Hi,
I'm using a Dell G5 laptop with dedicated NVIDIA graphics.
I've had a weird problem with packages and I had to login via terminal (loginctl)
I thought that I've corrected the packages problem, but today after restart I could not log in at all (sddm didn't start).
The problem was in X conf files, I had to comment out a few lines in order for sddm to start:

Code: Select all

gibol@Tardis:~$ cat /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/11-nvidia-prime.conf
# DO NOT EDIT. AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED BY gpu-manager

Section "OutputClass"
    Identifier "Nvidia Prime"
    MatchDriver "nvidia-drm"
    Driver "nvidia"
    #Option "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration"
    #Option "IgnoreDisplayDevices" "CRT"
    #Option "PrimaryGPU" "Yes"
    #ModulePath "/x86_64-linux-gnu/nvidia/xorg"
EndSection


Code: Select all

cat /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia.conf
Section "OutputClass"
    Identifier "nvidia"
    MatchDriver "nvidia-drm"
    Driver "nvidia"
   # Option "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration"
    #ModulePath "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/nvidia/xorg"
EndSection


Now the problem I'm facing is no Image on HDMI (I have two monitors connected, via usb-c and hdmi)
HDMI is reported disconnected (xrandr)

Code: Select all

gibol@Tardis:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 4480 x 1440, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP-1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 194mm
(...)
DP-1 connected 2560x1440+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 526mm x 296mm
(...)
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)


Nvidia X Server settings shows only PRIME profiles

I've tried nvidia-xconfig - sddm does not start with generated xorg.conf file.

I've managed to make the HDMI show as connected by issuing a following command:

Code: Select all

gibol@Tardis:~$ sudo xrandr --setprovideroutputsource 1 0
[sudo] password for gibol:
gibol@Tardis:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 4480 x 1440, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP-1 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 194mm
(...)
DP-1 connected primary 2560x1440+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 526mm x 296mm
(...)
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1-2 connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
(...)


But I still cannot get any image on this monitor.

Code: Select all

gibol@Tardis:~$ inxi -SMCGx 
System:    Host: Tardis Kernel: 5.3.0-53-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.5.0
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.18.5 (Qt 5.14.2) Distro: KDE neon User Edition 5.18
Machine:   Device: laptop System: Dell product: G5 5590 serial: N/A
           Mobo: Dell model: 0KW84T v: A00 serial: N/A UEFI: Dell v: 1.9.0 date: 08/06/2019
CPU:       6 core Intel Core i7-9750H (-MT-MCP-) arch: Skylake rev.10 cache: 12288 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 31199
           clock speeds: max: 4500 MHz 1: 900 MHz 2: 900 MHz 3: 900 MHz 4: 900 MHz 5: 900 MHz 6: 900 MHz
           7: 900 MHz 8: 900 MHz 9: 900 MHz 10: 900 MHz 11: 900 MHz 12: 900 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel Device 3e9b bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Card-2: NVIDIA Device 1f91 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) drivers: modesetting,nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@59.98hz, 2560x1440@59.95hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel UHD Graphics 630 (Coffeelake 3x8 GT2)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 19.2.8 Direct Render: Yes

I can see here that the rendered is set to Intel which I believe is incorrect, and previously was set to dedicated nvidia graphics (because I occasionally game on this machine)
I've also tried to change the modesetting parameter to 0 but it had no effect.
I have secure boot disabled.
Loaded modules:

Code: Select all

gibol@Tardis:~$ lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia_uvm            933888  0
nvidia_drm             49152  1
nvidia_modeset       1114112  1 nvidia_drm
nvidia              20418560  2 nvidia_uvm,nvidia_modeset
ipmi_msghandler       102400  2 ipmi_devintf,nvidia
drm_kms_helper        180224  2 nvidia_drm,i915
drm                   491520  14 drm_kms_helper,nvidia_drm,i915


If anyone has any ideas what is wrong or how to fix it, please help.
Thanks in advance!

What kernel are you using?

Code: Select all

uname -r

mr.goose wrote:What kernel are you using?

Code: Select all

uname -r

EDIT oops sorry I just saw you listed it. My apologies.

I believe the external display on a Dell G-series is hardwired to the discrete nVidia GPU. Thus, when you're using the integrated Intel GPU, you only have access to the laptop display. You will have to use the nVidia display to use the external monitor... which is what you want to do anyway.

The easiest thing to try to get the nVidia display selected again would be to start the nvidia-settings (known as NVIDIA X Server Settings in the menu) application, if you have it installed, and select the PRIME Profiles section. If the radio button has "Intel" selected, just select NVIDIA and reboot.

If you prefer the command line, you could also use

Code: Select all

prime-select query

and it will tell you what mode the config thinks the card is in. If it says "Intel," use

Code: Select all

sudo prime-select nvidia

to set it back to nVIdia mode.

Hopefully that will fix it, but if not, there are other things to try out. Make sure the nVidia driver is not blacklisted in /etc/modprobe/d or /lib/modprobe.d, and also make sure that nouveau is blacklisted.

You should not need an xorg.conf in /etc/X11 for nVidia mode. I did have to use one (which I actually put in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d, but it works the same) to get Prime sync working. The external HDMI port doesn't work in Prime sync mode either, at least as it is now set up on my G3. It needs to be in straight NVIDIA mode.

You might also want to use the prime-indicator or prime-indicator-plus package (from the PPA) to make it easier to switch between Intel and nVidia. It only requires a logout/login to switch from nVidia to Intel, and two logouts/logins to go the other way. Still faster than rebooting!