Re: Nvidia Optimus, Debian 10, and Firefox ESR crashes

[David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com>]

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