Nvidia Optimus, Debian 10, and Firefox ESR crashes

[David Christensen]

debian-users:

I have a Dell Latitude E6520 with Nvidia Optimus graphics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Optimus


STFW and RTFM:

https://wiki.debian.org/NVIDIA%20Optimus

-> Using only the integrated GPU

https://wiki.debian.org/NVIDIA%20Optimus#UsingOnlyOneGPU


I have disabled Optimus in the CMOS Setup:

Video -> Optimus -> Enable Optimus -> unchecked


I have installed Debian 10:

2021-01-01 12:18:07 root@dipsy ~
# cat /etc/debian_version
10.7

2021-01-01 12:18:19 root@dipsy ~
# uname -a
Linux dipsy 4.19.0-12-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.152-1 (2020-10-18) x86_64
GNU/Linux

2021-01-01 12:29:44 root@dipsy ~
# dpkg-query -W xorg
xorg 1:7.7+19

2021-01-01 12:30:14 root@dipsy ~
# dpkg-query -W xfce4
xfce4 4.12.5

2021-01-01 12:18:23 root@dipsy ~
# dpkg-query -W firefox-esr
firefox-esr 78.6.0esr-1~deb10u1

2021-01-01 12:42:23 root@dipsy ~
# lscpu
Architecture: x86_64
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order: Little Endian
Address sizes: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
CPU(s): 4
On-line CPU(s) list: 0-3
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 4
Socket(s): 1
NUMA node(s): 1
Vendor ID: GenuineIntel
CPU family: 6
Model: 42
Model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2720QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
Stepping: 7
CPU MHz: 1021.254
CPU max MHz: 3300.0000
CPU min MHz: 800.0000
BogoMIPS: 4390.20
Virtualization: VT-x
L1d cache: 32K
L1i cache: 32K
L2 cache: 256K
L3 cache: 6144K
NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-3
Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr
pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe
syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl
xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor
ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic
popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb pti tpr_shadow vnmi
flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts

2021-01-01 12:18:31 root@dipsy ~
# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor
Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core
Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series
Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network
Connection (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev b4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b4)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC
Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset
Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family
SMBus Controller (rev 04)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [NVS 4200M]
(rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 HDMI Audio Controller
(rev a1)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6205
[Taylor Peak] (rev 34)
0b:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): O2 Micro, Inc. 1394 OHCI Compliant Host
Controller (rev 05)
0b:00.1 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ600RJ0/OZ900RJ0/OZ600RJS
SD/MMC Card Reader Controller (rev 05)
0b:00.2 Mass storage controller: O2 Micro, Inc. O2 Flash Memory Card
(rev 05)


After a random amount of time (minutes to hours) of watching videos on
YouTube in full screen mode via a KVM switch:

https://www.iogear.com/product/GCS78KIT


On an external monitor:

https://www.viewsonic.com/me/products/lcd/VX2260wm.php


The system will crash:

- Video is stuck on one frame.

- Audio continues playing.

- Mouse pointer is visible and moves with mouse movement.

- Mouse clicks have no effect.

- Keyboard input has no effect.


I can SSH into the computer after the crash.


The X log shows the problems starting here:

2021-01-01 15:45:09 root@dipsy ~
# tail -n 117 /var/log/Xorg.0.log | head -n 13
[ 553.029] (II) modeset(0): EDID vendor "SEC", prod id 21576
[ 553.029] (II) modeset(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[ 553.029] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 138.65 1920
1944 1960 2080 1080 1082 1087 1111 +hsync -vsync (66.7 kHz eP)
[ 553.029] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 92.44 1920
1944 1960 2080 1080 1082 1087 1111 +hsync -vsync (44.4 kHz e)
[ 553.362] (II) modeset(0): EDID vendor "SEC", prod id 21576
[ 553.362] (II) modeset(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[ 553.362] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 138.65 1920
1944 1960 2080 1080 1082 1087 1111 +hsync -vsync (66.7 kHz eP)
[ 553.362] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 92.44 1920
1944 1960 2080 1080 1082 1087 1111 +hsync -vsync (44.4 kHz e)
[ 554.022] (II) modeset(0): Allocate new frame buffer 1920x1080 stride
[ 554.648] (II) modeset(0): EDID vendor "SEC", prod id 21576
[ 554.648] (II) modeset(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[ 554.648] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 138.65 1920
1944 1960 2080 1080 1082 1087 1111 +hsync -vsync (66.7 kHz eP)
[ 554.648] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 92.44 1920
1944 1960 2080 1080 1082 1087 1111 +hsync -vsync (44.4 kHz e)


Followed by four instances of:

2021-01-01 15:45:46 root@dipsy ~
# tail -n 26 /var/log/Xorg.0.log
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): EDID vendor "VSC", prod id 64545
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Using hsync ranges from config file
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Using vrefresh ranges from config file
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1920x1080"x0.0 148.50 1920
2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync (67.5 kHz eP)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "800x600"x0.0 40.00 800 840
968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "800x600"x0.0 36.00 800 824
896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync (35.2 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "640x480"x0.0 31.50 640 656
720 840 480 481 484 500 -hsync -vsync (37.5 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "640x480"x0.0 31.50 640 664
704 832 480 489 492 520 -hsync -vsync (37.9 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "640x480"x0.0 30.24 640 704
768 864 480 483 486 525 -hsync -vsync (35.0 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "640x480"x0.0 25.18 640 656
752 800 480 490 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "720x400"x0.0 28.32 720 738
846 900 400 412 414 449 -hsync +vsync (31.5 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x0.0 135.00 1280
1296 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (80.0 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1024x768"x0.0 78.75 1024 1040
1136 1312 768 769 772 800 +hsync +vsync (60.0 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1024x768"x0.0 75.00 1024 1048
1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (56.5 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1024x768"x0.0 65.00 1024 1048
1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "832x624"x0.0 57.28 832 864
928 1152 624 625 628 667 -hsync -vsync (49.7 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "800x600"x0.0 49.50 800 816
896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync (46.9 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "800x600"x0.0 50.00 800 856
976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync (48.1 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1152x864"x0.0 108.00 1152 1216
1344 1600 864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync (67.5 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1680x1050"x0.0 146.25 1680
1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1600x1200"x0.0 162.00 1600
1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync (75.0 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1440x900"x0.0 106.50 1440 1520
1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync (55.9 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1400x1050"x0.0 121.75 1400
1488 1632 1864 1050 1053 1057 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x0.0 108.00 1280
1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (64.0 kHz e)
[ 555.537] (II) modeset(0): Modeline "1280x960"x0.0 108.00 1280 1376
1488 1800 960 961 964 1000 +hsync +vsync (60.0 kHz e)


Here is output of top(1):

2021-01-01 15:49:05 root@dipsy ~
# top -n 1 | head -n 15
top - 15:49:52 up 3:07, 2 users, load average: 0.30, 0.17, 0.11
Tasks: 180 total, 1 running, 179 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
%Cpu(s): 3.1 us, 1.6 sy, 0.0 ni, 95.3 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si,
0.0 st
MiB Mem : 15997.8 total, 6039.9 free, 3520.9 used, 6436.9 buff/cache
MiB Swap: 954.0 total, 954.0 free, 0.0 used. 6396.6 avail Mem

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+
COMMAND

223 root 20 0 0 0 0 I 6.2 0.0 8:27.72
kworker/2:2-events

1393 dpchrist 20 0 3306404 482716 184528 S 6.2 2.9 17:53.01
firefox-esr

1449 dpchrist 20 0 8853508 6.0g 5.7g S 6.2 38.7 41:46.50
Web Content

1988 root 20 0 8180 3340 2768 R 6.2 0.0 0:00.01
top

1 root 20 0 169760 10480 7924 S 0.0 0.1 0:01.41
systemd

2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00
kthreadd

3 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00
rcu_gp

4 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00
rcu_par_gp




Suggestions?


David

[Darac Marjal]

On 01/01/2021 23:51, David Christensen wrote:
> debian-users:
>
> I have a Dell Latitude E6520 with Nvidia Optimus graphics:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Optimus
>
>
> STFW and RTFM:
>
> https://wiki.debian.org/NVIDIA%20Optimus
>
> -> Using only the integrated GPU
>
> https://wiki.debian.org/NVIDIA%20Optimus#UsingOnlyOneGPU
>
>
> I have disabled Optimus in the CMOS Setup:
>
> Video -> Optimus -> Enable Optimus -> unchecked

Any reason for doing this? Optimus has (finally) become natively
supported by the Proprietary NVIDIA driver recently (it's just a matter
of running an application the environment variable
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD set to 1 and that process will use the dGPU).

Also, I notice that while Optimus is unchecked here, the NVIDIA card
still shows up in your PCI listing. I don't know a lot about Optimus,
but I think that indicates that the dGPU is still powered up (i.e. if
you're trying to disable Optimus for power-saving purposes, you might
not be getting what you want).

I think, basically, I'm wondering what "disabling Optimus" means. Does
it mean that the dGPU is unavailable to you (clearly not, it appears in
the PCI listing)... Ah, no... I see it! It's disabled the iGPU instead.
So, in this mode, you're using _only_ the NVIDIA GPU and _not_ the Intel
GPU. In that case, what NVIDIA driver are you using: proprietary or nouveau?

[David Christensen]

On 2021-01-02 05:23, Darac Marjal wrote:

Thanks for the reply. :-)

> On 01/01/2021 23:51, David Christensen wrote:

>> I have a Dell Latitude E6520 with Nvidia Optimus graphics:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Optimus

>> I have disabled Optimus in the CMOS Setup:
>>
>> Video -> Optimus -> Enable Optimus -> unchecked
>
> Any reason for doing this?

My goal was to disable the Nvidia GPU and enable the Intel GPU. Reading
your response below, it looks like I have achieved the opposite result.

> Optimus has (finally) become natively
> supported by the Proprietary NVIDIA driver recently (it's just a matter
> of running an application the environment variable
> __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD set to 1 and that process will use the dGPU).

From the link above -> Identification -> -Compare the identifier with
the list

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/technologies/optimus/supported-gpus/


I do not see the machine's Nvidia GPU on the list of Optimus supported
GPU's.

> Also, I notice that while Optimus is unchecked here, the NVIDIA card
> still shows up in your PCI listing.

I saw that too.

> I don't know a lot about Optimus,
> but I think that indicates that the dGPU is still powered up (i.e. if
> you're trying to disable Optimus for power-saving purposes, you might
> not be getting what you want).
>
> I think, basically, I'm wondering what "disabling Optimus" means.

As did I. Reading ahead, it looks like it means "use the Nvidia GPU alone".

> Does
> it mean that the dGPU is unavailable to you (clearly not, it appears in
> the PCI listing)... Ah, no... I see it! It's disabled the iGPU instead.
> So, in this mode, you're using _only_ the NVIDIA GPU and _not_ the Intel
> GPU. In that case, what NVIDIA driver are you using: proprietary or nouveau?

It appears the machine is using nouveau:

2021-01-02 13:45:52 root@dipsy ~
# lsmod | sort
Module Size Used by
ac 16384 0
aes_x86_64 20480 1 aesni_intel
aesni_intel 200704 5
af_alg 28672 1 algif_skcipher
ahci 40960 3
algif_skcipher 16384 0
arc4 16384 2
autofs4 49152 2
battery 20480 0
button 16384 1 nouveau
cdrom 65536 1 sr_mod
cfg80211 774144 3 iwldvm,iwlwifi,mac80211
coretemp 16384 0
cqhci 28672 1 sdhci_pci
crc16 16384 1 ext4
crc32_pclmul 16384 0
crc32c_generic 16384 0
crc32c_intel 24576 4
crc_itu_t 16384 1 firewire_core
crct10dif_pclmul 16384 0
cryptd 28672 5 crypto_simd,ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel
crypto_simd 16384 1 aesni_intel
dcdbas 16384 1 dell_smbios
dell_laptop 28672 0
dell_rbtn 16384 0
dell_smbios 28672 2 dell_wmi,dell_laptop
dell_smm_hwmon 16384 0
dell_smo8800 16384 0
dell_wmi 16384 0
dell_wmi_descriptor 16384 2 dell_wmi,dell_smbios
dm_crypt 40960 2
dm_mod 155648 5 dm_crypt
drm 495616 6 drm_kms_helper,ttm,nouveau
drm_kms_helper 208896 1 nouveau
e1000e 282624 0
ecb 16384 0
ehci_hcd 94208 1 ehci_pci
ehci_pci 16384 0
evdev 28672 16
ext4 745472 2
firewire_core 81920 2 firewire_ohci,firewire_sbp2
firewire_ohci 45056 0
firewire_sbp2 28672 0
fscrypto 32768 1 ext4
ghash_clmulni_intel 16384 0
glue_helper 16384 1 aesni_intel
hid 139264 2 usbhid,hid_generic
hid_generic 16384 0
i2c_algo_bit 16384 1 nouveau
i2c_i801 28672 0
iTCO_vendor_support 16384 1 iTCO_wdt
iTCO_wdt 16384 0
intel_cstate 16384 0
intel_powerclamp 16384 0
intel_rapl 24576 0
intel_rapl_perf 16384 0
intel_uncore 135168 0
ip_tables 28672 0
irqbypass 16384 1 kvm
iwldvm 159744 0
iwlwifi 249856 1 iwldvm
jbd2 122880 1 ext4
joydev 24576 0
kvm 757760 1 kvm_intel
kvm_intel 233472 0
libahci 40960 1 ahci
libata 270336 2 libahci,ahci
lp 20480 0
lpc_ich 28672 0
mac80211 835584 1 iwldvm
mbcache 16384 1 ext4
mei 118784 3 mei_wdt,mei_me
mei_me 45056 1
mei_wdt 16384 0
mfd_core 16384 1 lpc_ich
mmc_core 176128 3 sdhci,cqhci,sdhci_pci
mxm_wmi 16384 1 nouveau
nouveau 2179072 3
parport 57344 3 parport_pc,lp,ppdev
parport_pc 32768 0
pcbc 16384 0
pcc_cpufreq 16384 0
pcspkr 16384 0
ppdev 20480 0
psmouse 172032 0
rfkill 28672 4 dell_laptop,dell_rbtn,cfg80211
scsi_mod 249856 5 sd_mod,firewire_sbp2,libata,sg,sr_mod
sd_mod 61440 4
sdhci 61440 1 sdhci_pci
sdhci_pci 45056 0
serio_raw 16384 0
sg 36864 0
snd 94208 10
snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec_idt
snd_hda_codec 151552 4
snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_idt
snd_hda_codec_generic 86016 1 snd_hda_codec_idt
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 61440 2
snd_hda_codec_idt 61440 1
snd_hda_core 94208 5
snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_idt
snd_hda_intel 49152 1
snd_hwdep 16384 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 114688 4
snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
snd_timer 36864 1 snd_pcm
soundcore 16384 1 snd
sparse_keymap 16384 1 dell_wmi
sr_mod 28672 0
thermal 20480 0
ttm 126976 1 nouveau
usb_common 16384 1 usbcore
usbcore 294912 3 ehci_pci,usbhid,ehci_hcd
usbhid 57344 0
video 49152 3 dell_wmi,dell_laptop,nouveau
wmi 28672 6
dell_wmi,wmi_bmof,dell_smbios,dell_wmi_descriptor,mxm_wmi,nouveau
wmi_bmof 16384 0
x86_pkg_temp_thermal 16384 0
x_tables 45056 1 ip_tables


Any suggestions for trouble-shooting the crashes?


David

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

On 03.01.2021 02:52, David Christensen wrote:

Any suggestions for trouble-shooting the crashes?

Have you checked the systemd journal?
Even after you reboot frozen system you can see last syslog messages easily from previous boot with this command:
    $ sudo journalctl -b -1

Journald keeps logs from multiple previous boots.
    $ sudo journalctl --list-boots

You can select them by index. ( "0" is current boot, "-1" is previous boot, etc. )

-- 
With kindest regards, Alexander.

⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀ 
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀ 

[David Christensen]

On 2021-01-03 06:51, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
> On 03.01.2021 02:52, David Christensen wrote:
>>
>> Any suggestions for trouble-shooting the crashes?
>>
> Have you checked the systemd journal?
> Even after you reboot frozen system you can see last syslog messages
> easily from previous boot with this command:
>     $ sudo journalctl -b -1
>
> Journald keeps logs from multiple previous boots.
>     $ sudo journalctl --list-boots
>
> You can select them by index. ( "0" is current boot, "-1" is previous
> boot, etc. )

2021-01-03 14:01:19 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl -b -1
Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal
was found.

2021-01-03 14:01:29 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl --list-boots
0 8b60854b67c243679bec112a7050f054 Sun 2021-01-03 14:01:00
PST<E2><80><94>Sun 2


No of much use (?).


Start Firefox, browse YouTube, play video "Relaxing Christmas Jazz Music
10 Hours" (not in full screen) -- crashes after ~50 minutes:


2021-01-03 15:35:15 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl -b -1
Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal
was found.

2021-01-03 15:35:18 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl --list-boots
0 8b60854b67c243679bec112a7050f054 Sun 2021-01-03 14:01:00
PST<E2><80><94>Sun 2


Again, not of much use (?). How do I get information out of the systemd
journal?


dmesg(1) has some information, both about boot and the crash:

2021-01-03 15:40:07 root@dipsy ~
# dmesg | grep nouveau | head -n 30
[ 1.828481] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: NVIDIA GF119 (0d9160a1)
[ 1.849058] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: bios: version 75.19.6a.01.02
[ 1.849961] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fb: 512 MiB DDR3
[ 1.922123] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: VRAM: 512 MiB
[ 1.922254] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: GART: 1048576 MiB
[ 1.922382] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: TMDS table version 2.0
[ 1.922502] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB version 4.0
[ 1.922621] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 00: 01000323 00010034
[ 1.922741] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 01: 02011300 00000000
[ 1.922861] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 02: 08024382 00020010
[ 1.922981] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 03: 020323a6 0f220010
[ 1.923101] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 04: 02032362 00020010
[ 1.923221] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 05: 040433b6 0f220010
[ 1.923342] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB outp 06: 04043372 00020010
[ 1.923464] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB conn 00: 00000041
[ 1.923583] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB conn 01: 00000100
[ 1.923700] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB conn 02: 00001246
[ 1.923820] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB conn 03: 00002346
[ 1.923937] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: DCB conn 04: 00010461
[ 1.926692] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: MM: using COPY0 for buffer copies
[ 2.127037] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: allocated 1920x1080 fb:
0x60000, bo (____ptrval____)
[ 2.127308] fbcon: nouveaufb (fb0) is primary device
[ 2.935223] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fb0: nouveaufb frame buffer device
[ 2.950329] [drm] Initialized nouveau 1.3.1 20120801 for 0000:01:00.0
on minor 0
[ 319.407414] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: INTR 00800000
[ 2936.944954] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2937.000338] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2937.059429] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2937.115040] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2937.173447] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16

2021-01-03 15:40:11 root@dipsy ~
# dmesg | grep nouveau | tail
[ 2964.485920] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.542072] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.598799] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.654669] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.710811] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.767008] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.822927] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.879084] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.935106] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.991455] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16

2021-01-03 15:40:14 root@dipsy ~
# dmesg | grep nouveau | wc
519 3686 34789


Suggestions?


David

[David Christensen]

(Re-ordered for clarity.)

On 2021-01-03 04:01, Andrew M.A. Cater wrote:

> On Sat, Jan 02, 2021 at 01:52:47PM -0800, David Christensen wrote:
>> On 2021-01-02 05:23, Darac Marjal wrote:

>>> On 01/01/2021 23:51, David Christensen wrote:
>>>> I have a Dell Latitude E6520 with Nvidia Optimus graphics:

>>>> I have disabled Optimus in the CMOS Setup:
>>>>
>>>> Video -> Optimus -> Enable Optimus -> unchecked

>>> Optimus has (finally) become natively supported by the
>>> Proprietary NVIDIA driver recently (it's just a matter of
>>> running an application the environment variable
>>> __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD set to 1 and that process will use the
>>> dGPU).

>> 2021-01-02 13:45:52 root@dipsy ~ # lsmod | sort Module Size Used
>> by

>> button 16384 1 nouveau

>> drm 495616 6 drm_kms_helper,ttm,nouveau
>> drm_kms_helper 208896 1 nouveau

>> i2c_algo_bit 16384 1 nouveau

>> mxm_wmi 16384 1 nouveau

>> ttm 126976 1 nouveau

>> video 49152 3 dell_wmi,dell_laptop,nouveau

>> dell_wmi,wmi_bmof,dell_smbios,dell_wmi_descriptor,mxm_wmi,nouveau

> If you can afford to reinstall the machine: change the option back
> above. Do an expert text mode install which should work using basic
> graphics. Do _NOT_ install a desktop environment or anything much
> more than a> bare text mode only system. Finish the install. Reboot.
> At that point, install the proprietary drivers. Then, and only then,
> use tasksel to install a desktop environment which will pick up the
> Nividia proprietary driver and use that to drive the desktop.

> If nouveau is installed, you then have a significant problem
> installing the proprietary drivers hence the suggestion to
> re-install. I found this out the hard way with a laptop a little
> while ago that was using Optimus :(

As they say -- "there is no substitute for experience".


That sounds like a viable work-around. Thank you. :-)


David

[Felix Miata]

David Christensen composed on 2021-01-03 15:41 (UTC-0800):

> Again, not of much use (?). How do I get information out of the systemd
> journal?

sudo mkdir /var/log/journal

or

turn it on in /etc/systemd/journald.conf.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools, like religion,
is based on faith, not on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/

[Felix Miata]

David Christensen composed on 2021-01-03 15:41 (UTC-0800):

> Again, not of much use (?). How do I get information out of the systemd
> journal?

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

On 04.01.2021 04:41, David Christensen wrote:

On 2021-01-03 06:51, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

On 03.01.2021 02:52, David Christensen wrote:

Any suggestions for trouble-shooting the crashes?

Have you checked the systemd journal?
Even after you reboot frozen system you can see last syslog messages easily from previous boot with this command:
     $ sudo journalctl -b -1

Journald keeps logs from multiple previous boots.
     $ sudo journalctl --list-boots

You can select them by index. ( "0" is current boot, "-1" is previous boot, etc. )

2021-01-03 14:01:19 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl -b -1
Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal was found.

2021-01-03 14:01:29 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl --list-boots
 0 8b60854b67c243679bec112a7050f054 Sun 2021-01-03 14:01:00 PST<E2><80><94>Sun 2


No of much use (?).

Sorry, I completely forgot this feature isn't yet [1] enabled by default.
This is what I get on my system:
$ journalctl --list-boots | tail -n3
 -2 e9c28f25bcbe4e26a93e519d231e046e Fri 2021-01-01 19:42:32 +05—Sat 2021-01-02 03:28:07 +05
 -1 766d50af660f4904839a3f6b1aa5b2c2 Sat 2021-01-02 11:31:12 +05—Sun 2021-01-03 06:46:03 +05
  0 a65baabd511b490eb65d2e8c69e70700 Sun 2021-01-03 12:37:32 +05—Mon 2021-01-04 05:00:01 +05

Start Firefox, browse YouTube, play video "Relaxing Christmas Jazz Music 10 Hours" (not in full screen) -- crashes after ~50 minutes:


2021-01-03 15:35:15 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl -b -1
Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal was found.

2021-01-03 15:35:18 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl --list-boots
 0 8b60854b67c243679bec112a7050f054 Sun 2021-01-03 14:01:00 PST<E2><80><94>Sun 2


Again, not of much use (?).  How do I get information out of the systemd journal?

You can read a brief tutorial on journal here. [2]
For now, until you enable persistent journal, you have only current boot journal:
$ journalctl -b 0

dmesg(1) has some information, both about boot and the crash:

2021-01-03 15:40:11 root@dipsy ~
# dmesg | grep nouveau | tail
[ 2964.485920] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.542072] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.598799] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.654669] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.710811] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.767008] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.822927] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.879084] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.935106] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16
[ 2964.991455] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[731]: nv50cal_space: -16

2021-01-03 15:40:14 root@dipsy ~
# dmesg | grep nouveau | wc
    519    3686   34789


Suggestions?

It looks like "nouveau" deadlock bug. [3] Have you tried to install proprietary driver?
Last supported driver version for your VGA is 390, so you will need to install "nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver" package from Debian non-free repo.

    $ sudo apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-support



[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2020/02/msg00000.html
[2] https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-journalctl-to-view-and-manipulate-systemd-logs
[3] https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=81690

[David Christensen]

On 2021-01-03 15:52, Felix Miata wrote:
> David Christensen composed on 2021-01-03 15:41 (UTC-0800):
>
>> Again, not of much use (?). How do I get information out of the systemd
>> journal?
>
> sudo mkdir /var/log/journal
>
> or
>
> turn it on in /etc/systemd/journald.conf.

STFW 'systemd journal':

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd/Journal


Edit /etc/systemd/journald.conf:

Storage=persistent


Reboot. Verify journal exists on disk:

2021-01-03 16:39:08 root@dipsy ~
# ls -l /var/log/journal/f1c6f007595c4c8c99bc5043ea75d9ac/system.journal
-rw-r-----+ 1 root systemd-journal 8388608 Jan 3 16:35
/var/log/journal/f1c6f007595c4c8c99bc5043ea75d9ac/system.journal


Look at journal:

2021-01-03 16:40:12 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl | tail
Jan 03 16:35:19 dipsy ntpd[708]: Soliciting pool server 138.68.201.49
Jan 03 16:35:20 dipsy ntpd[708]: Soliciting pool server 184.105.182.16
Jan 03 16:35:20 dipsy colord[701]: failed to get session [pid 633]: No
data available
Jan 03 16:35:21 dipsy ntpd[708]: Soliciting pool server 163.123.152.89
Jan 03 16:35:22 dipsy ntpd[708]: Soliciting pool server 107.155.79.3
Jan 03 16:35:23 dipsy ntpd[708]: Soliciting pool server 66.85.78.80
Jan 03 16:35:24 dipsy ntpd[708]: receive: Unexpected origin timestamp
0xe39ce14d.26c92953 does not match aorg 0000000000.00000000 from
ser...@3.217.79.242 xmt 0xe39ce14c.c2bde0d4
Jan 03 16:35:26 dipsy systemd[1]: NetworkManager-dispatcher.service:
Succeeded.
Jan 03 16:35:36 dipsy systemd[1]: systemd-fsckd.service: Succeeded.
Jan 03 16:35:36 dipsy systemd[1]: systemd-hostnamed.service: Succeeded.


Start Firefox. Browse to YouTube. Play "Relaxing Christmas Jazz Music
10 Hours". Minimize Firefox window. Wait. Look at systemd journal
after crash:

2021-01-03 19:37:25 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl | tail
Jan 03 19:41:32 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:32 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:32 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:32 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:33 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:33 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:33 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:33 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:33 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16
Jan 03 19:41:33 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Xorg[724]:
nv50cal_space: -16


After reboot:

2021-01-03 19:56:21 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl --list-boots
-1 34a8ac614d574be5ae0258dffc462c15 Sun 2021-01-03 16:35:06

PST<E2><80><94>Sun 2

0 f5adb0073b924ecf8e3733c64acfba32 Sun 2021-01-03 19:54:27

PST<E2><80><94>Sun 2

2021-01-03 20:00:55 root@dipsy ~
# journalctl -b -1 | grep nouveau | tail
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: ? nouveau_channel_idle+0x94/0xe0 [nouveau]
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: nouveau_abi16_chan_fini.isra.1+0xa0/0x110
[nouveau]
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: nouveau_abi16_fini+0x2d/0x70 [nouveau]
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: nouveau_drm_postclose+0x4c/0xf0 [nouveau]
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: channel 2
[Xorg[724]] kick timeout
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: nouveau: Xorg[724]:00000000:0000906f:
detach sw failed, -110
Jan 03 19:53:50 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: SCHED_ERROR 0d []
Jan 03 19:53:52 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: runlist update
timeout
Jan 03 19:53:52 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: INTR 00000001:
00000003
Jan 03 19:53:53 dipsy kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: DRM: GPU lockup -
switching to software fbcon


The systemd journal could prove to be useful. Thank you. :-)


David

[David Wright]

[…]

> 2021-01-03 15:40:14 root@dipsy ~
> # dmesg | grep nouveau | wc
> 519 3686 34789
>
> Suggestions?

I don't have persistent journalling set, but I see very little in
journalctl -b that's missing from my ordinary logs, particularly
/var/log/journal of course, but also daemon.log and syslog.

Cheers,
David.

[David Christensen]

On 2021-01-01 15:51, David Christensen wrote:
> 2021-01-01 12:18:31 root@dipsy ~ # lspci

> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [NVS 4200M] (rev a1)

> 01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 HDMI Audio Controller (rev a1)

On 2021-01-03 17:43, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

> It looks like "nouveau" deadlock bug. [3] Have you tried to install
> proprietary driver? Last supported driver version for your VGA is
> 390, so you will need to install "nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver" package
> from Debian non-free repo.
>
> $ sudo apt install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver
> nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-support

> [3] https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=81690

2021-01-03 20:06:51 root@dipsy ~
# cat /etc/debian_version
10.7

2021-01-03 20:06:57 root@dipsy ~

# uname -a
Linux dipsy 4.19.0-12-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.152-1 (2020-10-18) x86_64
GNU/Linux

2021-01-03 20:07:00 root@dipsy ~
# cat /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main non-free contrib
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main non-free contrib
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates main
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates main
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main
deb-src http://security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main

2021-01-03 20:07:07 root@dipsy ~

# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates InRelease
Hit:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster InRelease
Hit:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates InRelease
Reading package lists... Done

2021-01-03 20:07:14 root@dipsy ~
# apt-get install nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
dkms dpkg-dev glx-alternative-mesa glx-alternative-nvidia
glx-diversions libdpkg-perl libegl-nvidia-legacy-390xx0
libgl1-nvidia-legacy-390xx-glvnd-glx libglx-nvidia-legacy-390xx0
libnvidia-legacy-390xx-eglcore
libnvidia-legacy-390xx-glcore libnvidia-legacy-390xx-ml1
nvidia-egl-common nvidia-installer-cleanup nvidia-kernel-common
nvidia-legacy-390xx-alternative nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-bin
nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-libs nvidia-legacy-390xx-egl-icd
nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-support
nvidia-legacy-390xx-vdpau-driver nvidia-modprobe nvidia-support patch
update-glx
xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-legacy-390xx
Suggested packages:
python3-apport menu debian-keyring nvidia-driver git bzr ed diffutils-doc
Recommended packages:
fakeroot linux-headers-686-pae | linux-headers-amd64 |
linux-headers-generic | linux-headers build-essential
libalgorithm-merge-perl libfile-fcntllock-perl nvidia-settings-legacy-390xx
libnvidia-legacy-390xx-cfg1 nvidia-persistenced
nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-libs-i386 libopengl0 |
libopengl0-glvnd-nvidia libgles-nvidia-legacy-390xx1
libgles-nvidia-legacy-390xx2
nvidia-legacy-390xx-vulkan-icd
The following NEW packages will be installed:
dkms dpkg-dev glx-alternative-mesa glx-alternative-nvidia
glx-diversions libdpkg-perl libegl-nvidia-legacy-390xx0
libgl1-nvidia-legacy-390xx-glvnd-glx libglx-nvidia-legacy-390xx0
libnvidia-legacy-390xx-eglcore
libnvidia-legacy-390xx-glcore libnvidia-legacy-390xx-ml1
nvidia-egl-common nvidia-installer-cleanup nvidia-kernel-common
nvidia-legacy-390xx-alternative nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver
nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-bin nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver-libs
nvidia-legacy-390xx-egl-icd nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-dkms
nvidia-legacy-390xx-kernel-support nvidia-legacy-390xx-vdpau-driver
nvidia-modprobe
nvidia-support patch update-glx xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-legacy-390xx
0 upgraded, 28 newly installed, 0 to remove and 4 not upgraded.
Need to get 32.5 MB of archives.
After this operation, 123 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
<snip>

Note pop-up dialog:

Conflicting nouveau kernel module loaded

The free nouveau kernel module is currently loaded and conflicts with
the non-free nvidia kernel module.

The easiest way to fix this is to reboot the machine once the
installation has finished.


Choose 'OK'.


Installation finishes with some warnings related to the removed nouveau
driver (which is not unexpected):

Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.133+deb10u1) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-12-amd64
W: Possible missing firmware
/lib/firmware/nvidia/gp100/gr/sw_method_init.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware
/lib/firmware/nvidia/gp100/gr/sw_bundle_init.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gp100/gr/sw_nonctx.bin
for module nouveau
<snip>


Reboot -- boots okay -- login manager displayed -- login okay -- Xfce
desktop okay -- external monitor not getting signal.


Xfce -> Settings -> Display only lists one monitor "default":

Resolution 1920x1080 (or 640x480)
Refresh rate 0.0
Rotation None
Reflection None


How do I get the external monitor working?


David

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

On 04.01.2021 09:31, David Christensen wrote:

Reboot -- boots okay -- login manager displayed -- login okay -- Xfce desktop okay -- external monitor not getting signal.


Xfce -> Settings -> Display only lists one monitor "default":

    Resolution        1920x1080 (or 640x480)
    Refresh rate        0.0
    Rotation        None
    Reflection        None


How do I get the external monitor working?


David

"xrandr" utility should help you with diagnostics and setup:
    $ xrandr -q

Additional info:
    $ xrandr --listproviders
    $ glxinfo | grep -e 'glx' -e 'OpenGL' -e 'display'

Perhaps "nvidia-settings" utility could be a fastest way to configure dual-monitor setup and generate config file for Xorg to make settings permanent.
I don't use dual-monitor setup myself, so I can't get you a clean example of how to configure it.

[David Christensen]

On 2021-01-04 09:14, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
> On 04.01.2021 09:31, David Christensen wrote:
>>
>> Reboot -- boots okay -- login manager displayed -- login okay -- Xfce
>> desktop okay -- external monitor not getting signal.
>>
>>
>> Xfce -> Settings -> Display only lists one monitor "default":
>>
>>     Resolution        1920x1080 (or 640x480)
>>     Refresh rate        0.0
>>     Rotation        None
>>     Reflection        None
>>
>>
>> How do I get the external monitor working?
>>
>>
>> David
>>
> "xrandr" utility should help you with diagnostics and setup:
>     $ xrandr -q

Thank you for the reply. :-)


2021-01-04 19:22:57 root@dipsy ~
# xrandr -q
Can't open display

> Additional info:
>     $ xrandr --listproviders

2021-01-04 19:23:00 root@dipsy ~
# xrandr --listproviders
Can't open display

>     $ glxinfo | grep -e 'glx' -e 'OpenGL' -e 'display'

2021-01-04 19:25:06 root@dipsy ~
# glxinfo | grep -e 'glx' -e 'OpenGL' -e 'display'
-bash: glxinfo: command not found

2021-01-04 19:26:07 root@dipsy ~
# apt-cache search glxinfo
mesa-utils - Miscellaneous Mesa GL utilities

2021-01-04 19:26:28 root@dipsy ~
# apt-get install mesa-utils

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:

libglew2.1
Suggested packages:
glew-utils

The following NEW packages will be installed:

libglew2.1 mesa-utils
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 4 not upgraded.
Need to get 196 kB of archives.
After this operation, 1000 kB of additional disk space will be used.

Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
<snip>

2021-01-04 19:26:39 root@dipsy ~
# glxinfo | grep -e 'glx' -e 'OpenGL' -e 'display'
Error: unable to open display

> Perhaps "nvidia-settings" utility could be a fastest way to configure
> dual-monitor setup and generate config file for Xorg to make settings
> permanent.

2021-01-04 19:29:08 root@dipsy ~
# nvidia-settings
-bash: nvidia-settings: command not found


2021-01-04 19:29:19 root@dipsy ~
# apt-get install nvidia-settings

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:

nvidia-alternative nvidia-legacy-check
Recommended packages:
libgl1-nvidia-glvnd-glx | libgl1-nvidia-glx nvidia-vdpau-driver
libnvidia-ml1

The following NEW packages will be installed:

nvidia-alternative nvidia-legacy-check nvidia-settings
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 4 not upgraded.
Need to get 1393 kB of archives.
After this operation, 3787 kB of additional disk space will be used.

Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
<snip>

Note pop-up:

┌────────────────────┤ Configuring nvidia-legacy-check
├────────────────────┐
│
│
│ This system has a graphics card which is no longer handled by the
NVIDIA │
│ driver (package nvidia-driver). You may wish to keep the package
│
│ installed - for instance to drive some other card - but the card
with │
│ the following chipset won't be usable:
│
│
│
│ 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GF119M
[NVS │
│ 4200M] [10de:1056] (rev a1)
│
│
│
│ The above card requires either the non-free legacy NVIDIA driver
│
│ (package nvidia-legacy-390xx-driver) or the free Nouveau driver
(package │
│ xserver-xorg-video-nouveau).
│
│
│
│ Use the update-glx command to switch between different installed
│
│ drivers.
│
│
│
│ Before the Nouveau driver can be used you must remove NVIDIA
│
│ configuration from xorg.conf (and xorg.conf.d/).
│
│
│
│ Install NVIDIA driver despite unsupported graphics card?
│
│
│
│ <Yes> <No>
│

Choose 'No'.


And a new issue:

Xfce -> Settings -> Display -> Resolution now only offers three choices:

1024x768
800x600
640x480


The laptop has a 1920x1080 screen. The external monitor is 1920x1080.
The nouveau driver was able to drive both the laptop display and the
external monitor at 1920x1080. I would like to do so with the non-free
Nvidia legacy driver.


Looking around for X configuration files:

2021-01-04 19:34:58 root@dipsy ~
# locate xorg.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-amdgpu.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-quirks.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-radeon.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-wacom.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf
/usr/share/doc/xserver-xorg-video-intel/xorg.conf
/usr/share/man/man5/xorg.conf.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/xorg.conf.d.5.gz


RTFM xorg.conf(5), I am unsure if any of the located files (above) are
active:

Xorg uses a configuration file called xorg.conf and files ending
in the
suffix .conf from the directory xorg.conf.d for its initial
setup. The
xorg.conf configuration file is searched for in the following
places
when the server is started as a normal user:

/etc/X11/<cmdline>
/usr/etc/X11/<cmdline>
/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
/usr/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/etc/xorg.conf
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf


Any suggestions for getting the laptop display and external monitor
working at 1920x1080?


David

[Felix Miata]

David Christensen composed on 2021-01-04 19:47 (UTC-0800):

> And a new issue:

> Xfce -> Settings -> Display -> Resolution now only offers three choices:

> 1024x768
> 800x600
> 640x480

> The laptop has a 1920x1080 screen. The external monitor is 1920x1080.
> The nouveau driver was able to drive both the laptop display and the
> external monitor at 1920x1080. I would like to do so with the non-free
> Nvidia legacy driver.

Installation of a proprietary driver typically entailing several changes from a
default installation. Typically one such change is a cmdline option, either
nomodeset, or nouveau.modeset=0 in the case of NVidia GPUs. KMS, which these
options disable, is required to support all competent FOSS DDX drivers. The
fallbacks typically are limited to VESA modes, which AFAIK normally do not include
1920x1080, which you wouldn't want to use except in emergency anyway, as they
offer nothing resembling acceleration. Restoring a normal cmdline may fix you up.
It may not, as some uninstallation processes fail to remove a library altered to
accommodate the proprietaryware. People with this problem often choose to
reinstall the OS because all the help they get suggesting a fix fails them.

See also:
<https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog/mrmazda-1035595/amd-intel-and-nvidia-x-graphics-driver-primer-38306/>

[Andrei POPESCU]

On Lu, 04 ian 21, 19:47:18, David Christensen wrote:
> On 2021-01-04 09:14, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
> > >
> > "xrandr" utility should help you with diagnostics and setup:
> >     $ xrandr -q
>

> 2021-01-04 19:22:57 root@dipsy ~
> # xrandr -q
> Can't open display

The '$' in the post above means it should be run from a user account,
preferably within the X session.

Kind regards,
Andrei
--
http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser

[Felix Miata]

Andrei POPESCU composed on 2021-01-05 09:14 (UTC+0200):

> David Christensen wrote:

>> Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

>>> "xrandr" utility should help you with diagnostics and setup:
>>>     $ xrandr -q

$ xrandr | wc -l
17
$ xrandr -q | wc -l
17
$ xrandr | wc -c
706
$ xrandr -q | wc -c

I have no idea why the -q switch exists.

>> 2021-01-04 19:22:57 root@dipsy ~
>> # xrandr -q
>> Can't open display

> The '$' in the post above means it should be run from a user account,
> preferably within the X session.

Xrandr is an X utility. X provides the "display".

Inxi -G OTOH, can be run from without X, but X-specific information will be absent.

[Darac Marjal]

On 05/01/2021 08:27, Felix Miata wrote:
> Andrei POPESCU composed on 2021-01-05 09:14 (UTC+0200):
>
>> David Christensen wrote:
>>> Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
>>>> "xrandr" utility should help you with diagnostics and setup:
>>>>     $ xrandr -q
> $ xrandr | wc -l
> 17
> $ xrandr -q | wc -l
> 17
> $ xrandr | wc -c
> 706
> $ xrandr -q | wc -c
>
> I have no idea why the -q switch exists.

From the manpage:

    -q, --query
              When this option is present, or when no configuration
changes are requested, xrandr will display the current state of the system.

So, the point of it appears to be either to report back the results of
configuration changes, or to display the initial state of the system
before the change. It depends on how "current state" is determined.
Yeah, that's a confusing option.

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

On 05.01.2021 08:47, David Christensen wrote:

On 2021-01-04 09:14, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

"xrandr" utility should help you with diagnostics and setup:
     $ xrandr -q

Thank you for the reply.  :-)


2021-01-04 19:22:57 root@dipsy ~
# xrandr -q
Can't open display

You have to run it as a normal user, hence a "$" sign.

Note pop-up:

 ┌────────────────────┤ Configuring nvidia-legacy-check ├────────────────────┐


Choose 'No'.

As I previously explained, you'll have to install legacy driver version 390 for your VGA to work.
This will be true for any other additional packages that are part of Nvidia drivers.
So in order to get "nvidia-settings" utility that supports your VGA, you have to install "nvidia-settings-legacy-390xx" package.

And a new issue:

Xfce -> Settings -> Display -> Resolution now only offers three choices:

1024x768
800x600
640x480


The laptop has a 1920x1080 screen.  The external monitor is 1920x1080. The nouveau driver was able to drive both the laptop display and the external monitor at 1920x1080.  I would like to do so with the non-free Nvidia legacy driver.

I think somehow nvidia driver fails to process EDID information of your monitor and laptop screen. Also Optimus doesn't make things easier.
This is what I get with default settings (no special kernel command line parameters) on my system:
$ xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1680 x 1050, maximum 32767 x 32767
DVI-D-0 connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 474mm x 296mm
   1680x1050     59.88*+  59.95 
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02 
   1280x960      60.00 
   1152x864      75.00 
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00 
   800x600       75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25 
   640x480       75.00    72.81    59.94 
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

Looking around for X configuration files:

2021-01-04 19:34:58 root@dipsy ~
# locate xorg.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-amdgpu.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-quirks.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-radeon.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-wacom.conf
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf

RTFM xorg.conf(5), I am unsure if any of the located files (above) are active:

They are active, but those files are default config snippets. I have them on my system too.
Usually, "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" and "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/" is the place for X configs and snippets of X configs.

It would be helpful if you collect output from utilities I mentioned before.
Try "nvidia-settings" (not as root :), because it has ability to detect screens and generate Xorg config. [1]
I've just now found a very detailed configuration manual from Nvidia [2], that explains why monitors could not be detected properly (See a warning section for "ConnectedMonitor" option).

[1] https://zuttobenkyou.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/linux-nvidia-xinerama-guide-rotating-just-one-monitor-in-a-dual-head-setup/
[2] https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/390.138/README/configtwinview.html

[David Christensen]

On 1/1/21 3:51 PM, David Christensen wrote:
> debian-users:
>

> I have a Dell Latitude E6520 with Nvidia Optimus graphics ...

> After a random amount of time (minutes to hours) of watching videos on

> YouTube ...

> The system will crash ...


Recent upgrades seem to have fixed the problem:

2021-05-02 10:43:16 root@dipsy ~
# apt-get upgrade
...
The following packages will be upgraded:
apt apt-utils bind9-host firefox-esr gir1.2-gst-plugins-base-1.0
gstreamer1.0-alsa gstreamer1.0-gl gstreamer1.0-libav
gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-base
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly
gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio gstreamer1.0-x
libapt-inst2.0 libapt-pkg5.0 libbind9-161 libdns-export1104
libdns1104 libgstreamer-gl1.0-0 libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-0
libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-0 libisc-export1100 libisc1100 libisccc161
libisccfg163 liblwres161 openjdk-11-jre openjdk-11-jre-headless
thunderbird wpasupplicant xserver-common xserver-xorg-core
xserver-xorg-legacy


Reboot:

2021-05-10 19:37:46 dpchrist@dipsy ~
$ cat /etc/debian_version
10.9


I seem to recall similar experiences with Debian 7 and 9 -- after enough
point releases and package updates, graphics became stable.


HTH,

David