Optimus Support for Arch Linux for Dell I7559 Dual Graphics (Intel/Nvidia GTX 960M) Laptop.

Graphics / Linux Linux
21

Last time i checked , PrimeSync was not working with kernel 4.15. Is it fixed?

22

I’m now experiencing the same issue - sometimes the laptop comes back from sleep and works for a little and then freezes. Other times, I just get a ‘GPU has fallen off the bus’ message with no GUI or the like.

I tried installing i8 using Fan speed control - ArchWiki but it didn’t fix the problem. Do you have a configuration file that you used for i8 that you could share or other suggestions?

It is amazing though to finally be able to use my GTX 960m outside of bumblebee with no tearing under Arch.

23

I just leave the default settings. They seem to be the best so far. I don’t mess around with them too much. I do a lot of video editing, and it does really well under heavy loads. Yeah, it is pretty special to use the GTX960 outside of bumblebee with no tearing. I am going to try the same thing in Ubuntu.

I’ve tried a few distros, Void, Solus, Fedora, and now Ubuntu with this same process, and they seem to work flawlessly. Solus and Fedora worked like a charm, Void worked good, but I couldn’t ever install the fan, and I am waiting to reinstall Ubuntu.

VulkanGuy, that is some interesting stuff with Prime Sync. I have been reading about it.

24

OK, you can add Ubuntu to that list. It is successful. i8 fan control isn’t as optimal as it is in Arch, but it is working good otherwise. Tomorrow, I am going to install Manjaro. I have installed Chakra as well (I forgot about that), so this seems to be the way forward for this laptop.

Ubuntu has a different place to put the Xserver link which is that prime-sync if I am not mistaken. Awesome stuff.

In Ubuntu (Gnome), it is /usr/share/gdm/greeter/autostart/orca-autostart.desktop, and you will enter the following lines:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Nvidia
Exec=sh -c "xrandr --setprovideroutputsource modesetting NVIDIA-0; xrandr --auto"
NoDisplay=true
X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=DisplayServer

Everything else is the same. There are a couple of errors upon start up, but I will weed those out another day. It is working like a charm.

Man, I never expected to become an expert on this issue. LOL