspace and relaunching X?

fierce geyser
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Not yet, gonna try it, I'm also using the GPU Profile Selector GNOME extension, and that reboots the pc after selecting the option

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I don't think it's possible to do ctrl+alt+backspace in GNOME