New Dell laptop 17R - 2GB NVIDIA graphics not being used

[Steve-01370]

The formatting is incorrect... there should be no space after the dollar sign. However, an easier method would be

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic

Installing this metapackage will keep your headers updated in conjunction with kernel updates.

OK, thanks. Good to know. That wasn't the problem, though, The result when I did that was
"Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
linux-headers-generic is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded."

[dmeyer]

OK, thanks. Good to know. That wasn't the problem, though, The result when I did that was
"Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
linux-headers-generic is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded."

Then you have it installed. Continue with the next steps.

[Steve-01370]

According to the Muon Package Manager GUI, Bumblebee-nvidia was already installed.

There was no /etc/X11/xorg.conf to be deleted - but I ran the command anyway.

My bumblee.conf is pretty much identical to yours - except for a couple of paths. Paths you had like "LibraryPath=/usr/lib64/nvidia:/usr/lib/nvidia" were a little different here, but checking with dolphin showed my settings correct for this system. The only change I can see to try in my bumble.conf is to change PMMethod to either bbswitch or none (since powersaving is not an issue). Now to reboot and test.

[Steve-01370]

Then you have it installed. Continue with the next steps.

I uninstalled and then reinstalled bumblebee and bumblebee-nvidea, rebooted, read " https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project.../Configuration & https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project...roubleshooting" carefully while examining my bumblebee.conf, edited my bumblebee.conf to change "KeepUnusedXServer=false" to "KeepUnusedXServer=true", changed "PMMethod=auto" to "PMMethod=bbswitch" and then rebooted. No change in any error messages. Maybe I just need to get that Toshiba I linked. Hate to have to come up with around another $500 when I just last week bought this though.

[SteveRiley]

Wow. Wish I could help you more... on my ThinkPad T520, Bumblebee just worked. But I didn't like the extra layer of complexity, so I got rid of it and simply use only the nVidia graphics full-time. I'm at a loss to understand why it's failing for you.

[Steve-01370]

Wow. Wish I could help you more... on my ThinkPad T520, Bumblebee just worked. But I didn't like the extra layer of complexity, so I got rid of it and simply use only the nVidia graphics full-time. I'm at a loss to understand why it's failing for you.

That's actually what I'd like to do. Power saving really isn't an issue, and I got this thing in the first place for the 2GB nvidia. I don't know. Maybe that Toshiba I was looking at. Still opteron, but maybe not so much of
a pain. Thanks, though...

[dmeyer]

Wow. Wish I could help you more... on my ThinkPad T520, Bumblebee just worked. But I didn't like the extra layer of complexity, so I got rid of it and simply use only the nVidia graphics full-time. I'm at a loss to understand why it's failing for you.

I agree. I've set up Bumblebee aprox 20 times (14 of those times in a one week distro hopping binge on my Dell XPS 17 :cool and the other 6 times on 4 other computers. Not once was it difficult or problematic. The most tricky thing I ever had to do was change the library paths on my openSUSE 12.2 install that I now predominantly run. I just don't know what is going wrong here! I've worked with the Nvidia 600 series GPUs and they were just as easy to set up as my GT500 series gfx card.

I wonder if his initial experimentation etc. didn't leave a config file or something lying around which just keeps messing with his system.

[Steve-01370]

"distro hopping binge"? :-) I get THAT. When I started screwung with this a few days ago, I had Kubuntu 12.04. After a BUNCH of problems, I figured I'd try 12.10. Yesterday afternoon, after even more problems, I decided to try Linuxmint 14 with KDE. Same problems plus a couple new ones, so I booted with a boot cd, removed all the Linux partitions here (including swap), and reinstalled Kubuntu 12.04. I did all the updates, and then added the bumblebee repository via terminal and then added the package bumblebee-nvidia via the package manager gui. After a reboot, I checked to make sure there was a bumblebee group (there was), I was in the bumblebee group, and then looked at my bumblebee.conf to make sure paths were correct and bbswitch was set. Then I rebooted again and ran those 2 commands you suggested yesterday.
"glxinfo | grep OpenGL" gives me
OpenGL vendor string: Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile
OpenGL version string: 3.0 Mesa 9.0
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.30
OpenGL extensions: , and

"optirun glxinfo | grep OpenGL" gives me
[ 537.008955] [ERROR]Cannot access secondary GPU - error: [XORG] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to assign any connected display devices to X screen 0

[ 537.009023] [ERROR]Aborting because fallback start is disabled.

I'm starting to think that the problem isn't me, Linux, or even NVIDIA GPUs. The problem may simply be this Dell. I'm within the warrantee period and Best Buy does have this Toshiba:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...hiba&cp=1&lp=5

Another $500 and still NVIDIA with Intel, but maybe. At least it supports dual HDDs without sacrificing the optical drive. That MAY be the way to go..

[dmeyer]

"distro hopping binge"? :-) I get THAT. When I started screwung with this a few days ago, I had Kubuntu 12.04. After a BUNCH of problems, I figured I'd try 12.10. Yesterday afternoon, after even more problems, I decided to try Linuxmint 14 with KDE. Same problems plus a couple new ones, so I booted with a boot cd, removed all the Linux partitions here (including swap), and reinstalled Kubuntu 12.04. I did all the updates, and then added the bumblebee repository via terminal and then added the package bumblebee-nvidia via the package manager gui. After a reboot, I checked to make sure there was a bumblebee group (there was), I was in the bumblebee group, and then looked at my bumblebee.conf to make sure paths were correct and bbswitch was set. Then I rebooted again and ran those 2 commands you suggested yesterday.
"glxinfo | grep OpenGL" gives me
OpenGL vendor string: Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile
OpenGL version string: 3.0 Mesa 9.0
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.30
OpenGL extensions: , and

"optirun glxinfo | grep OpenGL" gives me
[ 537.008955] [ERROR]Cannot access secondary GPU - error: [XORG] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to assign any connected display devices to X screen 0

[ 537.009023] [ERROR]Aborting because fallback start is disabled.

I'm starting to think that the problem isn't me, Linux, or even NVIDIA GPUs. The problem may simply be this Dell. I'm within the warrantee period and Best Buy does have this Toshiba:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...hiba&cp=1&lp=5

Another $500 and still NVIDIA with Intel, but maybe. At least it supports dual HDDs without sacrificing the optical drive. That MAY be the way to go..

Yeah do it. I've actually set it up on Dells but maybe there is some really weird hardware configuration or maybe its related to UEFI BIOS legacy mode you are currently using. Toshiba laptops are pretty good, but see if you can splash out on a Lenova that would be even better. A Thinkpad is literally the best machine you ever buy but I don't think they make a 17" one anymore.