NVIDIA Legacy Driver Issues (Possibly a very easy fix)

[narutkepi]

Hello!
To keep things short, I was finally 100% fed up with Windows and finally switched to Mint about a month ago (so I'm new to this ecosystem), everything was (and still is!) a breeze except trying to introduce my GPU (Nvidia GeForce 820M GF117) to Mint. I don't use my GPU on my own anymore (everyday use, drawing apps and retro gaming isn't an issue on my CPU, so...), but I still need it on occasion if I'm running 2.5D and 3D games to play with those who are near and dear to me. I have a prior topic on this issue where a very kind person helped me with driver installation, here.

So according to data my GPU works. And sure enough my GPU works somewhat. I have to manually switch between CPU and GPU which I can deal with, but when I switch to my GPU Mint pops up Fallback Mode pop ups every 5 seconds, more than half of my apps don't boot or crash at startup, including games I play both native and Proton on Steam.

A quick note (something you'd know If you already checked the link above prior) is that I didn't need to install drivers because nothing showed up in the driver manager in the first place! I had to download and install them through the terminal. This behavior persisted on liveboot and on vanilla Ubuntu as well, I don't know what would be the results if I switched to a distro with a different base. Apparently Mint installed nouveau without my input and maybe a reason to why driver manager didn't show up anything in the first place. I'm seeing nouveau packages (libdrm-nouveau2, libdrm-nouveau2:i386, xserver-xorg-video-nouveau) installed on synaptic package manager. My assumption is that there's a clash between FOSS and proprietary, and I need to remove/disable nouveau somehow. However since I'm new to things I want input from people more knowledgable than me to how to remove/disable nouveau safely. Or If I should do that at all. Or If the proprietary drivers are just that awful.

Note: I'm on CPU mode as I try out these commands.

Code: Select all

narutkepi@narutkepi:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz 
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-117-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 info: plank wm: muffin 5.2.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP 15 Notebook PC 
  v: 0975120000405F00000610180 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 2337 v: 05.20 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde 
  v: F.32 date: 10/28/2014 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 0% condition: 1.1/41.4 Wh (3%) volts: 12.6/14.8 
  model: COMPAL PABAS0241231 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i7-5500U bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Broadwell rev: 4 L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 19156 
  Speed: 1006 MHz min/max: 500/3000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 798 2: 798 
  3: 798 4: 798 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:1616 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT 
  620M/625M/630M/720M] 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: N/A bus ID: 09:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1140 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting 
  unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:03.0 chip ID: 8086:160c 
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip ID: 8086:9ca0 
  Device-3: C-Media USB Audio Device type: USB 
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus ID: 1-1:2 chip ID: 0d8c:0012 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-117-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 5000 bus ID: 08:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8136 
  IF: enp8s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8723BE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: rtl8723be v: kernel port: 3000 
  bus ID: 0a:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:b723 
  IF: wlp10s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 117.22 GiB (12.6%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS541010A9E680 
  size: 931.51 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm serial: <filter> 
  rev: A710 scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 915.40 GiB used: 117.21 GiB (12.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 56.5 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/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/leap.list 
  1: deb https://deb.leap.se/client release buster
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://deb.librewolf.net una main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/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
Info:
  Processes: 284 Uptime: 4h 28m Memory: 7.69 GiB used: 3.64 GiB (47.3%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

Edit: GPU mode output:

Code: Select all

narutkepi@narutkepi:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz 
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-117-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 info: plank, mate-panel wm: Metacity 3.36.1 
  dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP 15 Notebook PC 
  v: 0975120000405F00000610180 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 2337 v: 05.20 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde 
  v: F.32 date: 10/28/2014 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 0% condition: 1.1/41.4 Wh (3%) volts: 12.6/14.8 
  model: COMPAL PABAS0241231 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i7-5500U bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Broadwell rev: 4 L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 19156 
  Speed: 798 MHz min/max: 500/3000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 798 2: 798 
  3: 798 4: 798 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:1616 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT 
  620M/625M/630M/720M] 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: nvidia v: 390.151 bus ID: 09:00.0 
  chip ID: 10de:1140 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting,nouveau 
  FAILED: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: N/A v: N/A direct render: N/A 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:03.0 chip ID: 8086:160c 
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip ID: 8086:9ca0 
  Device-3: C-Media USB Audio Device type: USB 
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus ID: 1-1:2 chip ID: 0d8c:0012 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-117-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 5000 bus ID: 08:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8136 
  IF: enp8s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8723BE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: rtl8723be v: kernel port: 3000 
  bus ID: 0a:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:b723 
  IF: wlp10s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 117.22 GiB (12.6%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS541010A9E680 
  size: 931.51 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm serial: <filter> 
  rev: A710 scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 915.40 GiB used: 117.22 GiB (12.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 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/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/leap.list 
  1: deb https://deb.leap.se/client release buster
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://deb.librewolf.net una main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/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
Info:
  Processes: 270 Uptime: 4h 53m Memory: 7.69 GiB used: 1.23 GiB (16.0%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

[SMG]

And sure enough my GPU works somewhat. I have to manually switch between CPU and GPU which I can deal with, but when I switch to my GPU Mint pops up Fallback Mode pop ups every 5 seconds, more than half of my apps don't boot or crash at startup, including games I play both native and Proton on Steam.

The data you posted in the other topic indicated the driver was installed correctly. When did this change happen that the system started going into Fallback Mode?

Apparently Mint installed nouveau without my input and maybe a reason to why driver manager didn't show up anything in the first place.

There is a difference between a display driver and a kernel driver. Nothing in the data you posted in this topic indicates the nouveau kernel driver installed. The nouveau display driver comes with the Linux kernel and becomes available if one has an Nvidia GPU.

My assumption is that there's a clash between FOSS and proprietary, and I need to remove/disable nouveau somehow. However since I'm new to things I want input from people more knowledgable than me to how to remove/disable nouveau safely. Or If I should do that at all. Or If the proprietary drivers are just that awful.

Considering how many other people are running the Nvidia-390 driver and not having a clash, then it's likely something else installed on your system might be causing a problem.

What are you using from the below repo?

Code: Select all

Repos:
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/leap.list 
  1: deb https://deb.leap.se/client release buster

By the way, the latest kernel is 5.4.0-121 so it appears your system is not being updated.

System:
Kernel: 5.4.0-117-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 info: plank wm: muffin 5.2.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0
Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal

Edit: GPU mode output:
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915
v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:1616
Device-2: NVIDIA GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT
620M/625M/630M/720M]
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: nvidia v: 390.151 bus ID: 09:00.0
chip ID: 10de:1140
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting,nouveau
FAILED: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: N/A v: N/A direct render: N/A

The info I highlighted in red is why Cinnamon is going into fallback mode. The Nvidia kernel driver is installed (in blue), but without a renderer, Cinnamon can not run.

What is the output of cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf? That file should not exist, so it's fine if that is the feedback you get. If it does exist, that may be part of the problem.

Please go to what you are calling GPU and provide us with a copy of the Xorg log. X Server runs the graphics in Linux Mint. Please use this command in a terminal to upload the X Server log file to termbin:

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cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | nc termbin.com 9999

It will return with a url address that you can post in your next reply.

[narutkepi]

What are you using from the below repo?

Code: Select all

Repos:
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/leap.list 
  1: deb https://deb.leap.se/client release buster

That's RiseUp VPN probably.

By the way, the latest kernel is 5.4.0-121 so it appears your system is not being updated.

I was behind updates, yes. I think I updated right after creating this post and the kernel shows up as 5.4.0-121 in inxi -Fxxxrz.

The info I highlighted in red is why Cinnamon is going into fallback mode. The Nvidia kernel driver is installed (in blue), but without a renderer, Cinnamon can not run.

What is the output of cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf? That file should not exist, so it's fine if that is the feedback you get. If it does exist, that may be part of the problem.

Please go to what you are calling GPU and provide us with a copy of the Xorg log. X Server runs the graphics in Linux Mint. Please use this command in a terminal to upload the X Server log file to termbin:

Code: Select all

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | nc termbin.com 9999

It will return with a url address that you can post in your next reply.

Code: Select all

narutkepi@narutkepi:~$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
cat: /etc/X11/xorg.conf: No such file or directory

https://termbin.com/568w

[SMG]

There is an error related to the Nvidia GPU.

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[   742.164] (EE) [drm] Failed to open DRM device for (null): -2

It's getting late for me, so I will get back to you tomorrow on what to check next to figure out why the error is happening.

[SMG]

I have to manually switch between CPU and GPU

Please describe the steps of how you make this change between the iGPU and the GPU and then describe how you make the reverse change.

What is the output of

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dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia