Clevo P650-RG w/980m + 4k internal screen + external 2560x1080 monitor on HDMI port.
For the longest time, I’ve been using 364.19 on an Ubuntu 17.04 (alpha through beta) laptop with the BIOS video option set to DISCRETE mode (no nvidia-prime). This has served me well for a long time, with both my internal and external monitors working together. Due to recent changes in 17.04, I was having issues with that setup, so I’m trying to get the system working with a newer driver.
The first thing I did was switch the BIOS video option to MSHybrid (Optimus) mode and install nvidia-prime (and select nvidia, though it was already configured to use nvidia). Still using the 364.19 driver (+ 4.4 kernel), I was then able to use the external monitor. But, for some reason the driver would not see/use the laptop’s internal screen after starting X and insisted that only the external monitor existed (both in nvidia-settings and the Ubuntu display configuration). I verified that it was in fact using the nvidia driver via glxinfo and even played some of my regular games this way. I only mention this to show that my HDMI port is NOT wired directly to the intel chipset and has been working in both Discrete and MSHybrid mode.
At any rate, due to 364 not compiling with newer kernels, and not being compatible with the latest Ubuntu X server packages, I need to move on to a newer driver. I updated to all the latest packages and am trying to get something to work under the 4.10 kernel.
THE SYMPTOMS: Finally, here’s what I’m seeing… If I boot the system with 381.09 or any of the other most recent drivers using MSHybrid mode (w/nvidia-prime installed and prime-selecting nvidia), it will work with the internal display. BUT, the minute I plug in my external monitor, the internal screen will go black and there’s no way to get it back. Also, the external monitor never starts up. Unplugging the external monitor and attempting to switch back/forth to vt sessions does nothing. I can still ssh into the system, but I can’t end lightdm (just hangs forever). I’m attaching a bug-report that I captured while the system was in this state. Doing a ‘sudo reboot’ also never seems to complete (after it kills my ssh session), so it seems like something is really hung up in the background.
Booting with the external monitor connected, I get the black screen just the same. I tried backleveling to the 375.39 driver, since others had reported more success with it, but I see the exact same symptoms.
Any suggestions are welcome. I’ve tried many many things not even mentioned here (every grub parameter I’ve ever seen), but I’m more than happy to try specific ones to capture better data.
nvidia-bug-report.log.gz (235 KB)