Framedrops when using ONLY external monitor

[nebben]

Hi,
I am a linux-beginner. I think this my problem is either very easy or very hard to solve.

I am running linuxmint on my notebook and I use it to watch videos on my TV. When the notebook is closed (e.g. ONLY the TV screen active) I get frame-drops twice a minute or so. BUT: When the notebook is open and the TV mirrors the notebook's screen (both screens active) there are no frame-drops.

To my understanding this immediately rules out all causes regarding network / GPU / connection.

Any help is appreciated.
nebben


Some details to my setup:
Notebook: Lenovo V330-14ikb, Intel Core i5-7x processor, integrated graphics, TV connected via HDMI
Software: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma Cinnamon, problem appears on Kernel 5.4.X and 5.11.X, problem appears in firefox, freetube, hypnotix, ...

[Larry78723]

Without some technical information, we can’t help you. Please post an inxi -Fxxxzr report. This will give us a concise overview of your hardware and how Mint sees it.

Here is how to generate the report and post it:
Open a terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-t). Make it fullscreen to avoid unneeded linebreaks or chopped lines. Execute the command

Code: Select all

 inxi -Fxxxzr 

exactly as it has been typed here.

Mark the complete text output which the command will display with your mouse.
Press the keyboard shortcut <Shift><Ctrl>C to copy the marked text into the clipboard.
Enclose the results between the code markers by selecting </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply then paste <Ctrl>V them in your reply between the code markers [code]Results [/code].

The results will help us to help you.

[Moonstone Man]

I am running linuxmint on my notebook and I use it to watch videos on my TV.

When you reply to the post above with the required information asked for by Larry, please also state if you've ever had the TV work properly with any PC.

[nebben]

Here is the output of inxi.

Code: Select all

nebben@nebben-Lenovo-V330-14IKB:~$ inxi -Fxxxzr
System:    Kernel: 5.11.0-25-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.5 wm: muffin 5.0.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
           Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 81B0 v: Lenovo V330-14IKB serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 
           v: Lenovo V330-14IKB serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40697 WIN serial: <filter> UEFI: LENOVO v: 6UCN35WW(V2.02) date: 11/14/2017 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 17.4 Wh condition: 26.9/30.0 Wh (90%) volts: 7.6/7.5 
           model: 0x53 0x4D 0x50 0x00 0x31 0x 0x4C 0x31 0x37 0x4D 0x32 0x50 0x2216 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> 
           status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-8250U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake rev: A L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 bogomips: 28800 
           Speed: 700 MHz min/max: 400/3400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 726 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 799 7: 800 8: 800 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:5917 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz, 1920x1080i~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
           chip ID: 8086:9d71 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-25-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 4000 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel 
           port: 4000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0042 
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 1-6:3 chip ID: 0cf3:e500 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 54.68 GiB (22.9%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLW256HEHP-000L2 size: 238.47 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 
           serial: <filter> rev: 4L1QCXB7 scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 233.24 GiB used: 54.68 GiB (23.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/linuxmint uma main upstream import backport
           2: deb http://ftp.uni-mainz.de/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http://ftp.uni-mainz.de/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http://ftp.uni-mainz.de/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/touchegg-stable-focal.list 
Info:      Processes: 249 Uptime: 4m Memory: 7.52 GiB used: 1.05 GiB (14.0%) Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
           gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

I used the same notebook with the TV when it was still running Windows. No problems there. I did not test the TV with different PCs though. I hope this helps.

[motoryzen]

I'm curious if the dedicated gpu in that notebook is going into some kind of sleep mode and it auto switches to the igpu built into the cpu. I've heard of some laptops behaving this way and it is considered a normal feature by the laptop manufacturer to help them boast about their " your battery can last this many hours" numbers.

If that is the case....I wonder if it's possible to force the dedicated gpu to remain running and not switch to igpu inside cpu from uefi/bios settings.

[nebben]

I'm curious if the dedicated gpu in that notebook is going into some kind of sleep mode and it auto switches to the igpu built into the cpu. I've heard of some laptops behaving this way and it is considered a normal feature by the laptop manufacturer to help them boast about their " your battery can last this many hours" numbers.

If that is the case....I wonder if it's possible to force the dedicated gpu to remain running and not switch to igpu inside cpu from uefi/bios settings.

I had a similar thought but I am pretty sure I don't have a dedicated GPU

[nebben]

I tested the setup with a different TV. Same problem. Funny. I now avoid the framedrops by leaving the notebook open all the time and the screen remains active at a brightness of zero. If it's stupid but it works, I guess....

If someone can think of a solution I would still be glad to hear it

[motoryzen]

I'm curious if the dedicated gpu in that notebook is going into some kind of sleep mode and it auto switches to the igpu built into the cpu. I've heard of some laptops behaving this way and it is considered a normal feature by the laptop manufacturer to help them boast about their " your battery can last this many hours" numbers.

If that is the case....I wonder if it's possible to force the dedicated gpu to remain running and not switch to igpu inside cpu from uefi/bios settings.

I had a similar thought but I am pretty sure I don't have a dedicated GPU

*politely hands you a permanent marker to write " Here's your sign" on my forehead*

Yeah I had memory flatulence. Sorry. I read the dadgum inxi -Fxxxzr report you gave and forgot you only have the intel igpu. derp. Get you a good laugh.