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I already followed about 10 posts showing the same problem as mine. But all provided answers did not work. I tried to install many different nvidia-XXX drivers versions - also I have edited the bumblebee.conf file. When I enter the command lspci -nn | grep '\[03' I get the output :

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16] (rev 0b)  
03:00.0 3D controller [0302]: NVIDIA Corporation GM108M [GeForce 840M] 10de:1341] (rev a2)

Then I followed : Ubuntu 14.04 and Nvidia GeForce (840M) compatability on 64-bit laptop. It also didn't work, see NVIDIA X Server Settings - Screenshot. When I execute optirun firefox I get :

[  516.003655] [ERROR]Cannot access secondary GPU - error: [XORG] (EE)  
[  516.003685] [ERROR]Aborting because fallback start is disabled.

I tried so many things already, but nothing worked. I've been trying to fix this for several days ... but now I'm clueless. Does anyone know what to do?

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Enforcerke
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2 Answers2

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As you did not mention the Ubuntu edition you are using ... this is valid for all currently supported editions (12.04 | 14.04 | 16.04 | 16.10). Use this method to install the latest stable NVIDIA drivers !

First uninstall the currently installed NVIDIA drivers and bumblebee.
The solution to switch between the graphics adapters is nvidia-prime.

Boot the computer, mark the Ubuntu entry in the GRUB boot menu and press the E key.
Add nouveau.modeset=0 at the end of the linux line. Press the F10 key to boot Ubuntu.

When the login screen appears press Ctrl+Alt+F1.
Enter your user name and your password and execute : 

sudo apt purge nvidia* bumblebee
sudo apt install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge bumblebee/stable
sudo ppa-purge xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo reboot

Note : As I do not know which of the linked answers you tried, I just removed both PPAs ...
Now install the official NVIDIA drivers 375.26, which support NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 840M.

Boot the computer, mark the Ubuntu entry in the GRUB boot menu and press the E key.
Add nouveau.modeset=0 at the end of the linux line. Press the F10 key to boot Ubuntu.

When the login screen appears press Ctrl+Alt+F1.
Enter your user name and your password and execute : 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nvidia-375 nvidia-prime
sudo reboot

Important : Set a space between the last letter in the linux line and nouveau.modeset=0.
Switch between intel and NVIDIA graphics with NVIDIA X Server Settings -> PRIME Profiles.

cl-netbox
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  • Sorry, I'm using 16.04.1, I will try this right now and come back! Thanks in advance – Enforcerke Jan 03 '17 at 14:41
  • thanks it worked! I tried so many things but this seems to be working fine :D Now I can finally have a non-laggy laptop! Do I have to update the drivers sometimes? Or just leave them as they are right now? Thanks – Enforcerke Jan 03 '17 at 14:59
  • @Enforcerke : You're welcome ! :) Great - I am glad that it worked fine for you ! :) When this drivers version 375 gets updated, you just have to run sudo apt upgrade to get this update. Only in case you want to install newer drivers, you'll have to repeat the procedure, remove drivers 375 and install the new drivers. :) – cl-netbox Jan 03 '17 at 15:10
  • I did stumble upon a problem. I suspended my laptop and when i re-activated it after an hour I got the following error and I couldn't do anything but hold the power button to restart my laptop: picture of error – Enforcerke Jan 03 '17 at 18:17
  • @Enforcerke : I do not know why this happened ... but in case this is not a randomly occurring issue, you should ask a new question if you don't find an existing answer and provide as many details as possible. :) – cl-netbox Jan 04 '17 at 09:21
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@Enforcerke Do not install Bumblebee! It's outdated solutions for NVIDIA Optimus. If you have installed the official Nvidia drivers, and you can access the NVIDIA X Server Settings menu with PRIME profiles with options for switching between Intel (Power Saving) and NVIDIA (Performance) modes, then use that to switch between your GPUs.

You'll only need the dGPU for applications like CAD, editing high-res videos, or games. When you need that, switch the cards from the NVIDIA X Server Settings, then log out and back in, and you're done. Otherwise, most of the time you will be using the Intel iGPU anyway!

The hassle of using the outdated methodology of bumblebee is not worth it. Especially considering that newer kernels are already addressing the GPU issues out of the box.

Samuel S. Mandal
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  • But this is such a hassle, logging out and logging back in, I have to save everything before i can switch. Isn't there an efficient way like bumblebee so i can just start a specific program (photoshop or games etc) without having to log out? – Enforcerke Mar 27 '17 at 14:52
  • In short, I don't think so. And you can blame NVIDIA for it! You can always start any specific program without logging out, but it won't switch the active GPU. Besides, you can't get photoshop in GNU/Linux without Wine anyway. And that would cause performance problems. My suggestion is to stick with GIMP... far more powerful, far more useful. And Libre!!!

    Anyway, if you upgrade to Kernel 4.4.x then you will have access to NVIDIA drivers 375.39 out of the box. These solve pretty much all issues in GNU/Linux.

     – Samuel S. Mandal May 17 '17 at 08:21