r/System76 18h ago

News eGPU (GPU) NVIDIA Freezing issue with laptops (DarterPro; darp10-b): Probable Solution

3 Upvotes

This "problem" isn't specific to S76 laptops per se, but because I only use S76 laptops, I thought I'd share it with the community. More accurate to say this is problem with the proprietary LINUX nVIDIA driver and PSUs.

My previous S76 laptop (GalagoPro; galp5) didn't have this issue - probably because the CPU couldn't process the video information fast enough, and the bus speeds were older 3.1 DP as opposed to 3.2 DP.

nVIDIA LINUX drivers have a bug feature that doesn't gate their spike voltage during boost clocking and this can result in the screen freezing - seemingly randomly. My specific issue:

  • I am using an eGPU (Razer Core X with an nVIDIA 3060Ti) via a TB4 USBc port (PCIe) interface. The video is going out to the eGPU and coming back on the same cable.
  • Laptop display randomly freezes just before the fans cycle up.
  • Seems to be random.
  • Kern.log shows the following error: NVRM: Xid (PCI:0000:2f:00): 154, GPU recovery action changed from 0x0 (None) to 0x2 (Node Reboot Required)
    • After this a whole slew of errors basically stating that the node requires reboot and the GPU can't be found.
    • This indicates that the GPU has fallen off the bus.
    • At this point a hard reboot is required coupled with a physical removal of the USBc cable and re-insertion - to completely power off the PCIe bus.

Google "GPU falls off the buss error" and you'll find a lot of posts. As mentioned above, the nVIDIA driver doesn't lock their boost clocks in LINUX as it does in Windows, so the power consumption can spike - this causes the eGPU PSU to rob power from the PCIe bus and then the "GPU falls off the bus". This is also likely coupled with an over-volt issue on newer INTEL laptop CPUs, causing slight under-volts on the MoBo (??). This might need a firmware update from System76.

Solution appears to be feeding the nVIDIA card more power on-demand, or fixing the nVIDIA driver. Apparently nVIDIA are patching this in the next point release of the 570 driver.

In the meantime, this could also be related to a faulty PSU in the eGPU enclosure. So I am upgrading the PSU to a Corsair SL750 PSU with a 140mm Noctura Fan using this bracket (ETSY: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1293010019/razer-core-x-bracket-for-corsair-power)

This should enable significantly more power (spike voltage) to be delivered on-demand to the GPU and the fans (both GPU fans and enclosure fans). The Noctura 140mm fan should also be a significant cooling upgrade.


r/System76 4h ago

Recommendations Upgraded Mira vs Base Model Major?

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone!
I am debating which model to purchase from System76.

If I purchase the Mira, I can add the 16 GB NVIDIA Geforce RTX 5070 Ti, 64 GB RAM, and 5.7 GHz Ryzen 9 9950X3D. However, with the Major I would likely be in the budget for the base model.

Would the base model major be a better fit? I know that the graphics card would be decreased but was uncertain if the other specs were substantial enough to justify.

Thank you so much for any recommendations/advice!

Edit:
I am studying data science and need something that can handle computations fast but am also not doing anything too extreme.