Arch Linux

N8

Member

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2020-04-14

Posts: 6

[SOLVED] Xorg save window state

Main idea:
So here's the issue I’m facing, I’m using a laptop with a Nvidia optimums GPU (this means I can set 3 power modes for the GPU, this being integrated only, hybrid, full gpu). Every time I want to change between these modes the xorg config has to be changed, meaning I lose all my open windows. I was curious if anyone knew of a way to avoid losing my open windows and contents when I have change GPU power mode.

Options I have explored:

Xpra:
I tried to find a similar program to screen for X and I found xpra, I found out this is more for running X windows on a headless server instead of possibly moving windows from one X server to another.

Linux-window-session-manager:
This is the second thing I found, it seemed like the most promising. It saves what you have open and where it was located, but information in the window was not maintained.
https://github.com/johannesjo/linux-win … on-manager

Could someone please consider confirming the following, so I know whether its even possible:
1. Once a window is opened by xorg it can't be moved to another session.
2. There is no way to change the xorg config while its open.

As you can see I’m not super knowledgeable on X, but hopefully the idea I’m trying to get across makes sense.

And of course any replies are highly appreciated thanks!

Last edited by N8 (2022-03-19 04:56:53)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,302

Re: [SOLVED] Xorg save window state

No to all of these as far as I know.

You don't just have "window" states, you'd need to switch around the actual graphics driver and the like depending on which option you select and I'm fairly certain that isn't something you can simply do on the fly.

The most seamless way would be properly configuring normal hybrid mode and just relying on prime-run. Which GPU/CPU exactly?

Last edited by V1del (2022-03-18 12:31:31)

N8

Member

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2020-04-14

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] Xorg save window state

Thanks for the reply, that sounds promising. The only problem I see is certain GPU accelerated programs not leveraging the NVIDIA GPU and instead falling back to the iGPU when on hybrid mode, maybe I'm missing crucial information about optimus-manager and X. Also the power is a big thing as well, I tested hybrid vs integrated and integrated came out on top due to the NVIDIA GPU taking a while to turn off. I assume this means my setup is wrong.

Specs:
CPU: i7-8750H
GPU: RTX-2060 6GB

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,302

Re: [SOLVED] Xorg save window state

On hybrid mode you need to actually start things you want running on the nvidia card with appropriate environment flags, see the PRIME render offload section for the helper tool to do this with. And since this combination of CPU/GPU is new enough you can also read further to the enabling power saving section, however optimus-manager *might* already set this up, not sure, check it's configuration.

N8

Member

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2020-04-14

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] Xorg save window state

Perfect this is exactly what I was looking for, I usually look everywhere for an answer before asking but I was searching for the wrong thing. Thanks!