Arch Linux

prk07

Member

Registered: 2018-12-16

Posts: 44

[NVIDIA Optimus] Blank screen on external monitor using HDMI port

Hi,

I have an XPS 7590 FHD with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with the latest KDE Plasma on Arch.

Also, I have an external monitor HP2311f with DVI, HDMI and VGA as input. Additionally, a Toshiba TV capable of HDMI input.

I have configured optimus-manager for managing the GPU switch and have also configured recent NVIDIA Dynamic Runtime Power Management to completely power down the GPU when not in use.

The XPS 7590 has one Thunderbolt and one HDMI port.

Issue:

I tried to plug HDMI cable into my laptop HDMI slot to connect the HP monitor which resulted in blank screen. I have tried all modes of optimus-manager. Although, xrandr --listmonitors gives following output:

 
Monitors: 2
 0: +*eDP-1 1920/344x1080/194+0+0  eDP-1
 1: +DP-3 1920/509x1080/286+1920+0  DP-3

This shows that the monitor has been identified but screen is blank.

But, if I plug the HDMI using Dell DA300 Dock, the display get connected successfully.

Also, I tried connecting the Toshiba TV using the HDMI port of the laptop and it was connected successfully and displayed the content also.

The optimus-manager in hybrid mode generates the following Xorg config:

Section "Files"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib/nvidia"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib32/nvidia"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib32/nvidia/xorg/modules"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib32/xorg/modules"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib64/nvidia/xorg/modules"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib64/nvidia/xorg"
        ModulePath "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier "layout"
        Screen 0 "integrated"
        Inactive "nvidia"
        Option "AllowNVIDIAGPUScreens"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier "integrated"
        Driver "modesetting"
        BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
        Option "TearFree" "true"
        Option "DRI" "3" 
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "integrated"
        Device "integrated"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier "nvidia"
        Driver "nvidia"
        BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
        Option "Coolbits" "28"
        Option "TripleBuffer" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "nvidia"
        Device "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option "IgnoreABI" "1"
EndSection

Also, the xrandr --listproviders in hybrid mode of Optimus-manager is as follows:

Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0x46 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 3 outputs: 4 associated providers: 0 name:modesetting
Provider 1: id: 0x244 cap: 0x0 crtcs: 0 outputs: 0 associated providers: 0 name:NVIDIA-G0

I am not able to find what is going wrong when connecting with the HP monitor while plugging it directly into HDMI port. If NVIDIA GPU is down then why Toshiba TV is getting connected successfully.

Please help to resolve this issue.

prk07

Member

Registered: 2018-12-16

Posts: 44

Re: [NVIDIA Optimus] Blank screen on external monitor using HDMI port

Please look into this issue.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,990

Re: [NVIDIA Optimus] Blank screen on external monitor using HDMI port

Check your xorg/dmesg logs, if xrandr --listproviders gives you this output then this means the nvidia gpu is irrelevant in terms of connecting the screen as all outputs are connected to the integrated card anyway.

prk07

Member

Registered: 2018-12-16

Posts: 44

Re: [NVIDIA Optimus] Blank screen on external monitor using HDMI port

As per this discussion, all display output is wired to iGPU on Dell XPS 7590.
But then iGPU should serve the external HP display similar to the TV using HDMI port.

I will share my Xorg logs when I get back to my device and try connecting the display again.

prk07

Member

Registered: 2018-12-16

Posts: 44

Re: [NVIDIA Optimus] Blank screen on external monitor using HDMI port

Please find the Xorg logs below:

  Xorg.0.log in hybrid mode of Optimus-manager

  Xorg.1.log in hybrid mode of Optimus-manager

  Xorg.0.log in NVIDIA mode of Optimus-manager

  Xorg.1.log in NVIDIA mode of Optimus-manager

I am also attaching the generated Xorg config in Nvidia mode by optimus-manager below:

  Nvidia mode

prk07

Member

Registered: 2018-12-16

Posts: 44

Re: [NVIDIA Optimus] Blank screen on external monitor using HDMI port

I need some help to resolve this issue.
I am not good at Xorg configs and cannot find similar issues relevant to this particular case.
If someone in the forum can lend some time then it would be of great help to me.

Thanks!