[Graphics] Difficulty using the NVIDIA GPU

[Matheus Dalmolin Giusti]

Hi, I'm a new Linux user. Kubuntu is my first experience with it. I have problems with the dedicated NVIDIA GPU. Apparently, it is not being used correctly. I installed the driver suggested by “Additional Drivers” (i.e. NVIDIA driver metapackage nivdia-driver-560). I have Envycontrol installed.
I really need some help. My knowledge of the subject is exhausted.

Kubuntu is installed on the SSD and is the only operating system.

OS data:
Operating System: Kubuntu 24.10
KDE Plasma Version: 6.1.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.6.0
Qt Version: 6.6.2
Kernel Version: 6.11.0-19-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × Intel® Core™ i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
Memory: 15.5 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® UHD Graphics 630
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 81TR
System Version: IdeaPad L340-15IRH Gaming

Other information:
mdg@LenovoMdg:~$ envycontrol -q ; nvidia-smi ; prime-select query ; glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer" ; __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NA[/COLOR]
ME=nvidia glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
nvidia
Thu Mar 20 12:40:23 2025
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 560.35.03 Driver Version: 560.35.03 CUDA Version: 12.6 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M | Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap | Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|=========================================+======= =================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Off | 00000000:01:00.0 Off | N/A |
| N/A 46C P8 N/A / ERR! | 230MiB / 3072MiB | 0% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|================================================= ========================================|
| 0 N/A N/A 1378 G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 24MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 4726 G /app/lib/floorp/floorp 200MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
on-demand
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2)
OpenGL renderer string: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2

More information:
mdg@LenovoMdg:~$ inxi -F
System:
Host: LenovoMdg Kernel: 6.11.0-19-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.1.5 Distro: Kubuntu 24.10 (Oracular Oriole)
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 81TR v: IdeaPad L340-15IRH Gaming
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0R33126 WIN
serial: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: BGCN36WW date: 05/24/2022
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 23.4 Wh (60.0%) condition: 39.0/45.0 Wh (86.6%)
volts: 11.7 min: 11.4
CPU:
Info: 6-core model: Intel Core i7-9750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache:
L2: 1.5 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 2463 min/max: 800/2600 cores: 1: 2600 2: 1076 3: 2600
4: 2600 5: 2483 6: 2600 7: 2600 8: 2600 9: 2600 10: 2600 11: 2600 12: 2600
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] driver: i915 v: kernel
Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB Max-Q] driver: nvidia
v: 560.35.03
Device-3: IMC Networks Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.2
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia dri: iris
gpu: i915,nvidia resolution: 1920x1080
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,nvidia,swrast
platforms: gbm,wayland,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa
v: 24.2.8-1ubuntu1~24.10.1 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2)
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.290 drivers: N/A surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS driver: snd_hda_intel
Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
API: ALSA v: k6.11.0-19-generic status: kernel-api
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.4 status: active
Network:
Device-1: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 Plus Bluetooth driver: iwlwifi
IF: wlp7s0 state: up mac: 5c:cd:5b:0c:7b:87
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
driver: r8169
IF: enp8s0 state: down mac: 64:1c:67:ad:cc:3f
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb type: USB
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: down
bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
address: 5C:CD:5B:0C:7B:8B
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.15 TiB used: 15.62 GiB (1.3%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: HP model: SSD EX920 256GB size: 238.47 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD10SPZX-24Z10
size: 931.51 GiB
ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: Kingston model: DataTraveler 2.0 size: 7.27 GiB
type: USB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 229.42 GiB used: 15.42 GiB (6.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
ID-2: /boot size: 3.86 GiB used: 202.1 MiB (5.1%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
ID-3: /boot/efi size: 299.4 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (2.0%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 512 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C pch: 55.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.49 GiB used: 4.51 GiB (29.1%)
Processes: 328 Uptime: 2h 37m Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.35



When I test WebGL Aquarium with 10,000 fish, I get 30 fps. And the GPU like this:
mdg@LenovoMdg:~$ nvidia-smi
Thu Mar 20 13:04:27 2025
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 560.35.03 Driver Version: 560.35.03 CUDA Version: 12.6 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M | Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap | Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|=========================================+======= =================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Off | 00000000:01:00.0 Off | N/A |
| N/A 59C P3 N/A / ERR! | 331MiB / 3072MiB | 26% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|================================================= ========================================|
| 0 N/A N/A 1378 G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 24MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 17058 G /app/lib/floorp/floorp 301MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Snowhog]

First, welcome to KFN. Second, what exactly is/is not happening with the dedicated NVIDIA GPU when you say "it is not being used correctly."?

[Matheus Dalmolin Giusti]

First, welcome to KFN. Second, what exactly is/is not happening with the dedicated NVIDIA GPU when you say "it is not being used correctly."?

Thanks for the welcome!
I think it's not working correctly for two reasons:
1- The command "glxinfo | grep “OpenGL renderer”" returns "OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2)", instead of "OpenGL renderer string: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2".
2- Because nvidia-smi shows that the GPU is 0, even with Aquarium with 10,000 fish.

[TinyTim]

Is it possible that your computer is using the Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® UHD Graphics 630 instead of the Nvidia GeForce GTX? Could you re-seat your Nvidia card into the slot?

[spirithawk]

Is it possible that your computer is using the Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® UHD Graphics 630 instead of the Nvidia GeForce GTX? Could you re-seat your Nvidia card into the slot?

i have the nvidia in my laptop has worked great with kubuntu 20.04 through kubuntu 20.04.1LTS64 bit

[spirithawk]

i have had good luck with my nvidia

[Matheus Dalmolin Giusti]

Best regards,

I have formatted the operating system. I tried using the nvidia-driver-570-server driver. The result was worse.
I went back to using nvidia-driver-560. By applying some environment variables in Flatseal, Floorp worked with the GPU.

But some problems remained:
1- Even using WebGL Aquarium with 30,000 fish (fps 10-15), the maximum use the GPU gets is 28%. From what I've been told, it seems that this is due to a CPU limitation.
2- The drawback of the nvidia-driver-560 is that it prevents certain programs from running in Wayland. It works normally in x11.

There are some similar reports on these forums:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/4881
https://github.com/NVIDIA/egl-wayland/issues/41

If anyone knows how I can solve these problems, I'd be grateful.