Arch Linux

qherring

Member

Registered: 2023-05-05

Posts: 87

Laptop Nvidia GPU OK w/ 2 additional displays, freezes w/ 3 [solved]

I have a laptop with integrated graphics as well as dedicated nvidia gpu:

lspci -k | grep -A 2 -E "(VGA|3D)"

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-HX GT1 [UHD Graphics 770] (rev 0c)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Alder Lake-HX GT1 [UHD Graphics 770]
        Kernel driver in use: i915
--
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GA107GLM [RTX A2000 8GB Laptop GPU] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: Lenovo GA107GLM [RTX A2000 8GB Laptop GPU]
        Kernel driver in use: nvidia

I can run 2 displays off the gpu without issue, but when I activate the third display using arandr all three of the screens will freeze within a short period of time.  I have tried connecting the displays using both usb-c and hdmi and any combination of both and it makes no difference.  2 of the screens are the same manufacturer, one is different.  Any two displays connected regardless of connection cable type or manufacturer will work fine.

This RTX A2000 should be able to run these three displays without issue.  These are smallish standard (1920x1080) monitors with refresh rates of 60hz.

The main integrated display is being driven by the Intel graphics and so it never freezes when the external displays do.  I was thinking an alternate (and less optimal) solution would be to run the third display off of the integrated Intel graphics.  I am not sure how to configure this however. 

Any suggestions on what I can tweak to resolve this?  And if not, suggestions on how I may be able to run the third display off of the Intel graphics?

Last edited by qherring (2024-02-14 22:11:02)

qherring

Member

Registered: 2023-05-05

Posts: 87

Re: Laptop Nvidia GPU OK w/ 2 additional displays, freezes w/ 3 [solved]

my system:

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Host: 21D600A1US ThinkPad P16 Gen 1
Kernel: 6.7.4-arch1-1
Uptime: 46 mins
Packages: 919 (pacman)
Shell: bash 5.2.26
Resolution: 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1920x1080
DE: Plasma 5.27.10
WM: KWin
WM Theme: Silvery-Dark-Aurorae
Theme: [Plasma], Breeze [GTK2/3]
Icons: [Plasma], breeze-dark [GTK2/3]
Terminal: konsole
CPU: 12th Gen Intel i9-12900HX (24) @ 4.900GHz
GPU: NVIDIA RTX A2000 8GB Laptop GPU
GPU: Intel Alder Lake-HX GT1 [UHD Graphics 770]
Memory: 21063MiB / 128514MiB

qherring

Member

Registered: 2023-05-05

Posts: 87

Re: Laptop Nvidia GPU OK w/ 2 additional displays, freezes w/ 3 [solved]

So I enabled Nvidia gpu exclusively using this method:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA … phics_only

This seems to resolve the issue.  System has been running with 3 monitors for about an hour with no freezes.

There must be some issue with the dynamic GPU switching. Seems like when the added monitor pushes the system  to utilize the Nvidia GPU then it freezes.  Almost seems to me like the nvidia GPU remains idle even after the integrated graphics have handed over the task.
For now Im just gonna use the Nvidia only setting, but Id imagine the power consumption is gonna be pretty high.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,100

Re: Laptop Nvidia GPU OK w/ 2 additional displays, freezes w/ 3 [solved]

You have external monitors attached to the nvidia gpu, you're not going to get around the power requirement regardless.

FWIW something I'd suggest if you wanted to test the "proper" passthrough option again is to ensure nvidia-drm.modeset=1 is set as a kernel parameter. It's generally a precondition for alot of the iGPU/dGPU integration properties to work properly.

qherring

Member

Registered: 2023-05-05

Posts: 87

Re: Laptop Nvidia GPU OK w/ 2 additional displays, freezes w/ 3 [solved]

You have external monitors attached to the nvidia gpu, you're not going to get around the power requirement regardless.

Right, but I thought for a dynamic setup, the Nvidia GPU is only active when the demand is there otherwise only the integrated gpu runs.  With my current config the higher power consumption Nvidia GPU is always active.  Not a big deal, just happy it works.  If i get less battery run time so be it.

FWIW something I'd suggest if you wanted to test the "proper" passthrough option again is to ensure nvidia-drm.modeset=1 is set as a kernel parameter. It's generally a precondition for alot of the iGPU/dGPU integration properties to work properly.

I did try that beforehand but it didn't resolve the freezing issue at all.