Don't be a fool like me - Graphics driver issues? Check your bios settings!

Keywords: Ubuntu, Debian, Nvidia, driver, iGPU, dGPU, BIOS, UEFI

Last thing first: Changing a single GPU related setting in BIOS/UEFI rectified an otherwise catastrophic failure even between full re-installs.

The long version: 13.7 billion years ago it all began probably, then there was a bunch of nonsense. And suddenly here we are wasting time trying to fix problems in Linux because we fail to understand the Dunning Kruger effect.

I have an MSI laptop with an Nvidia 5080. It came with Windows 11 and it was the first time I'd used that, given I was happy with 10 on my previous laptop. Goes without saying 11 is pure garbage and with all the co-pilot and other rubbish with it, I decided I was going to give Linux another shot (I tend to every 10 years).

So I installed Catchy OS on the second SSD (it's a fancy laptop) and loved it....until a random update nuked it. I don't know what I'm doing. Undeterred, I settled on good old Ubuntu 24LTS, and that was great, the Nvidia driver installed without issue! It was stable, stuff worked, I could even game!

BUT

The honeymoon was short lived. At home I essentially use my laptop as a desktop, with my TV as the only screen. No issues. At work however, I have a screen and stand for the laptop, with the intention of the internal display being the second screen. And when I first Uboontued up at work (see what I did there - hire me and I'll write jokes for you), the external display did not play ball. It was fine with Windows, but not Ubuntu.

I poked around a little without doing anything drastic, even trying a previous Nvidia driver, nothing. Then I decided to venture into BIOS (I'm old, let me call is BIOS, I'll accept it's UEFI when the US accepts the metric system!). There was nothing that would obviously help, but I found how to display the advanced settings and was suddenly overwhelmed.

This is where the Dunning Kruger effect kicked in. I know how to computer. I've been computering longer than the median human being has even been alive! Now, I know this laptop has an Nvidia dGPU, but as a laptop, of course it has an iGPU too! Maybe they're fighting over control or something, I dunno. Hey, there's a setting to toggle between GPU settings. iGPU, Hybrid, or auto - it was on auto, and I figured hybrid is surely the same, so I chose iGPU and reboot. And it worked! Dual screen Ubuntu, stable Nvidia drivers, work, games, browsing, other computering. Ubuntastic!

BUT THEN

Nvidia dropped driver 595 on us. (I was on 590 until then). Now I may be a fool but I'm no fool. One does not simply update Nvidia drivers on Linux withou...hey WTF it installed as part of a routine package manager update, shouldn't it maybe ASK first? Oh well what harm can it do?

Computer: " ... "
Me: "I said, what harm can it possible do?"
Computer: " ... "
Me: "I said, wh.... oh... crap."

Ubuntu 24LTS froze at login, it even froze in recovery mode, it even froze in previous-kernel mode. I couldn't even get into terminal! I tried various things, stopping short of hammering it to pieces in a fit of frothing rage. And decided to boot from a USB, back up my home folder, and reinstall. (Side note: Time shift and Snapper proved useless!). 24LTS reinstalled fine, and even booted, but froze after log in, or at the recovery option screen in recovery mode. I could get into terminal in regular mode, but it froze too quickly for me to enter anything.

I tried POP OS as that's supposed to like Nvidia. Same deal. I tried Ubuntu 26. Ditto. Along the way I tried odd combinations of things, install WITH nvidia updates, WITHOUT nvidia drivers etc... But as soon as any nvidia driver went near it. Instadeath.

Then it hit me <insert Police Squad-esque physical gag here>. Given this issue kicks in so quickly, maybe it's something more fundamental than a setting I could change within the OS, something basic one might say, related to inputs and outputs, in a system. That's right, UEFI!

Spoiler: It was. It was the GPU selector setting. I put it