[Ubuntu 19.04]Can't change the refresh rate

[NovHak]

Dear forum readers,

When I want to run some demanding games on my laptop, I normally switch the refresh rate to 40Hz, so that with VSync on, I can run at lower framerate and with no tearing as well.

However, while it works pretty well on Windows, I've not been able to do the same on my Ubuntu 19.04. I've tried a few things already, with no success. Each time, it behaves like it worked (no error message and xrandr command saying the active mode is 40Hz), but I can tell nothing has changed, since the game still runs at 60fps VSynced and cursor movement is as smooth as before. To make things more simple, I disabled the Nvidia dGPU with the "prime-select intel" command, and test with the glxgears program, that runs vsynched and windowed.

What I tried :

1) Changing the refresh rate from the GNOME preferences

2) Changing the refresh rate with xrandr (xrandr --output eDP-1 --mode 1920x1080 --rate 40)

3) Creating a custom 40Hz mode, and switch to that mode with xrandr (I take the modeline from cvt)

4) Opening a Wayland session and changing the refresh rate from the GNOME preferences

5) adding video=1920x1080@40 to the kernel command line, and retrying 1, 2, 3 and 4 in that configuration

Hardware : CPU : i7-4710MQ (Intel HD Graphics 4600), dGPU : Nvidia GTX 880M, RAM : 16 GiB

xrandr output is attached.

Here's the Xorg log : https://pastebin.com/dMw0LADg

Thanks for your help !

[AlHill]

Contact the manufacturer of your laptop for assistance. Your laptop manufacturer is solely responsible for your support.

Also, use the drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer, both intel and nvidia.

Doc

[NovHak]

Heck, this is a community forum here, what are you talking about ? I'm not going to sue anyone if I don't get help.

That being said, when speaking about the drivers from the manufacturer, you mean the 5 year-old ones ? I'm suddenly wondering why Intel and Nvidia are wasting time and money publishing updated end user-licensed drivers nowadays...

[AlHill]

Two issues:

1) There are no linux graphic drivers provided for your processor:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/78931/intel-core-i7-4710mq-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-50-ghz.html

2) It is always the case that you use the drivers provided by your laptop manufacturer, especially if you have dual graphics. For laptops, the laptop manufacturer, will modify/customize the drivers for their hardware. ANd, for proper switching between dual graphics, this is a must. And, your laptop manufacturer is responsible for your support. They made the laptop, they are the integrator, and you paid for their support when you purchased the laptop.

If your laptop manufacturer is not providing you with updated drivers, complain to them.

Doc

[luna1]

Do you know anything about Linux? 😑

[AlHill]

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005520/graphics-drivers.html

Doc

[NovHak]

https://01.org/linuxgraphics/gfx-docs/drm/gpu/i915.html

That's documentation about the Intel i915 driver for Linux, from 01.org, Intel's Open Source Technology Center website. One can read : "The drm/i915 driver supports all (with the exception of some very early models) integrated GFX chipsets with both Intel display and rendering blocks.". That obviously includes my iGPU.

Information about the i915 driver on my system says :

author:        Intel Corporation

author:        Tungsten Graphics, Inc.

So as you can see, there's a driver provided, which Intel works on. Granted, I can only say "works on" because it's open source, which enables other people to contribute.

Concerning manufacturer drivers, I'm not sure there's even a single manufacturer that's able to provide timely updates of specific drivers, because they don't want to mobilise resources to make specific changes each and every time the chip manufacturer (be it Intel, Nvidia, or others), comes with a chip-related software update.

So indeed, when one comes to companies that buy, say, Dell workstations in the hundreds for their employees to make Excel spreadsheets, there's usually a support contract. I know that, having worked on HP-UX/Sun/DEC servers in my domain, having an HP/Sun/DEC support contract and talking with HP/Sun/DEC representatives. But in the case of a single individual, better not expect that. And I would be curious about companies that have such support contracts for gaming computers...

[Wanner_G_Intel]

Hello NovHak,

Thank you for submitting your question on this Intel® Community.

As advised by Al.Hill, Intel recommends contacting your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Linux* Operating System Vendor to better address this problem. In this way, you can also get more information about compatibility, and other useful details.

• Linux* Operating System Vendors
• Graphics Drivers for Linux*

Hopefully, other community members may provide further help.

Wanner G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[NovHak]

Hi WannerG, thanks for coming in !

That's what I came for, precisely : community support.

I already contacted Ubuntu, well I rather mean the community support through askubuntu and ubuntuforums, but nothing has come yet. Concerning official support, I'm not ready to pay the $3000 necessary to get a support ticket with Canonical (lol). And let's forget about Clevo, my laptop manufacturer 🐵

I have the feeling that being on Linux I should not expect much here, which took me by surprise (considering that Intel is involved in open source), but I'm still hoping !

Best regards !