After recent updates display and wi-fi is lost

[Bret Busby]

On 04/12/2020, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 4 Dec 2020 at 13:54, Tuukka Härkönen via ubuntu-users
> <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Thank you Liam
>
> I could not find your reply -- all I saw was (collapsed) quoted text.
> Then I looked for your email and saw it was on Yahoo. If you're using
> the web interface, yes, it's annoying, but there's no way to properly
> bottom-post. I suggest Thunderbird -- it can talk to Yahoo mail and it
> makes it work "normally", in a more standards-compliant way.
>
>> it took some time to get back to this. So to answer those questions:
>>
>> *My GPU is Nvidia K2000m
>
> I googled this. It's a laptop GPU, yes?
>
> Does your machine have 2 GPUs with switching? nVidia Optimus or
> something like that?
>
> This is notoriously hard to get working with Linux. One option is to
> disable switching in the BIOS. Another, and I don't normally suggest
> such a radical move, is that perhaps Pop!_OS might work for you. It is
> a remix of Ubuntu from a company that sells dual-GPU laptops and it
> has the GPU-switching functionality installed and enabled by default
> from initial installation. It's the only distro I have heard of that
> has this.
>


My understanding is that Ubuntu Linux has had this functionality for
several years, and, this is the reason that, several years ago, I
switched completely from Debian Linux to Ubuntu Linux, and, when gnome
eliminated gnome2, to UbuntuMATE.

I believe that, if you search the mailing list archives, going back
some years ago, you should find references to this.

I bought my (then) souper dooper Acer Aspire V3-772G, with nVIDIA
Optimus and an i7 Haskell architecture CPU (and an inboard Intel GPU).

It took me 18 months to get it working. The computer has MS Windows 8
(preinstalled) on it, and, I had found that OS to be so difficult to
use, that I gave up trying to use it (and, forgot my password(s) for
it).

I had tried to find a non-MS operating system to run on that computer,
and found only two that had drivers for the i7 Haskell CPU;
dragonflyBSD and Ubuntu Linux.

When it came to nVIDIA drivers, and for Optimus, the response from the
dragonflyBSD mailing list, was "screw you - we are not here to provide
a usable operating system - we are here only for our own, closed
circle, limited usability clique".

I found that Ubuntu Linux had the applicable drivers, and, thus,
allowed me to get an external monitor operating with the computer,
since (and, it may have worked in earlier versions; I am not sure)
12.04, which is when I switched completely from Debian Linux to Ubuntu
Linux, as Ubuntu Linux was the only non-MS operating system that had
the drivers for that computer, including for nVIDIA Optimus.

I am now running UbuntuMATE 16.04 on that computer, my most powerful
computer, and, I intend to keep running 16.04 on it, for as long as I
can.

I have another computer with nVIDIA Optimus; an Acer Aspire 5750G
(which has MS Windows 7 installed, although, whilst I found that
version of MS Windows, to be quite usable, I haven't used the MS
Windows on that computer, for so many years, that I have forgotten how
long since I used it). On that computer, I have UbuntuMATE 20.10
running, and, I have not had any problems with either of the Acer
Aspire "laptop" computers running Ubuntu Linux, in terms of the issue
of using nVIDIA Optimus and thence, an external screen, with them.

On both of the Acer Aspire computers, I am running 24" external
monitors, at 1920x1080 resolution. I do not know whether the inboard
Intel GPU's on both computers, support that resolution - both
computers also have VGA sockets, which may be (I do not know, but, I
assume/guess that they are) connected to the inboard Intel GPU's.

>From memory, Ubuntu Linux had (I do not know whether it still has an
uses) the nouveau driver, for running nVIDIA Optimus hardware.

I believe that someone from Ubuntu Linux, such as Oliver, would be
more knowledgeable about the details here, regarding nVIDIA Optimus
and Ubuntu Linux, and could thence, clarify the details, but, what I
have described, is my experience; that Ubuntu Linux has been able to
successfully work with nVIDIA Optimus, since at least 12.04.

Also, I note, out of interest, that Ubuntu Linux has incorporated
(without having to install extra software) the driver(s) (?) for the
eFAT (?) file format as used by the Samsung T5 external USB drives,
allowing file sizes >4GB (I do not know what is the maximum file size
for that file format), and, when I got my first Samsung T5, it simply
worked as plug and play, whereas, from my understanding, on all other
Linux (at least, at that time), additional software was required to be
installed, to access the eFAT file format, and, therefore, the Samsung
T5 external USD HDD's.

My understanding, for several years now, is that Ubuntu Linux is the
most advanced non-MS operating system, in terms of hardware drivers.

Whilst I have not performed the latest (within the last day or so, I
think) kernel upgrades, on both computers, (16.04.7 and 20.10), the
two computer are otherwise updated, and, I have not had issues with
either wifi or, the external displays.

-- 
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............