Hybrid Graphics - Bumblebee and Primusrun (BookwormPup64) [SOLVED]

[jp734]

So, I've installed bookwormpup on my laptop and finally was able to install the 525 nvidia driver. Now it's time to install the apps to take advantage of the hybrid gpu.

* Install Bumblebee = SUCCESFUL
* Install Primusrun = SUCCESFUL
* Install NVTOP (interactive NVidia gpu monitor) = SUCCESFUL
* Configure Bumblebee /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.d = configure to use nvidia driver and busid set to 1:0:0 - DONE!

Now, it's time to test.
* Execute command: "primusrun defaultbrowser" = Launch SUCCESFUL. Visit youtube and play a video

Result: You will see at the bottom right screen, it appears the intel hd 630 is the one being used with 11% while the nvidia remains at 0% (been watching it and it never moved)

I'll have to do more research but if someone who have experience on this and have a suggestion, it will be much appreciated. Thank you.

[jp734]

After some research, this is what I found.

Bumblebee, which is what I installed, is for nouveau driver. Since Im using nvidia 525 and nouveau is blacklisted, it defaults to intel

Bumblebee-nvidia, is for nvidia proprietary driver. Installing bumblebee-nvidia breaks my 525 nvidia driver because it uses and installs some 535 libs that are incompatible with 525.

I'll revisit this once bookwormpup 10.0.7 is released so I can upgrade to proprietary 535 and install bumblebee-nvidia

[jp734]

UPDATE:

New 535 driver, bumblebee-nvidia and primusrun installed but still not getting any luck. NVTop still showing intel being used. I've tried every possible command combinations:
- primusrun application
- primusrun -b application
- optirun -b primusrun application
- vblank_mode=0 optirun -b primusrun application
- vblank_mode=0 primusrun application

Never giving up! - Puppy CAN DO IT! LOL

[radky]

@jp734

Are you following Debian installation and usage guidelines for Bumblebee ?

https://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee

Bumblebee aims to provide support for NVIDIA Optimus laptops for GNU/Linux distributions. Using Bumblebee, you can use your NVIDIA card for rendering graphics which will be displayed using the Intel card.

[jp734]

Hey @radky - Yes, I followed this exact instructions. What's weird is if I run "optirun glxgears -info", it shows using nvidia @60fps (see scrot.jpg) AND BOTH GPUs are working at the same time. See nvtop with intel @ 2% use while nvidia @ 5%. But if I run say my web browser, "optirun -b primus defaultbrowser" nvtop only shows intel being used.

I'm close and it's probably something very simple step that I'm missing

I also tried "optirun defaultbrowswer", since that's how I ran glxgears, also did not work

[jp734]

@jp734

Are you following Debian installation and usage guidelines for Bumblebee ?

https://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee

Bumblebee aims to provide support for NVIDIA Optimus laptops for GNU/Linux distributions. Using Bumblebee, you can use your NVIDIA card for rendering graphics which will be displayed using the Intel card.

Wait, WHAT? Did I read that right? Using Bumblebee, you can use your NVIDIA card for rendering graphics which will be displayed using the Intel card . So, IT IS working in the background then? I guess this case is solved then,

[bigpup]

As I understand this duel graphics hardware setup in laptops.

Intel graphics in the CPU handles normal stuff.

When anything needing high graphics ability, it is done by the Nvidia hardware.

How you got this working would be a good topic to post in the How To section under Graphics/Video.

In Laptop computers with dual graphics hardware.
Puppy Linux has always been setup to only use the internal Intel CPU graphics and never use any additional graphics hardware.

So if you really did get this working.
Providing a How To would help others!

[jp734]

That's the thing @bigpup, I'm only assuming it is working based on the statement @radky found (I'm guessing from debian website). The only time I noticed a movement on the nvidia nvtop chart is when I ran "optirun glxgears -info" as seen on my previous post. Other than that, all apps I ran with optirun, only intel chart is moving. Maybe the load is not heavy enough to trigger the gpu switch from intel to nvidia. I will try working on some graphics and quickly zoom in and out and see if that will trigger it (hmmm ). Will keep you posted.

[radky]

Concerning bumblebee, the following archlinux wiki may be helpful:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/bumblebee

[jp734]

ArchWiki is pretty much saying the same thing:

Optimus Technology is a hybrid graphics implementation without a hardware multiplexer. The integrated GPU manages the display while the dedicated GPU manages the most demanding rendering and ships the work to the integrated GPU to be displayed

$ optirun glxgears -info
If it fails, try the following command (from virtualgl):
$ optirun glxspheres64
If the window with animation shows up, Optimus with Bumblebee is working.

I ran both optirun glxgears -info and primusrun glxgears -info. Both gave the same result. Also tried using the nvidia-smi gpu monitor, so it's only monitoring nvidia and not intel. It's showing 8MB of nvidia gpu being used by process /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg. See top right of screenshot.

I think I'm convinced it is working properly. I noticed it loads a bit faster than usual as well.

[bigpup]

What is the Intel CPU in this computer?

Intel has gotten the integrated GPU working as very good graphics hardware.
Have done a lot of work getting the Intel graphics driver providing very good outputs.
BookwormPup64 is using the latest version of the Intel driver.

I am not sure, what you are using to put high demand on graphics, is anything the Intel hardware is having issues with.

Maybe a modern movie playing.

I know a high end graphics demanding computer game would.

[jp734]

What is the Intel CPU in this computer?

Intel has gotten the integrated GPU working as very good graphics hardware.
Have done a lot of work getting the Intel graphics driver providing very good outputs.
BookwormPup64 is using the latest version of the Intel driver.

I am not sure, what you are using to put high demand on graphics, is anything the Intel hardware is having issues with.

Maybe a modern movie playing.

I know a high end graphics demanding computer game would.

It's an i7 7700HQ and am planning on installing Wine and a drafting program like ACad (and that would be a different topic as I've never used Wine before ) Computer game first came to mind but I'm not a gamer. When I ran multiple fast moving youtube videos and glxgears. The nvidia usage remained at 0% but I saw the temperature went up a bit. Intel spiked up to 50+%. Will continue playing with it but I still believe it's working because glxgears worked and it showed nvidia being used and they said: If the window with animation shows up, Optimus with Bumblebee is working.. Maybe there are some missing functionalities with the gpu monitoring programs?

[jp734]

Here's another test that convinces me it is working as it should. Two commands in terminal and the result next to them
nvidia-settings and optirun -b none nvidia-settings -c :8. As you can see, the one at the bottom executed with optirun showing more information in comparison

I'll try to come up with a guideline on how I got this working @bigpup. Hopefully I'll remember everything