nvidia-prime 0.7 does not work as expected in 15.04

[Marcin Sągol]

Last days nvidia-prime 0.7 has been released but this version, like previous one, does not work in Vivid.

I'm not sure exactly how long this problem exists (i think something like 2-3 or more weeks), but it is impossible to switch to nvidia profile. Before nvidia-settings package offered controls to switch profile Nvidia/Intel but now its gone.

If we try:
#prime-select nvidia

we have:
Info: the current alternatives in use are: ['mesa', 'mesa']
Info: selecting nvidia-346 for the nvidia profile
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/nvidia-346/ld.so.conf to provide /etc/ld.so.conf.d/x86_64-linux-gnu_GL.conf (x86_64-linux-gnu_gl_conf) in manual mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/nvidia-346/alt_ld.so.conf to provide /etc/ld.so.conf.d/i386-linux-gnu_GL.conf (i386-linux-gnu_gl_conf) in manual mode

so it seems like switching to nvidia profile, but after relogin or reboot again mesa is marked as used.

If we try:
#prime-switch nvidia

we have:
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for x86_64-linux-gnu_gfxcore_conf
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mesa/ld.so.conf to provide /etc/ld.so.conf.d/x86_64-linux-gnu_GL.conf (x86_64-linux-gnu_gl_conf) in manual mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/mesa/ld.so.conf to provide /etc/ld.so.conf.d/i386-linux-gnu_GL.conf (i386-linux-gnu_gl_conf) in manual mode
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for x86_64-linux-gnu_gfxcore_conf

I have tried various driver versions but none of them work now.

I'm running:
Kubuntu 15.04 (current/daily)
Kernel: 3.18.0-9

If you need any extra info, please comment.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[cardonator (bcardon)]

I am getting the same thing. After logout/login it will go to a black screen. If you restart sddm it will come back up with MESA driver.

[Supersaiyan_IV (saiyan-iv)]

Fujitsu NH532 laptop here, running Ubuntu Mate 15.04 with 3.19.0-10-generic and Nvidia 346.47.
Booting into Ubuntu yields both Intel and Nvidia card running, despite PRIME being set to INTEL.

Workaround:
1. Log in. Observe that powertop reports abnormal power usage. Both Intel and Nvidia cards are therefore on.
2. Set PRIME profile to NVIDIA. Log out, then log in.
3. Set PRIME profile to INTEL. Log out, then log in.
4. Done.

Workaround works until next reboot.

[Matteo Gismondi (matteo-gismondi)]

Same problem, I can only have mesa.

Lenovo T440s
Ubuntu 15.04 64 bit
3.16.0-29-generic
Nvidia 346.47
nvidia-prime 0.8

[Matteo Gismondi (matteo-gismondi)]

3 April 2015

nvidia-prime was updated to version 0.8.1

the problem persists.

[cardonator (bcardon)]

This is a pretty big blocker for 15.04 and it's getting very little discussion/updates?

[Marcin Sągol (soee)]

Good news, nvidia-prime already works with sddm (system boots) but we can't use propriety drivers yet. But there are some patches ready that should fix that soon... be patient :)

[cardonator (bcardon)]

Thanks, Marcin. Stuck on ye olde open source drivers until such time...

[Marcin Sągol (soee)]

Oh we have some activity here so i should mention that nvidia-prime now works with propriety drivers (346 version only it seems).

[Mikael Bergqvist (mikaelb)]

nvidia-prime with intel selected works with proprietary drivers 346, but not with nvidia selected.

[Pau Garcia i Quiles (pgquiles)]

Can someone please describe what is the problem with SDDM and selecting nvidia? Does the nvidia driver look for something that SDDM does not provide but LightDM does?

[Darius Damalakas (darkcloud)]

Same here. Just upgraded from 14.04 to 15.04, and now fan is not turning off. Open NVidia xserver setings, GPU is set to Intel, but fan still running. That wasnt happening back with 14.04 and bumbleebee/optimus prime, sorry, can't remember which set-up i've used.

Would love to see a workaround solution, it's a shame this problem still persists after several years - can't really use ubuntu like that.

[Abhisek Maiti (mail2abhisek-maiti)]

I'm affected by this bug since Kubuntu 14.04 LTS. Still in Kubuntu 15.04 it persists...

Kubuntu 15.04 64Bit
Linux 3.19.0-16-generic
Nvidia 346.47
nvidia-prime 0.8

Why bug fixing process is so slow in case of this package?? Please fix it ASAP.

[Matteo Gismondi (matteo-gismondi)]

Is it possible to know if there is at least a workaround? Or is it better for me to change my laptop?
I cannot work.....
Thank you

[efonde (efonde)]

Need to say I'm also having the same problem with Ubuntu Mate 14.04 LTS version. I have tried various nvidia version but all the same result. Black screen after ubuntu mate logo and that error after "sudo prime-switch nvidia" command :

/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
/etc/modprobe.d is not a file
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for x86_64-linux-gnu_gfxcore_conf
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for x86_64-linux-gnu_gfxcore_conf
 

[Julien Olivier (julo)]

Seems that gpumanager is responsible for erasing the configuration after every reboot. However, if I add the "nogpumanager" option to grub, then select the "nvidia" profile, xorg doesn't start at next boot.