[SOLVED] Nvidia Optimus blank external monitor

Q3sE1wF6gHHpwY0lDN9uKOlD · 2023-11-01 11:22:13

Solution:

Nothing wrong at all. The display itself was broken. Thanks for trying to help, though.

Original thread:

I am unable to use my external monitor connected to my Optimus Laptop (Dell XPS 15 7590).

I have followed the guide to run on Nvidia graphics only. I don't have an /etc/X11/xorg.conf. My only /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ file is: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf

Section "OutputClass"
    Identifier "intel"
    MatchDriver "i915"
    Driver "modesetting"
EndSection

Section "OutputClass"
    Identifier "nvidia"
    MatchDriver "nvidia-drm"
    Driver "nvidia"
    Option "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration"
    Option "PrimaryGPU" "yes"
    ModulePath "/usr/lib/nvidia/xorg"
    ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
EndSection

xrandr detects one external connected display:

$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 3840 x 2540, maximum 32767 x 32767
eDP-1-1 connected 1920x1080+0+1460 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 194mm
   3840x2160     60.00*+  59.98    59.97  
...
DP-1-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1-3 connected 3840x2160+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 708mm x 398mm
   3840x2160     60.00*+  60.00    59.94    30.00    25.00    29.97    29.98  
...

I can see both modesetting and NVIDIA-0 providers, though I am a bit suspicious about NVIDIA-0 showing 0 outputs.

$ xrandr --listproviders                                       
Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0x1b7 cap: 0x1, Source Output crtcs: 0 outputs: 0 associated providers: 1 name:NVIDIA-0
Provider 1: id: 0x1dd cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 3 outputs: 4 associated providers: 1 name:modesetting

xrandr --setprovideroutputsource modesetting NVIDIA-0 and xrandr auto runs without any problems.

lspci finds both my controllers:

$ lspci | rg "VGA|3D"                                          
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
01:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile / Max-Q] (rev a1)

I'm a bit puzzled by my inxi -G output, though. It says gpu: i915, but otherwise seem to indicate nvidia drivers being used (to me)

$ inxi -G
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile / Max-Q] driver: nvidia
    v: 535.113.01
  Device-3: Microdia Integrated_Webcam_HD driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.9 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.2 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia dri: iris gpu: i915 resolution: 1: 3840x2160~60Hz
    2: 1920x1080~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,nvidia,swrast
    platforms: x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 535.113.01
    renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.269 drivers: nvidia surfaces: xcb,xlib

The plasma systemsettings kcm_about-distro module says I'm running on my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2 gpu, though.

FYI, my setup have been working with two connected external monitors, with all 3 monitors running on the discrete GPU prior to a recent pacman -Syu. Unfortunately, this particular laptop was turned off for 6 months, so there were no rolling updates applied since March 2023 until very recently, so I can't pinpoint what update thrashed my setup. I have tried the usual: rebooting, deleting my configs, running on i915 without Optimus (same problem, can't use my external monitor, despite it showing up as connected). I have also uninstalled all drivers, vdpau, opencl and other stuff using my gpu and just reinstalled what the Arch wiki guides me to.

My external monitors seems to receive a signal. The power indicator glows blue, and the display backlight seems to be turned on and no "no signal" information is displayed or anything similar.

I normally run plasma, with kscreen2 service disabled and handle my own displays via xrandr. However, when I turn on kscreen2, the systemsettings kcm_kscreen module will detect my connected external screen, but I'm still unable to show anything on it.

Last edited by Q3sE1wF6gHHpwY0lDN9uKOlD (2023-11-03 11:39:40)

V1del · 2023-11-01 11:30:17

You've likely been hit by the simpledrm enablement, try adding

nvidia-drm.modeset=1

to your kernel parameters as described in https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA … de_setting

FWIW with this kind of setup I'd strongly suggest you do not try to run with the "nvidia only option" but just use the defaults with PRIME: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME# … er_offload

That said none of this quite explains the issues, so post a xorg log and

sudo journalctl -b

seth · 2023-11-01 15:53:05

I am a bit suspicious about NVIDIA-0 showing 0 outputs.

No, that's normal - it's a "3D controller" w/o any crtc's
You might be rendering there, but everything gets piped through the intel chip

My external monitors seems to receive a signal. The power indicator glows blue, and the display backlight seems to be turned on and no "no signal" information is displayed or anything similar.

Does the mouse cursor show up there?

I'm a bit puzzled by my inxi -G output, though

inxi and the likes are just good for r/unixporn

Q3sE1wF6gHHpwY0lDN9uKOlD · 2023-11-03 11:36:23

TL/DR Solution:

The display itself is likely broken. Thanks for your help, though!

Long version:

Steps taken to verify the display itself is broken:

I have tried temporarily connecting other displays. All other displays work fine.
I have tried connecting the display to other laptops running different Operating systems. All can identify the display but nothing actually paints on the display, my exact issue.
(The smoking gun) The OSD menu won't turn on.

Answers:

V1del wrote:

You've likely been hit by the simpledrm enablement, try adding
nvidia-drm.modeset=1
to your kernel parameters as described in https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA … de_setting

Sadly not. nvidia-drm.modeset=1 is enabled already.

$ cat /proc/cmdline | rg -o nvidia-drm.modeset=1
nvidia-drm.modeset=1

V1del wrote:

FWIW with this kind of setup I'd strongly suggest you do not try to run with the "nvidia only option" but just use the defaults with PRIME: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME# … er_offload
That said none of this quite explains the issues, so post a xorg log and
sudo journalctl -b

The main reason I don't do that is because my internal GPU simply cannot handle 3× 3840x2160 displays at 60 Hz (one internal and two external). I was under the impression that this will not change even if Prime render offload was used, right?

seth wrote:

I am a bit suspicious about NVIDIA-0 showing 0 outputs.
No, that's normal - it's a "3D controller" w/o any crtc's
You might be rendering there, but everything gets piped through the intel chip
My external monitors seems to receive a signal. The power indicator glows blue, and the display backlight seems to be turned on and no "no signal" information is displayed or anything similar.
Does the mouse cursor show up there?

Nope. No mouse cursor.

seth · 2023-11-03 13:29:54

Did you check the backlight setting?
(Could be hard w/o OSD, but maybe it has dedicated buttons)

Arch Linux

#1 2023-11-01 11:22:13