glacial ember
Steps to reproduce: Run any app that utilizes the GPU. Wait for an indeterminate period of time.
Expected behavior: The application will choose either GPU or integrated graphics to render video/UI and continue using it while the application is open and focused on a display.
Actual behavior: The application will switch between GPU and integrated graphics rendering at unpredictable intervals.
Details: I don't know if this (see screenshot) is the true culprit or not, but the issue began right around the same time this update was installed. Ever since I updated the intel-media-va-driver (as recommended by the update manager), I've had intermittent issues with games, browsers and other applications that make use of the GPU randomly switching between the IrisXe and integrated graphics rendering while I'm using them. I can tell that's what's happening because the application will freeze, the whole display will blink once and then reconnect at its native resolution, and the application's performance will significantly decrease (if switching to integrated) or increase (if switching to the GPU). The amount of time an application will remain in one mode or the other is completely unpredictable, and neither mode seems more stable than the other, I could sit there and suffer through playing Kingdom Two Crowns on integrated graphics for an hour or more, or it might switch back to the GPU in 3 minutes and then who knows how long it'll stay that way.
Making matters more annoying, sometimes I don't have this problem at all. Today it hasn't happened once [edit: Nope, it just did it again, so definitely not fixed, although as of this edit it's only happened once]. But yesterday it was switching back and forth what seemed like every 10 minutes or so.
I have checked my power settings both in the OS and in the system's BIOS. It is set for "performance" in both, and should prefer the GPU in all cases unless the system is running low on battery (the problem occurs even while it's plugged in, and I don't see any indication that the power is disconnecting at any point, so I don't think it's that).
I tried disconnecting my external monitor from the laptop, but this did not resolve the issue. Even with only the internal display of the laptop, I kept seeing this strange behavior.
I have verified the GPU/CPU is not overheating, at least it doesn't seem like it. The fan isn't blasting and the laptop itself doesn't feel hot (this is a tiny Lenovo ThinkBook so it's very obvious when it's overheating, you can barely touch it if it is).
And yes, I have rebooted the machine.
At no point when this happens has the system ever crashed or thrown an error of any kind that I'm aware of. It seems to be operating "as intended." So I assume something is triggering it to think that I've disabled the GPU or disconnected a GPU-enabled display, and then at a later point it thinks I've reconnected/enabled it. But since the only GPU-enabled display is the laptop's internal monitor or the HDMI port (to which nothing is currently connected), I don't know what would be causing this. I do have one USB DisplayLink external monitor, but again, the problem occurs even when I leave it disconnected.
The only correlation I've been able to find is that the problem started right about when I installed this intel-media-va-driver update, which seems to have something to do with IrisXe chipsets. I'm a little hesitant to try rolling the update back though, I don't like messing around with graphics- or chipset-related drivers if I don't absolutely have to since they can be such a pain to fix if something goes wrong. Right now this issue is just "a little annoying" rather than critically problematic, but if anyone has any idea on what's actually causing it, I'd be happy for any pointers.
Unsure if my system info would help or just be a bunch of clutter. Let me know if you want me to post that, too.
primal pollen