NVidia "about face"; return to Intel on-die GPU?

[mikewalsh]

Hiya, gang.

I've been meaning to ask this for a while now. I'm not entirely certain this is the correct place, but.........I've started. (So I'll finish..!!)

Been running a half-dozen Pups in the kennels for quite a while. I equipped the new HP with a basic NVidia GPU middle of last year, before prices got too silly. Out of the 6 Puppies, three run the 'official' drivers, while the other three are using the in-kernel 'nouveau' driver.

Now; here's my question. I have a couple of things I want to try out.....but they need me to revert to the on-die Intel UHD 610 GPU that's built-in to the CPU itself. The 'projects' require Intel graphics; no 'ifs' or 'buts'. If not.....no cigar. So......

It's simple enough to whip-out the Nvidia card, and plug the HDMI lead back into the onboard port. What I would like to know is this; is there a way of "disabling" all the Nvidia stuff, without having to uninstall everything? When you use 'Get-Nvidia' it tends to want to do a permanent install of the stuff before you get a chance to say no; from what I understand, it won't build the kernel module if it can't simultaneously install it at the same time!

Since I want to be able to return to the existing set-up when I'm done with this wee 'project', I'd like to be able to just switch the Nvidia driver stuff "OFF"; swap-out the card; run the project, using the built-in Intel graphics along with the in-kernel Intel driver; swap the card back in again, and switch the Nvidia driver stuff back "ON" again.

Or does it not work like this? Does leaving Nvidia stuff sitting there interfere with Intel operation? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong; I'll be the first to admit I don't really understand how all this graphics/OpenGL/EGl & display server stuff works.

Advice, suggestions, thoughts.....as always, all good (and all appreciated!)

TIA.

Mike.

[bigpup]

Pick a Puppy version you want to do this in???

I suggest one of the newer ones, using a 5 series kernel, and the latest version of the Intel graphics driver.

Fossapup64 9.5 is good at auto selecting the graphics driver needed, based on what it sees for available hardware.

Again, depending on the Puppy version.
You may only need to run xorgwizard at each boot, change the driver to use, setting resolution, and xwin to desktop.

Another idea:
I assume this is a desktop computer.
Laptops, with both Intel integrated graphics and a separate Nvidia card, work differently, and Puppy does not fully support, how they switch hardware, being used.

Boot the desktop computer into it's UEFI or Bios setup.
Usually they have an option to disable the add-on graphics hardware or option to choose which one to use.
I would be guessing where it will be in the setup, but hopefully they do provide the option.
Name brand computers, maybe maybe not, will provide this option. It could be auto switching, when you add the Nvidia card.

Anyway, if you can disable the add-on card in the UEFI/Bios setup.
Do that.

Boot the Puppy version, the normal way, and see what it does to get to the desktop.
It may just detect that Intel is all there is for graphics hardware, setup graphics to use Intel driver, and give you a working desktop.

If you boot again and enable the Nvidia hardware in the UEFI/Bios setup.
Boot so you can run Xorgwizard
Choose to use the Nvidia driver and set resolution.
Xwin to get to desktop.

Running Xorgwizard may be required after disable or enable of Nvidia card.

If you tell me a specific version of Puppy.
I could try it on my desktop computer.

[mikewalsh]

@bigpup :-

I don't know why I'm forgetting Puppy's best feature, y'know. The easiest way around this is to use Fossapup as the "guinea-pig", and set it to boot "pfix=ram" before powering-down. Then remove the GPU, re-plug the HDMI lead to the onboard GPU, and boot up into a pristine Fossapup.

That way, as far as Puppy's concerned, it's a first boot with the 'standard' graphics hardware. The project won't take long to run; I can then set Fossapup back up to boot as 'normal', shut-down, re-install the Nvidia card, and re-boot back to my standard set-up. The 'save-folder' won't be any the wiser that the card's been out in the mean-time!

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(I'm trying to find out if what somebody over at OMG!Ubuntu! said is true. NetFlix doesn't function for me in the MSEdge Linux 'portable' builds, but I read that someone's had it running - in 4K, too! - since February. He IS, however, using the on-die Intel GPU in his tower. So; a wee bit of experimentation is called-for....

It rather looks as though MyCrudSoft's Widevine implementation doesn't yet support Nvidia. If they don't get their backsides into gear & do summat about that pretty soon, they're going to leave a sour taste in many folk's mouths!)

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There IS no 'manual' UEFI setting for the graphics hardware in this HP tower; it auto-switches upon detection.

Thanks for jogging my memory, mate. The old grey matter's getting a wee bit dense, these days.....

Watch this space.I'll report back with my findings.....or lack of!!

Mike.

[ozsouth]

@mikewalsh - I find onboard intel video seems to prefer the modesetting driver. Think BK has found that is often the case too.

[mikewalsh]

@mikewalsh - I find onboard intel video seems to prefer the modesetting driver. Think BK has found that is often the case too.

Thanks for the info, Oz. That's appreciated.

I haven't gotten around to attempting this yet; it'll be a wee project for a quiet day when I've got nothing else planned. I will, as promised, report back as to my findings when I do. It may seem pointless to some, but I've become something of a NetFlix afficionado.....and there's a lot of things I actually like about M$'s "interpretation" of the Chromium code-base.

I shall still be happier when this kind of tinkering is not necessary, though. I like my Nvidia card..!

Mike.