How to disable integrated graphics from grub

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Mowing7675
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How to disable integrated graphics from grub

Post by Mowing7675 »

Hello,

I've had a stable Linux Mint machine for almost 5 years now. Sadly my integrated graphics card has gone haywire... I ordered a new mobo from Dell to replace it, but I'm trying to stabilize my machine while I wait for the part. If I boot into safe mode, everything works perfectly although video hardware acceleration is disabled. If I boot normally, my current settings are to use the integrated GPU, so past the splash screen I get triangular colourful garbage that resembles abstract art.

I'd like to try to completey disable the integrated GPU so that the system regains stability and performance using the dedicated GPU... I know battery life will suffer, but at least I'll have a computer to work with. In my current setup, I had an applet in the dock that allowed me to manually switch between integrated, dedicated, or hybrid graphics mode. However I'm unable to boot into the OS and change this setting, and when I change it in safe boot mode, it doesn't save that setting when I boot back normally. Is there a way to do this from grub or from safe mode terminal? This is the System Info from within safe mode, and the lspci call:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-144-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Dell product: XPS 15 9560 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 05FFDN v: A00 serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: Dell v: 1.24.0 
           date: 08/10/2021 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 86.8 Wh condition: 86.8/97.0 Wh (90%) volts: 12.7/11.4 
           model: LGC-LGC3.67 DELL T453X serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-7700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 44798 
           Speed: 3509 MHz min/max: 800/3800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3415 2: 3563 3: 3649 
           4: 3500 5: 3416 6: 3494 7: 3750 8: 3595 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: Dell driver: N/A bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:591b 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile] vendor: Dell driver: N/A 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1c8d 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: vesa unloaded: fbdev,modesetting 
           resolution: 1920x1080~N/A 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.0 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.2.6 compat-v: 3.1 
           direct render: Yes 
          
~$ lspci -v | grep -i vga
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 630 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])

Last edited by LockBot on Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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SMG
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Re: How to disable integrated graphics from grub

Post by SMG »

Mowing7675 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:31 pmI'd like to try to completey disable the integrated GPU so that the system regains stability and performance using the dedicated GPU...
Welcome to the forum, Mowin7675.

Have you checked to see if there is a settings in BIOS/UEFI for you to switch to just the Discrete GPU? That would be the easiest way to accomplish that change.

If your laptop does not have that settings, then it is possible you are using the only option available to you. Many laptops are muxless which means even though you can switch to the Nvidia GPU for rendering, your screen may still be using Intel to display what is being rendered. It really depends on how the hardware was designed whether or not you can accomplish what you want to do.

I found this Dell Community question New xps 15 and dgpu info which indicates, "On the XPS 15 9500, all display outputs are still wired to the Intel GPU. The new XPS 17 9700 has a BIOS option allowing you to switch whether the Intel or NVIDIA GPU controls the display outputs (including the built-in display), but this is not offered on the XPS 15."

Sorry, but it seems booting into recovery mode is your only option. :(
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Mowing7675
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Re: How to disable integrated graphics from grub

Post by Mowing7675 »

Thanks for the quick and helpful reply! I believe you are right, I've tried a few things (unfortunately there is no BIOS option to disable igpu) and safe mode is the only functional desktop I can get right now, I guess it will have to do for the next week or so. :(
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