Reverting rmmod->modprobe change in bumblebee/3.2.1-8 (was: Re: Bumblebee functionality broken by the last update made by Vincent Cheng on 26-July-2015 - please react as fast as possible)

Fri Aug 7 08:29:26 UTC 2015

Hi Vincent,

Some additional information, the proposed "Fix module unloading"
patch[5] does not fix the issue as reported by user fisadev on the
Bumblebee issue tracker[6]. That patch would invoke "modprobe -r
nvidia-XXX" instead of "modprobe -r nvidia".

For now the safest action is reverting the modprobe <-> rmmod commit,
and investigate whether a solution using modprobe aliases works before
re-introducing said change. See Alexander's comments in
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/issues/565
-- 
Kind regards,
Peter Wu
https://lekensteyn.nl

 [5]: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/commit/edd81b063ec1bda63ae8a3b10d8051e02eec282b
 [6]: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/issues/644#issuecomment-127559893

On Fri, Aug 07, 2015 at 01:07:50AM -0700, Vincent Cheng wrote:
> Hi Luca,
> 
> (cc-ing upstream and original bug reporter)
> 
> It seems that your fix for #793389 (the rmmod->modprobe patch you
> committed as [1]), which I recently backported to the bumblebee PPA
> [2] (source at [3]) to keep the PPA packages in sync with the packages
> in Debian/Ubuntu, is likely the source of a regression for Ubuntu
> users using that PPA (see conversation below, and [4]), i.e. the
> nvidia kernel module isn't being automatically unloaded using modprobe
> for some reason (but apparently worked with rmmod previously). I'm not
> sure why this happens; I suspect it has something to do with Ubuntu's
> nvidia packages not including an alias even though they rename the
> module like Debian's packages. Since it does cause a regression in
> Ubuntu, and just by skimming #793389 I don't quite understand whether
> this fixes anything in Debian (isn't the fix for #793386 enough to fix
> module unloading?), would you be ok with me reverting [1]? Upstream is
> also suggesting that the patch be reverted.

https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/issues/644#issuecomment-127559893

> 
> Regards,
> Vincent
> 
> [1] http://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/pkg-nvidia/bumblebee.git/commit/?id=61813829f0d1b2b6134cd7b6d30a2dd071cae5ad
> [2] https://launchpad.net/~bumblebee/+archive/ubuntu/stable
> [3] https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bumblebee-ppa
> [4] https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bumblebee-ppa/commit/2d3983e3d70db409c930ae5af2b3d538877854cf#commitcomment-12562494
> 
> On Mon, Aug 3, 2015 at 2:33 PM, Cristian Moraru <mcrsro at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Peter,
> >
> > I am coming back with the result of your suggestions:
> >
> > FACTS:
> >
> > - I enabled again the  existing ppa:bumblebee/stable launchpad containing
> > version 3.2.1-91~trustyppa1
> > - I updated the cache and upgraded the proposals
> > - I installed nvidia-346 driver (before as I mentioned, I had the nvidia-331
> > driver which worked with version 3.2.1-90~trustyppa1)
> > - I created nvidia-alias.conf as instructed by you
> > - Rebooted the machine and checked the effects.
> > - All operations were done under basic kernel 3.16.0-38-generic, to rebuild
> > the dkms for all kernels.
> >
> > I also have to mention I used to install a Mint Cinnamon Applet, named
> > "Bumblebee and Nvidia Display", which displays continuously the status of
> > Nvidia discrete card and Nvidia GPU Temperature (for details see
> > http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/applets/view/167)
> >
> > RESULTS:
> >
> > - The Nvidia card status is ON all the time and doesn't go OFF if I run in a
> > CLI optirun %application% in the manner you mentioned
> > - If I start Nvidia X Server Settings, I cannot set the PRIME setting to
> > select the as GPU Nvidia, I receive a window with "forbidden" sign.
> >
> > CONCLUSION:
> >
> > The actual executables from ppa:bumblebee/stable repository mislead an
> > Ubuntu user. A least my machine (which is a pretty representative for a
> > business work machine) will not work with bumblebee provided by this
> > "stable" repository. I suppose that it might work for Debian BUT IS NOT
> > SUITABLE for Ubuntu and its derivatives. I advise the users of Mint 17.x and
> > Ubuntu NOT TO USE IT.
> >
> >
> > LATER, I restored my machine GIVING UP the actual ppa:bumblebee/stable
> > repository, as follows
> >
> > - Purged all nvidia installation with the command
> >     sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
> > - Purged bumblebee installation with the command
> >     sudo apt-get purge bumblebee
> > - Removed the existing executables in cache with
> >     sudo apt-get clean
> > - Removed the actual ppa:bumblebee/stable repository and refreshed the
> > apt-cache
> > - Installed bumblebee and basic Nvidia driver in the Ubuntu repositories
> >     sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia virtualgl virtualgl-libs-ia32
> > primus primus-libs-ia32 nvidia-settings libcuda1-304 nvidia-libopencl1-304
> > nvidia-opencl-icd-304
> > - After this, I recovered the desired bumblebee status and Nvidia driver
> > behavior. However I couldn't setup Nvidia as default card with "Nvidia X
> > server Settings" facility
> > - Installed sequentially with the Mint facility "Driver Manager" nvidia-331,
> > nvidia-331-updates
> > - Checked the entire functionality; the only thing which didn't work was to
> > set PRIME to select Nvidia discrete card to be standard choice.
> > - Installed with the Mint facility "Driver Manager" nvidia-346 and checked
> > the entire functionality. The result was FULLY POSITIVE: I could select with
> > "Nvidia X server Settings" facility what card to use as prime choice at boot
> > time. The change could be also done without booting, but logging out and
> > logging in the user account.
> >
> > - All operations were done under basic kernel 3.16.0-38-generic, to rebuild
> > the dkms for all kernels. After that I checked the functionality for all
> > other installed kernels.
> >
> > The final status of bumblebee and Nvidia installed executables are shown in
> > the pictures attached to this email.
> >
> > I also recommend to update the existing information from Bumblebee project
> > which is Ubuntu related to avoid damages to actual Mint and Ubuntu machines.
> > Please recommend users which access the official Bumblebee Project Web pages
> > to install first the version of Bumblebee and Nvidia drivers available on
> > the official Ubuntu repositories. The ppa must be used only in case of
> > failure with official repositories.
> >
> > Kind regards
> >
> > Cristian Moraru
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 07/29/2015 09:48 PM, Cristian Moraru wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Peter,
> >>
> >> First of all, thank you for your prompt email!
> >>
> >> I am not a programmer, but only an advanced Linux user, which appreciate
> >> very much the work done by people like you and Vincent for the benefit of
> >> Linux users.
> >> I am especially devoted to increase the adoption of Linux (I prefer Ubuntu
> >> and particularly Mint) by professional engineers (Industry, Oil & Gas)
> >> because of acquired stability of the LTS Linux versions. I had already some
> >> success and I was surprised how a small change can derail a good and
> >> appreciated system.
> >>
> >> By nature of my work, I was obliged to guide myself to avoid proposing a
> >> solution and to put in practice without a comprehensive check. At least I
> >> didn't present a solution without warning about the potential of additional
> >> problems and how to overcome them under specific conditions.
> >>
> >> When I update my system I believe that all the updating proposals marked
> >> with "3" (believed as being OK but not tested) do not create further bad
> >> effects to the poor user (which is not a programmer!). I believe this
> >> because I have to trust and appreciate the work of the people working on the
> >> respective updates.
> >>
> >> Bumblebee is a very serious project which I appreciated very much from the
> >> beginning. The fact that it worked out of the box allowed me to demonstrate
> >> the quality of Linux (particularly Linux Mint since version 16) and to
> >> convince the Windows guys to switch to Linux.
> >>
> >> Now, with this unhappy fact I had to restore the functionality going for a
> >> solution which I presented to you.
> >> I am convinced that this could be avoided with some precautions. My email
> >> wants to convince you, the developers, to implement a philosophy which could
> >> bring us (developers and users) a substantial increase of Linux installation
> >> base in the professional users field.
> >>
> >> Coming back to your proposal: I will check your workaround. What I don't
> >> understand is why in the version 3.2.1-90~trustyppa1 it was not necessary to
> >> do anything to obtain a good bumblebee behavior, even with nvidia-304 and
> >> nvidia-346, and after Vincent pushed the update, I have to modify the Linux
> >> installation (which is not in the power usual Linux user) as you explained.
> >>
> >> For the common Linux success, which I believe you and Vincent agree,
> >> developers and users must be on the same side when an upgrade is to be
> >> promoted.
> >>
> >> Kind regards
> >>
> >> Cristian Moraru
> >> (a stubborn user of Bumblebee Project)
> >>
> >>
> >> On 07/29/2015 08:00 PM, Peter Wu wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi Cristian,
> >>>
> >>> Vincent is the Debian maintainer of Bumblebee and has recently indeed
> >>> published changes for the benefit of Ubuntu users (and derivatives).
> >>>
> >>> What you are basically experiencing is the inability to turn off the
> >>> graphics card after using optirun. This problem can be caused by a
> >>> configuration issue in Ubuntu (which probably does not exist in Debian).
> >>>
> >>> Workaround for version 3.2.1-91~trustyppa1:
> >>>
> >>> Determine your nvidia module version (say, nvidia-346) and create
> >>> /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-alias.conf containing:
> >>>
> >>>      alias nvidia nvidia-346
> >>>
> >>> Besides this, you do not have to restart any services, just trigger
> >>> optirun again (optirun true).
> >>>
> >>> Vincent, what do you think of the proposed patch at
> >>>
> >>> https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/commit/edd81b063ec1bda63ae8a3b10d8051e02eec282b
> >>
> >>
> >
> >