Thinkpad T520 Nouveau drivers issue

Support Graphics & Display
1

Hi,

I’d like to use the dedicated Nvidia graphics card in my laptop (instead of the integrated CPU one), but I’ve been running into issues.

I have a Thinkpad T520 and a fresh install of Manjaro. Upon installation, I picked free drivers, and I haven’t done anything else driver-related since. Also, the official Nvidia drivers no longer seem to be an option for my (at this point very old) graphics card while using Manjaro.

When go to BIOS and set the graphics to “discrete graphics”, the system doesn’t run - I’m stuck at a black screen. I’m unsure how to start addressing this issue.

All comments very appreciated! (And please let me know if you need more info)

(EDIT: I originally thought my issue was an inadequate PSU since I’m

System:
  Kernel: 5.10.56-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10-x86_64 
  root=UUID=38ab0fd9-55ea-4748-a62a-cca9f3a4d911 rw quiet apparmor=1 
  security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.4 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM 
  Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 4243W3Y v: ThinkPad T520 
  serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 4243W3Y serial: <filter> UEFI-[Legacy]: LENOVO 
  v: 8AET51WW (1.31 ) date: 08/08/2011 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 53.6 Wh (100.0%) condition: 53.6/56.2 Wh (95.4%) 
  volts: 12.5 min: 10.8 model: LGC 45N1005 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> 
  status: Full 
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.41 GiB used: 4.98 GiB (32.3%) 
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:
  Info: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-2760QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Sandy Bridge family: 6 model-id: 2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 2F 
  cache: L2: 6 MiB bogomips: 38288 
  Speed: 797 MHz min/max: 800/3500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 797 2: 797 3: 797 
  4: 797 5: 797 6: 797 7: 797 8: 797 
  Flags: acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx bts clflush cmov 
  constant_tsc cpuid cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept est 
  flexpriority flush_l1d fpu fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear 
  mmx monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm 
  pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdtscp sep smx ssbd sse sse2 
  sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_deadline_timer 
  vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr 
  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 status: Not affected 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0126 
  class-ID: 0300 
  Device-2: Chicony Lenovo Integrated Camera (0.3MP) type: USB 
  driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-1.6:9 chip-ID: 04f2:b217 class-ID: 0e02 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: 
  loaded: intel unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0 
  screens: 1 
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1600x900 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 423x238mm (16.7x9.4") 
  s-diag: 485mm (19.1") 
  Monitor-1: LVDS1 res: 1600x900 hz: 60 dpi: 116 size: 350x190mm (13.8x7.5") 
  diag: 398mm (15.7") 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 21.1.6 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T520 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403 
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.56-1-MANJARO running: yes 
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no 
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes 
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.33 running: yes 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T520 
  driver: e1000e v: kernel port: 5080 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1502 
  class-ID: 0200 
  IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak] driver: iwlwifi 
  v: kernel port: efa0 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:0085 class-ID: 0280 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  broadcast: <filter> 
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  Device-3: Huawei E353/E3131 type: USB driver: cdc_ether bus-ID: 2-1.1:8 
  chip-ID: 12d1:14db class-ID: 0a00 
  IF: enp0s29u1u1 state: up speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter> 
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  broadcast: <filter> 
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  WAN IP: <filter> 
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found. 
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found. 
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found. 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 59.56 GiB (25.0%) 
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SanDisk model: SD8SB8U-256G-1006 
  size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 0006 scheme: MBR 
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVDRAM GT33N rev: LT30 
  dev-links: cdrom 
  Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes 
  rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 195.89 GiB size: 191.76 GiB (97.89%) 
  used: 59.56 GiB (31.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 label: N/A 
  uuid: 38ab0fd9-55ea-4748-a62a-cca9f3a4d911 
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found. 
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 50 MiB fs: ntfs label: System Reserved 
  uuid: B496B9CC96B98F7C 
  ID-2: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 42.03 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A 
  uuid: 768CBE9C8CBE55F9 
  ID-3: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 508 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A 
  uuid: DCE2BEB1E2BE8EF0 
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 
  Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 8087:0024 class-ID: 0900 
  Device-1: 1-1.2:12 info: Corsair Gaming SCIMITAR PRO RGB Mouse 
  type: Mouse,HID driver: corsair,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s 
  power: 300mA chip-ID: 1b1c:1b3e class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter> 
  Device-2: 1-1.6:9 info: Chicony Lenovo Integrated Camera (0.3MP) type: Video 
  driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 200mA 
  chip-ID: 04f2:b217 class-ID: 0e02 
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 
  Hub-4: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0 
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 8087:0024 class-ID: 0900 
  Device-1: 2-1.1:8 info: Huawei E353/E3131 type: Ethernet Network,CDC-Data 
  driver: cdc_ether interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 2mA 
  chip-ID: 12d1:14db class-ID: 0a00 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2440 
Info:
  Processes: 267 Uptime: 6d 18h 36m wakeups: 3 Init: systemd v: 248 
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 12.0.1 Packages: 1372 
  pacman: 1369 lib: 424 flatpak: 0 snap: 3 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.8 
  running-in: yakuake inxi: 3.3.06 

Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1600 x 900, maximum 32767 x 32767
LVDS1 connected primary 1600x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 350mm x 190mm
   1600x900      59.99*+  59.82    50.00  
   1400x900      59.96    59.88  
   1368x768      60.00    59.88    59.85  
   1280x800      59.81    59.91  
   1280x720      59.86    60.00    59.74  
   1024x768      60.00  
   1024x576      60.00    59.90    59.82  
   960x540       60.00    59.63    59.82  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   864x486       60.00    59.92    59.57  
   800x450       60.00  
   640x480       59.94  
   720x405       59.51    60.00    58.99  
   640x360       59.84    59.32    60.00  
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
2

Do not set your system to Discrete graphics?!

:upside_down_face:

As this sounds like an XY problem, please state in plain simple :uk: without using any technical terms:

What are you trying to accomplish here?

:face_with_monocle:

1 Like
3

That’s a fair point, thanks. I’ve edited the OP.

I’d like to use the dedicated Nvidia graphics card in my laptop (instead of the integrated CPU one).

I need it for some light gaming and also to enable the Displayport output - since it only works with the dedicated Nvidia card enabled.

1 Like
4

  1. In the future, when providing code/output, please copy-paste that output in-between 3 backticks ``` at the beginning and end of the code/text so that the output looks like this:

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

    instead of like this:

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.`

    (as that makes both our lives much easier)

  2. No need to do anything right now as I’m a moderator here on this site and have fixed it for you already. However, in the future I might not see your post so review my RAW edits by pushing the orange pencil in the upper right corner of the post I just fixed. :wink:

  3. Your system does not have an nVidia GPU and I went on the internet to look for any T520 just to be sure that the nVidia would not be disabled in hardware, and I cannot find any Lenovo T520 4243 model that did have an nVidia (though I haven’t been able to locate your exact 4243W3Y model.
    So I’m sorry to say but: There is nothing we can do to help you. What you have is what you have…

:sob:

1 Like
5

The problem here is: Where the heck is your dGPU? There is only the Intel iGPU…

I believe it is disabled on your UEFI Settings if there is one.

6

@megavolt Please read #3 of my updated post.
@danapad You too obviously! :sob:

1 Like
7

Sorry, I would like to contradict that. Lenovo 4243W3Y Datasheet. The Linux 390xx should be responsible for this.
Unfortunately it has an old bios on it. He should try in the bios:
→ Config Display: set NVIDIA Optimus
→ OS detection for NVIDIA Optimus: set disabled
Start Manjaro and take a look at the mhwd

2 Likes
8

And keep a Manjaro bootable USB handy before trying that as his current install might become unbootable if OP changes those firmware settings. Thanks for finding the exact model number!

:point_down:

1 Like
9

If the TO with its old BIOS version already has the option to switch off the OS detection for Optimus, then nothing should go wrong. The PC continues to start with the Intel graphics and mhwd waits for more input. So much for the theory … :grinning:

2 Likes
10

I followed your instructions, and the system starts just fine now!

mhwd:


> 0000:01:00.0 (0300:10de:1057) Display controller nVidia Corporation:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  NAME               VERSION          FREEDRIVER           TYPE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
video-hybrid-intel-nvidia-390xx-bumblebee            2020.11.30               false            PCI
    video-nvidia-390xx            2020.11.30               false            PCI
           video-linux            2018.05.04                true            PCI
     video-modesetting            2020.01.13                true            PCI
            video-vesa            2017.03.12                true            PCI


> 0000:00:02.0 (0300:8086:0126) Display controller Intel Corporation:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  NAME               VERSION          FREEDRIVER           TYPE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
video-hybrid-intel-nvidia-390xx-bumblebee            2020.11.30               false            PCI
           video-linux            2018.05.04                true            PCI
     video-modesetting            2020.01.13                true            PCI
            video-vesa            2017.03.12                true            PCI

I’m now looking into Bumblebee’s settings and seeing if I can get my external Displayport monitor to work …

11

Therefore, I’ve marked this answer as the solution to your question as it is by far the best answer you’ll get.

However, if you disagree with my choice, please feel free to take any other answer as the solution to your question or even remove the solution altogether: You are in control! (If you disagree with my choice, just send me a personal message and explain why I shouldn’t have done this or :heart: or :+1: if you agree)

:innocent:
P.S. In the future, please don’t forget to come back to your question after your issue has been solved and click the 3 dots below the answer to mark a solution like this below the answer that helped you most:
Solution
so that the next person that has the exact same problem you just had will benefit from your post as well as your question will now be in the “solved” status.

1 Like
12

inxi now detects the Nvidia card:

Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0126 
  class-ID: 0300 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF119M [Quadro NVS 4200M] vendor: Lenovo driver: nouveau

As far as I understand, I need Bumblebee to take advantage of the Nvidia graphic card. Is this true?

I’m now having problems with Bumbleebee, but I should probably first search the forums and then open a new topic if I can’t find a solution.

13

Indeed and the NVS 4200M indeed needs the 390 series with Bumblebee

1 Like
14

I`m now releasing you on your own responsibility for your further work. Before making any changes, please make a timeshift backup on an external medium. Best wishes…

2 Likes
15

Thank you both for all your help :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

16

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