Some strange problems with Nvidia Optimus on a Dell M4600 laptop

[Art-WooD]

Dear Community,

I am running Linux Mint 18.3 since yesterday and like it a lot. But there is a strange problem with the Nvidia Card. Or maybe more with the Intel graphics card. The install of the Nvidia drivers were very easy and successful.
But my laptop is always wants to run with the Nvidia card. The optimus prime option is supported only for one session. I can activate it in the BIOS settings, then start LM and everything runs fine. I get the nice little Intel logo in the notification bar and can hear from the fan that the laptop truely uses the Intel graphic chip. Ans switching between Intel and Nvidia is possible.
Now I do a reboot and things starts to become wierd. The resolution in the splash screen still is normal. When I enter LM the Intel logo turns into a red cross and says the used graphic card is unkown. So I do a second reboot and end up with a splash screen in a very low resolution. Now I look into the BIOS and see the Optimus function is disabled. Now I can enable it and everything is fine... until reboot, then all the trouble starts again.

If I leave Optimus disabled LM runs fine too, but only with full Nvidia power. Which is a bit noisy.
The problems I found only are mostly the other way round, that people are not able to install or activate the Nvidia card. But in my case its the Intel card I guess.

Does someone know something about this problem?

P.S.: Good to know, with LM 17.2 I dind't have this strange behaviour.

[deepakdeshp]

If you know the kernel you used on 17.1,try using the same in 18.3
Ubuntu Kernel Update utility should be installed to install or remove any kernel.

[Art-WooD]

Thank you very much for taking your time to help me! I think I've solved the problem now, but long term testing will show the truth. I use the kernel of the 4.4 series. But the problem seems to be solved as I installed bumblebee aside the Nvidia drivers.