External displays laggy with thunderbolt 3 dock and Nvidia dGPU

Support Graphics & Display
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1

Hi all,

I recently installed Manjaro KDE and let it auto install proprietary drivers for my graphics. I am currently attempting to use a Thunderbolt 3 dock with basic peripherals and two 1080p monitors. I have tested the hardware with Windows to be certain that everything is compatible. My issue is that my graphics configuration allows only one monitor to be connected at a time to be usable (both are detected regardless), and that any ‘successful’ connection of a monitor (directly and through the dock) results in an extremely lagy experience on that monitor. I believe that I need assistance configuring my graphics such that the internal Nvidia GPU can be utilized for those monitors. All other devices connected to the dock (keyboard, flash drives, and mouse) work properly. I am not really sure what the current Intel/Nvidia graphics setup is on my laptop, but one clue is that I can run the command prime-run to utilize the Nvidia GPU for specific processes.

Below is the output of inxi -Faz

System:    Kernel: 5.9.11-3-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.9-x86_64 root=UUID=223b5d9e-6921-4fc0-ae3f-4243c0301d4e rw quiet apparmor=1 
           security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3 
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.20.4 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:   Type: Convertible System: HP product: HP Spectre x360 Convertible 15t-df100 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 31 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: HP model: 863E v: 53.34 serial: <filter> UEFI: AMI v: F.20 date: 11/29/2019 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 58.1 Wh condition: 76.5/76.5 Wh (100%) volts: 12.1/11.6 model: HP Primary type: Li-ion 
           serial: <filter> status: Unknown cycles: 80 
           Device-1: hid-0018:04F3:298D.0001-battery model: ELAN2514:00 04F3:298D serial: N/A charge: N/A status: N/A 
           Device-2: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M510 serial: <filter> charge: 55% (should be ignored) 
           rechargeable: yes status: Discharging 
CPU:       Info: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-9750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake family: 6 model-id: 9E (158) 
           stepping: A (10) microcode: DE L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 62431 
           Speed: 900 MHz min/max: 800/4500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 891 2: 855 3: 900 4: 900 5: 852 6: 899 7: 900 8: 900 
           9: 900 10: 900 11: 900 12: 870 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable 
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:3e9b 
           Device-2: NVIDIA TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile / Max-Q] vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: nvidia v: 455.45.01 
           alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1f91 
           Device-3: Quanta HP Wide Vision FHD Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus ID: 1-6:3 chip ID: 0408:5255 
           serial: <filter> 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.10 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
           alternate: fbdev,intel,nouveau,nv,vesa display ID: :0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 7680x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 2030x571mm (79.9x22.5") s-diag: 2109mm (83") 
           Monitor-1: eDP-1 res: 3840x2160 hz: 60 dpi: 284 size: 344x193mm (13.5x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5") 
           Monitor-2: DP-1-0 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 96 size: 509x286mm (20.0x11.3") diag: 584mm (23") 
           Monitor-3: DP-1-2 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 96 size: 509x286mm (20.0x11.3") diag: 584mm (23") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.3 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: sof-audio-pci 
           alternate: snd_hda_intel,snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:a348 
           Device-2: No brand CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Audio type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus ID: 5-2:2 
           chip ID: 2188:6533 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.9.11-3-MANJARO 
Network:   Device-1: Intel I210 Gigabit Network vendor: CalDigit driver: igb v: kernel port: <unassigned> bus ID: 3e:00.0 
           chip ID: 8086:1533 
           IF: ens4 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: <unassigned> bus ID: 6e:00.0 chip ID: 8086:2723 
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 505.58 GiB used: 12.53 GiB (2.5%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: SK Hynix model: PC601 HFS512GD9TNG-L2A0A size: 476.94 GiB block size: physical: 512 B 
           logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> rev: HPS1 scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Ultra size: 28.64 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B 
           serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR 
           SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 326.21 GiB size: 320.09 GiB (98.12%) used: 9.92 GiB (3.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 
Swap:      Alert: No Swap data was found. 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 59.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 271 Uptime: 17m Memory: 15.26 GiB used: 1.39 GiB (9.1%) Init: systemd v: 246 Compilers: gcc: N/A 
           Packages: pacman: 1220 lib: 353 flatpak: 0 Shell: Bash v: 5.0.18 running in: konsole inxi: 3.1.08

Thank you for assistance,
Samuel Scott

2

Just a heads up I have had this same issue. In fact lots of issues with thunderbolt in general and keep finding threads like this , unanswered . So here is to luck…

3

If the problem is still present, please post the output of xrandr -q.

4

The following is the output of xrandr -q with the dock and all relevant devices connected.

creen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 7680 x 2160, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP-1 connected primary 3840x2160+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 193mm
   3840x2160     60.00*+  59.98    40.00    59.97  
   3200x1800     59.96    59.94  
   2880x1620     59.96    59.97  
   2560x1600     59.99    59.97  
   2560x1440     59.99    59.99    59.96    59.95  
   2048x1536     60.00  
   1920x1440     60.00  
   1856x1392     60.01  
   1792x1344     60.01  
   2048x1152     59.99    59.98    59.90    59.91  
   1920x1200     59.88    59.95  
   1920x1080     60.01    59.97    59.96    59.93  
   1600x1200     60.00  
   1680x1050     59.95    59.88  
   1400x1050     59.98  
   1600x900      59.99    59.94    59.95    59.82  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1400x900      59.96    59.88  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1440x810      60.00    59.97  
   1368x768      59.88    59.85  
   1280x800      59.99    59.97    59.81    59.91  
   1280x720      60.00    59.99    59.86    59.74  
   1024x768      60.04    60.00  
   960x720       60.00  
   928x696       60.05  
   896x672       60.01  
   1024x576      59.95    59.96    59.90    59.82  
   960x600       59.93    60.00  
   960x540       59.96    59.99    59.63    59.82  
   800x600       60.00    60.32    56.25  
   840x525       60.01    59.88  
   864x486       59.92    59.57  
   700x525       59.98  
   800x450       59.95    59.82  
   640x512       60.02  
   700x450       59.96    59.88  
   640x480       60.00    59.94  
   720x405       59.51    58.99  
   684x384       59.88    59.85  
   640x400       59.88    59.98  
   640x360       59.86    59.83    59.84    59.32  
   512x384       60.00  
   512x288       60.00    59.92  
   480x270       59.63    59.82  
   400x300       60.32    56.34  
   432x243       59.92    59.57  
   320x240       60.05  
   360x202       59.51    59.13  
   320x180       59.84    59.32  
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1-0 connected 1920x1080+5760+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 509mm x 286mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  59.94    50.00  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      70.07    60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       59.94    59.93  
DP-1-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1-2 connected 1920x1080+3840+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 509mm x 286mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  59.94    50.00  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      70.07    60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       59.94    59.93  
DP-1-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
  1280x1024 (0x6a) 108.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width  1280 start 1328 end 1440 total 1688 skew    0 clock  63.98KHz
        v: height 1024 start 1025 end 1028 total 1066           clock  60.02Hz
  1280x800 (0x74) 83.500MHz -HSync +VSync
        h: width  1280 start 1352 end 1480 total 1680 skew    0 clock  49.70KHz
        v: height  800 start  803 end  809 total  831           clock  59.81Hz
  1024x768 (0x7b) 65.000MHz -HSync -VSync
        h: width  1024 start 1048 end 1184 total 1344 skew    0 clock  48.36KHz
        v: height  768 start  771 end  777 total  806           clock  60.00Hz
  800x600 (0x8a) 40.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width   800 start  840 end  968 total 1056 skew    0 clock  37.88KHz
        v: height  600 start  601 end  605 total  628           clock  60.32Hz
  800x600 (0x8b) 36.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width   800 start  824 end  896 total 1024 skew    0 clock  35.16KHz
        v: height  600 start  601 end  603 total  625           clock  56.25Hz
  640x480 (0x97) 25.175MHz -HSync -VSync
        h: width   640 start  656 end  752 total  800 skew    0 clock  31.47KHz
        v: height  480 start  490 end  492 total  525           clock  59.94Hz
5

I suggest you install optimus-manager and try to switch to the “nvidia” mode. That’ll probably get rid of the lag, and hopefully you’ll be able to use both external monitors. Just install it, read the IMPORTANT: Manjaro KDE users section, and remove every display related Xorg configuration, reboot, and then run optimus-manager --switch nvidia. There is a more detailed, but old guide about it.

6

I’m hung up on the graphics driver installation stage of the instructions. There are some proprietary drivers installed already, but the guide is not specific as to what exactly I need. I’ve attached a screenshot to show what the Hardware Configuration tool has reported. I’m not sure what needs to be installed and what needs to be uninstalled. Note: out of caution, I have not installed the optimus-manager AUR package yet.

Screenshot_20210126_085044
Screenshot_20210126_0850441922×1407 319 KB

7

What you have installed at the moment should be fine, you can go ahead with the remaining steps.