Curious about performance of nouveau on old laptops with discrete graphics
Got myself a Dell Latitude ~~E4310~~ E6410 and Thinkpad T510 for free, both with discrete Nvidia graphics soldered to the mainboard. I've installed Linux on them and just went with the nouveau driver since the proprietary Nvidia driver for such old cards is no longer in the Debian 12 repo. Not going to do anything cutting edge on them, but it does leave me wondering:
- I read that I could, with some effort, install the proprietary driver manually. Am I missing out on anything at all without them, or is nouveau mature enough and the graphics old enough that I wouldn't notice?
- Is nouveau with old discrete graphics better or worse than having just Intel's integrated graphics?
- Does power consumption vary significantly between nouveau and proprietary drivers?
EDIT
Answering myself after going down a rabbit hole with the T510:
- The dGPU is the NVS 3100M, which does have some level of hardware acceleration support under nouveau, so at least it isn't draining power for zero benefit. However, the dGPU is unable to go past its lowest power state without manually manipulating
/sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/pstate
(I did not try to) and I suspect that this is what kneecaps 3D performance. There should be a marked difference, but I won't be doing any serious work on these machines, so I'm leaving everything as-is. - This situation is worse than having just integrated graphics due to the inherent power consumption of the GPU core while unable to benefit from higher power states and other optimizations.
- Power consumption is probably less, but for much worse performance. At least it is a much better fallback than leaving at maximum.
- A later variant has the BIOS option to disable the dGPU, mine is an early variant with no options
Anyone have experience with Zen Privacy app? (not the browser)
Zen
Zen is a simple, free and efficient desktop application that helps you browse the internet and use your apps without annoying ads, trackers, or hidden threats.zenprivacy.net
Anyway it's always good to use this and similar apps on the PC, in Mobile maybe InVizible Pro (F-Droid version please).
Safing Portmaster - Easy Privacy
Portmaster is a free and open-source application that puts you back in charge over all your computer's network connections. Increase your privacy and security. Get peace of mind.safing.io
Instance setting for extra email text
Some instances like lemmy.zip and lemmy.world send custom registration emails which include info like support email address and appeals pathways. It would be reasonable to specify these directly in...Nutomic (GitHub)
Ajax homeless population sees ‘significant’ increase of 23% over one year
Ajax homeless population sees ‘significant’ increase of 23% over one year
Region of Durham staff say homelessness is increasing across the country.Durham Region
UN Report Exposes Torture of Russian POWs in Ukraine
UN Report Exposes Torture of Russian POWs in Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers have executed at least 26 Russian military personnel, either taken prisoner or wounded on the battlefield since February 2022, according to a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).Sputnik International
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The article does not specify which publication it refers to, but this is the only recently published report
ohchr.org/en/publications/annu…
During the year, a central priority of the HRMMU’s work was monitoring and reporting on the treatment of POWs. This led to conclusions that the Russian authorities inflicted torture in a widespread and systematic manner against almost all Ukrainian POWs and that many Russian POWs were subjected to torture or ill-treatment in the initial stages of their captivity. Findings and tailored recommendations fed into advocacy documents for high-level meetings with Member States, in June. In Ukraine, the HRMMU’s advocacy supported the launch of a criminal investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) regarding the use of torture at a transit facility for Russian POWs. The HRMMU is unaware if its reporting resulted in similar investigations in the Russian Federation. Its monitoring and advocacy also resulted in Ukrainian authorities improving the treatment and internment
conditions of Russian POWs
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Ukrainian soldiers have executed at least 26 Russian military personnel, either taken prisoner or wounded on the battlefield since February 2022, according to a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
‘We View What Is Happening With Sputnik’s Staff in Baku as Injustice’ – Dmitry Kiselev
‘We View What Is Happening With Sputnik’s Staff in Baku as Injustice’ – Dmitry Kiselev
Dmitry Kiselev, general director of the Sputnik News Agency's parent organization Rossiya Segodnya commented on the events in Azerbaijan.Sputnik International
Make Lugansk Russian Again: Moscow delivers on key objective of Ukraine conflict
Make Lugansk Russian Again: Moscow delivers on key objective of Ukraine conflict
From the uprising of 2014 to the total liberation of 2025, Lugansk’s return to Russia traces a long arc of defiance, war, and statehoodRT
Best YouTube Frontend for iOS
It would be nice if it also had features like SponsorBlock.
like this
Orion Browser on iOS/iPadOS is compatible with (some, not all) Firefox/Chrome addons. Add SponsorBlock for YouTube, uBlock Origin and Video Background Play Fix from addons.mozilla.org and use the YouTube website as is?
Used to run my own Invidious instance I used with Yattee but it got banned and then for some reason ate shit and died completely.
add-ons on Orion
It's great to know that they are working better now, last time I tried almost none was functionnal and it was quite a pain to install / uninstall / switch source (Firefox / Chrome version) in the hopes of it finally working. I’ll have a look, since then I’ve been using Brave + piHole and it was more or less decent.
Please make an effort to avoid X.
If you're looking for someone's or an organization's feed, look for alternatives such as:
* Look for that person's Mastodon account,
* Look for a blog or website. It may have a RSS feed, if not try fetchrss.com/generator/generat…
* Look for a bluesky account, and get its RSS feed with a tool like fetchrss.com/generator/generat…
Invalid - FetchRSS
FetchRSS.com is an online RSS feed generator. Create RSS for any website. Select blocks you want to convert to RSS. Get RSS generated by your rules.fetchrss.com
Counting Crows - Underwater Sunshine (2012)
A quattro anni dal loro ultimo disco "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings", i Counting Crows ritornano con un nuovo lavoro e questa volta è un disco di cover, spiazzando ancora una volta i loro fan. Ad Adam Duritz & co. infatti, una cosa su cui non si discute è la libertà di "scelta", in poche parole fanno quello che gli pare senza filtri e costrizioni di sorta... Leggi e ascolta...
Trump leaves Maria Bartiromo speechless after suggesting US is hacking China
Trump leaves Maria Bartiromo speechless after suggesting US is hacking China: ‘You don’t think we do that?’
‘That's the way the world works. It's a nasty world,’ president says during sit-down interviewGustaf Kilander (The Independent)
Oxfam: UK government complicit in war crimes in Israel
Oxfam’s UK chief executive, Dr Halima Begum, expressed disappointment at a British court ruling which refused to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, which it’s using in its war on Gaza, on Monday. Oxfam submitted evidence in the case.
“The judgment is surprising and deeply disappointing,” Begum said.
“The Court and the Government have both acknowledged that UK arms are at risk of being used in breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza yet prioritise the supply chains of fighter jets over the lives of Palestinians,” she added.
“It is unconscionable that the Government would continue to license the sale of components for F35 jets knowing that they are used to deliberately attack civilians in Gaza and destroy their means of survival, including vital water supplies.
Syrian forces massacred 1,500 Alawites. The chain of command led to Damascus.
A Reuters investigation found 40 distinct sites of killings, looting and arson during three days of sectarian massacres following an Assad loyalist insurgency. The chain of command led from the attackers directly to men serving alongside Syria’s new leaders in Damascus. The killings now threaten Syria's fragile transition.
Among the units Reuters found to be involved were the government's General Security Service, its main law-enforcement body back in the days when HTS ran Idlib and now part of the Interior Ministry; and ex-HTS units like the elite Unit 400 fighting force and the Othman Brigade.
As the massacres of Alawites unfolded, the Defense Ministry spokesman Abdel-Ghani said publicly the operation on the coast was proceeding as planned with the goal of keeping control of the region and “tightening the noose on the remaining elements of officers and remnants of the fallen regime,” according to the state-run news agency SANA.
Behind the scenes, Abdel-Ghani was running the Telegram chat of militia leaders and military commanders that coordinated the government response to the pro-Assad uprising, according to a dozen text and audio messages in an exchange between him and a senior commander from another faction.
Two people confirmed the Telegram handle was Abdel-Ghani’s and that Abu Ahd is his nom de guerre. Reuters contacted him directly on Telegram at the handle. He told Reuters he has been questioned by the committee investigating the killings but declined to comment further.
Oxfam: UK government complicit in war crimes in Israel
Oxfam’s UK chief executive, Dr Halima Begum, expressed disappointment at a British court ruling which refused to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, which it’s using in its war on Gaza, on Monday. Oxfam submitted evidence in the case.
“The judgment is surprising and deeply disappointing,” Begum said.
“The Court and the Government have both acknowledged that UK arms are at risk of being used in breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza yet prioritise the supply chains of fighter jets over the lives of Palestinians,” she added.
“It is unconscionable that the Government would continue to license the sale of components for F35 jets knowing that they are used to deliberately attack civilians in Gaza and destroy their means of survival, including vital water supplies.
Palantir's Shadow War On Iran
Palantir's Shadow War On Iran
All my investigations are free to read, thanks to the enormous generosity of my readers.Kit Klarenberg (Global Delinquents)
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adhocfungus likes this.
Under Israeli Strikes, Hezbollah Leader Refuses Call To Lay Down Arms
Under Israeli Strikes, Hezbollah Leader Refuses Call To Lay Down Arms
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem stressed on June 28 that the group would not lay down its arms while Israel continued...Anonymous1199 (South Front)
Challenges meeting new people without an Instagram account
I’ve been trying to meet new friends and new people to hang out with so have been going to a lot of social events.
I noticed that everyone seems to ask for my instagram account and when I say I don’t have one that connection kind of dies, and it feels too personal to ask for someone number when I just met them.
I don’t want to create an instagram because of the privacy invasions of meta but I also don’t want to feel left out when trying to make new connections. Anyone have any advice?
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Iran envoy leaves meeting over presence of hostile US media
TEHRAN, Jun. 30 (MNA) – Iran's ambassador to Armenia has walked out of a National Press Club meeting, in protest over the presence of a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent, who "works for our enemies."
Mehdi Sobhani initially demanded the removal of the RFE/RL reporter from the National Press Club meeting, noting that “this outlet currently works for our enemies”.
As the moderator Narine Mkrtchyan said she could not remove the journalist and urged to begin the event, Sobhani replied “I will not participate,” and left the room, according to Press TV.
Eventually, the correspondent of RFE/RL, which is funded by the US and operates under the US Agency for Global Media, left the meeting, as his presence caused disruption.
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I love this part (end of the article):
As the Iranian Armed Forces pounded Israel and its military and industrial infrastructure, using many new-generation missiles that precisely hit the designated targets, the embattled regime was forced to unilaterally declare a truce deal on June 24.
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Talent agency UTA drop Bob Vylan following Glastonbury chant controversy
The punk band Bob Vylan has now officially been dropped by the talent agency UTA following the comments being made during their Glastonbury set.
During the performance, the band led a pro-Palestine chant with their crowd, proclaiming “death to the IDF”. Following comments from the festival staff as well as various politicians, UTA has announced their decision to part ways with the group.
Insiders have said that UTA senior executives agreed with the festival, saying that the band had taken their political beliefs too far when making their comments. Despite not coming out with any official statement, all images and information relating to the musical duo have been wiped from the company’s website.
The BBC continued in a statement, “The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance.”
Bob Vylan ‘dropped by agents’ after controversial Glastonbury IDF chant
Rap punk duo no longer appear on agency’s website days after festival furoreJacob Stolworthy (The Independent)
If Israel is the "victim" then they are "Jews". And "The Jewish State"
If Israel is the perpetrator then it is the "secular only democracy in the Middle East.
Nato’s summit cannot disguise Ukraine’s plight
Nato’s summit cannot disguise Ukraine’s plight
Without more military aid, Kyiv’s situation on the battlefield could deteriorate rapidlyGideon Rachman (Financial Times)
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The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence
The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence
The data annotation company Scale AI that Meta splurged $14 billion to take ownership of was reportedly overrun with "spammers."Frank Landymore (Futurism)
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‘Explosive increase’ of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis
‘Explosive increase’ of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis
Unusually aggressive lone star ticks, common in the south-east, are spreading to areas previously too cold for themOliver Milman (The Guardian)
Central banks rush to gold as fears of US dollar crisis mount
Macroscope | Central banks rush to gold as fears of US dollar crisis mount
Central bank gold holdings are now back to where they were in the 1960s, before gold went out of official fashion.Anthony Rowley (South China Morning Post)
Velázquez Leads 'No Masks for ICE Act' Rally at NYC Field Office | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/32488116
Jessica Corbett
Jun 28, 2025"As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works to deliver on Republican President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations, federal agents, including those with ICE, have taken immigrants into custody while wearing masks and plain clothes—sparking alarm over abuse by anonymous agents and also copycat criminals.
Velázquez's bill would bar ICE agents from wearing facial coverings during immigration enforcement, unless medically necessary or required for safety. It would also require written justification for any mask use, agents to wear clothing displaying their name and affiliation with ICE, and DHS to report annually to Congress on any related complaints and disciplinary actions."
Velázquez Leads 'No Masks for ICE Act' Rally at NYC Field Office | Common Dreams
Jessica Corbett
Jun 28, 2025
"As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works to deliver on Republican President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations, federal agents, including those with ICE, have taken immigrants into custody while wearing masks and plain clothes—sparking alarm over abuse by anonymous agents and also copycat criminals.
Velázquez's bill would bar ICE agents from wearing facial coverings during immigration enforcement, unless medically necessary or required for safety. It would also require written justification for any mask use, agents to wear clothing displaying their name and affiliation with ICE, and DHS to report annually to Congress on any related complaints and disciplinary actions."
Velázquez Leads 'No Masks for ICE Act' Rally at NYC Field Office
"When agents hide their faces and identities they create chaos, fear, and open the door to abuse. Immigrant communities are left wondering if they're being arrested or kidnapped."jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)
More than half of Ukrainians support finding compromise in war, 20% support continuing the fight
More than half of Ukrainians support finding compromise in war, 20% support continuing the fight
Almost 56% of Ukrainians are in favour of seeking a solution through compromise with the involvement of international leaders in order to end the war. Almost 17% of Ukranians are in favour of a temporary freeze of the war, and 21.Iryna Balachuk (Ukrainska Pravda)
.ua
domain is owned by. Absolutely hilarious how fascists are invariably the most ignorant people on the fediverse. 🤡
.ua domain
covering your bases by owning multiple URLs in different domains is called being thorough. There also exists gazeta-pravda.ru, pravda.sk/, pravda.com.ua/, main.pravda.rs/, and many others.
Pravda .ru is not the same as the pravda.com.ua
Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian: Українська правда, lit. 'Ukrainian truth') is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000.... In May 2021, the publication’s new owner became Tomas Fiala, CEO of Dragon Capital.Dragon Capital is a Ukrainian group of companies in the field of investment and financial services, offering a comprehensive range of products in equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, private equity, and asset management to institutional, corporate, and private clients. It was founded in 2000 in Kyiv... It is also the owner of news media holdings in Ukraine — Ukrainska Pravda and The New Voice of Ukraine.
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This is all from that same site. Is all of this also "Russian propaganda"?
This is the equivalent of calling Haaretz an "anti-semitic source"
NGO Ukrainska Pravda
Vyacheslava Lipinskogo, 9, Kyiv, Ukraine, 01030
Researching making the switch from Windows on my main PC and I have questions.
This PC is basically my life, I use it for work (freelance business), entertainment, and to self host a server so I'm hesitant. I have a handful of questions for now while I look into it more:
- I'd prefer not to dual boo, but it might be the safest way to start? If I dual boot, get used to Linux and (hopefully) get everything I need working, can I then go from dual boot to erasing the Windows partition and recombining so I then only have Linux installed and can keep the work and programs I already installed on Linux?
- I do voiceover work, music production, and digital art/photography. Anyone else here do all this and what programs would you recommened to replace Audition, Photoshop, and Cubase?
--2.1. Regarding music production, has anyone successfully used vst files from Windows on Linux?
- The drives for my server are NTFS. Does anyone have experience with this format on Linux (I use Emby)?
- My bread and butter right now is voice acting so I NEED everything to play nice. I've read there might be some issues with drivers for my hardware, namely Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 and Behringer UV1. Anyone have any experience with this?
EDIT: Wow that's a lot of responses. I'd like to respond to each but I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the info haha. I think I'm gonna grab an old external USB drive and live boot from there and test things out. Thanks to everyone, I've got a tonne to mull over now. Appreciate it!
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I think I'm gonna grab an old external USB drive and live boot from there and test things out
Just keep in mind, in such a case, that your performance will be quite reduced due to limits on I/O. When you have Linux on a real drive - especially a striped RAID, the system is blazing fast. It’s a substantial difference you should keep in mind when evaluating.
You could acquire a pretty cheap PC for Linux it runs on a potato. Try an electrical scrap heap nearby that you can fossick from or a friend with an old, unused system in storage (even a cheap $20 retro PC from your local marketplace?) to acquire an old retro system. You might not even need a new screen depending what connections your existing screens/TV has and if you could use a cheap adapter and cable from the thrift store.
Linux runs on basically any retro PC and laptop excluding some annoying wifi chips that need planning before the install if you don't have ethernet. Some really old tech may also require specific distributions that still offer support too.
Machines with a 32bit CPU you will want to confirm beforehand if your chosen distribution still offers a supported 32bit install image and retro PC's with obscure expansion cards that perhaps were never supported. This is likely moving into vintage collectors territory though and you would have to be pretty lucky now to find a machine like that super cheap and working.
just_another_person
in reply to monovergent • • •1) No, you can't install the drivers manually if they aren't supported. Nvidia does rolling driver releases removing aged out hardware, and the drivers do not support new versions with older hardware. Same with Windows.
2) Nouveau is the only option you have as far as hardware acceleration goes, but if these are laptops, you'd be better off just using the Intel graphics, because that's what's available, and they are very power efficient.
3) Power consumption is immediately bad once you engage the Nvidia hardware. Disable it in the BIOS. You won't have better performance in any meaningful way, just horrible battery life, especially since these are devices so old the modern drivers won't support the hardware.
monovergent
in reply to just_another_person • • •fuckwit_mcbumcrumble
in reply to monovergent • • •Are you sure? I know the successor the T420 supports disabling the graphics. I dont think my 410 ever had it though. It's under display settings in the bios. Not sure about dell though, they might not have had it.
download.lenovo.com/bsco/index…
Lenovo's bios simulator sadly only goes as old as the T530. But it's config > display > graphics device.
Lenovo BIOS Simulator Center
download.lenovo.commonovergent
in reply to fuckwit_mcbumcrumble • • •Unfortunately, I'm only given a choice between Boot Display Devices under that menu.
edit: Apparently, there is a menu for it if the T510 is a later model with Optimus support. Early dGPU variants like mine are forced to use the discrete graphics, even if the BIOS is hacked to reveal the menu.
Brickfrog
in reply to fuckwit_mcbumcrumble • • •Perhaps just uninstalling Nouveau and falling back to the Intel driver, if it's already installed, is sufficient? Or if that doesn't work, worst case OP could blacklist Nouveau and and update initramfs? I'm just guessing as long as the Nvidia driver is never actually active perhaps that's enough to avoid excess power consumption.
OTOH there isn't much harm in OP keeping Nouveau enabled and seeing how things go though I'm in agreement with you, on an older laptop there's not much advantage to be gained with the older Nvidia hardware.
piexil
in reply to just_another_person • • •StrangeAstronomer
in reply to monovergent • • •voidlinux still has the 390 drivers available. I'm sure others do too:
[-] nvidia390-390.157_6 NVIDIA drivers (GeForce 400, 500 series) - Libraries and Utilities
[-] nvidia390-dkms-390.157_6 NVIDIA drivers (GeForce 400, 500 series) - DKMS kernel module
[-] nvidia390-gtklibs-390.157_6 NVIDIA drivers (GeForce 400, 500 series) - GTK+ libraries
[-] nvidia390-libs-390.157_6 NVIDIA drivers (GeForce 400, 500 series) - common libraries
[-] nvidia390-opencl-390.157_6 NVIDIA drivers (GeForce 400, 500 series) - OpenCL implementation
glitching
in reply to monovergent • • •Eugenia
in reply to monovergent • • •ogeist
in reply to monovergent • • •For Arch.
Check here for your card: nouveau.freedesktop.org/CodeNa…
Check here for which driver to install: wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDI…
CodeNames · freedesktop.org
freedesktop.orgDaPorkchop_
in reply to monovergent • • •In my experience, nouveau is painfully slow and crashes constantly to the point of being virtually unusable for anything. The developers agree, as in the last couple months nouveau has been phased out of Mesa entirely. More recent Mesa versions now implement OpenGL on Nvidia using Zink on NVK, and the result is quite a bit faster and FAR more stable.
If your distribution currently still ships a Mesa version which uses nouveau, I would personally recommend you just stick with the Intel graphics for now.
nyan
in reply to monovergent • • •One thing to keep in mind about older versions of the nvidia proprietary drivers is that they will only work with specific kernel versions (and specific X versions—not sure about Wayland). Once the driver series your card needs stops being updated, you can't update your kernel without patching the driver. Assuming you have the skills to patch the driver, or someone who does makes their patches public.
I went through this song-and-dance with a very old laptop that had a card of the NV40 generation as its only GPU (no integrated graphics). Eventually I did install nouveau on it, and used it for several years without any issues.
Coelacanthus
in reply to monovergent • • •nouveau.freedesktop.org/Featur…
nouveau.freedesktop.org/PowerM…
So you can see almost other things has been done but the power management especially Automatic Reclocking still unfinished. So the feature set and stability should be fine and the performance will be bad.
FeatureMatrix · freedesktop.org
freedesktop.org