Identifying and using NVIDIA on a new(er) Dell Inspiron 16 5620

Hardware Support
1

Linux Desktop Display Troubleshooting on Dell Inspiron 16 5620

Hi everyone,

I've been using Linux since about 2000, primarily Red Hat at work and CentOS at home. My career background includes Oracle DBA, Hadoop Big Data, and AWS.

Last year, I discovered Zorin and was impressed that someone finally built a polished OS environment for the masses. Since then, I’ve completely moved away from anything Microsoft and haven’t looked back. :slight_smile:

Home Setup

  • Server: Rocky Linux (CentOS-based)
  • Clients: Zorin 1 and Zorin 2

Most of my project work has been on the server, but I’m now migrating development to the workstations.

Current Focus

I'm evaluating the display quality on one of my laptops. While the laptop and monitor are solid, the desktop visuals appear dull—washed out icons, weak image clarity, etc. YouTube videos look acceptable, but I’d expect a much sharper desktop display overall.

Goal

Just want:

  • Sharp desktop UI
  • Clean and vivid images
  • Better display performance

I believe enabling the built-in NVIDIA GPU could improve this.

My Hardware

Dell Inspiron 16 5620

Product Page

Video Cards

  • Discrete:
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® MX570, 2 GB GDDR6
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® MX450, 2 GB GDDR4
  • Integrated:
    • Intel® UHD Graphics
    • Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics

Processor Options

  • i3-1215U / i5-1235U / i5-1240P / i7-1255U / i7-1260P

Monitor: KOORUI 27"

Monitor Link

  • 27" IPS, FHD 1920x1080, 100Hz
  • 178° viewing angle, 250 cd/m² brightness
  • 99% sRGB, 16.7M colors, AdaptiveSync

Zorin2 Graphics Output

VGA Controller: Intel Corporation Device 46a8 (rev 0c)  
OpenGL Renderer: Mesa Intel(R) Graphics (ADL GT2)

NVIDIA-SMI Output:  
NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver.  
Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.
2

Welcome to the forums :slight_smile:

Have you installed the NVidia driver through "Addtional Driver" app? If so can you give the output of

sudo apt install inxi
inxi -Ga
3

Thanks for replying, I had to install inxi --- bob@zorin2:~/nerd-dictation$ inxi -Ga
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel alternate: xe ports:
active: HDMI-A-1 off: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2 bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:46a8 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Logitech Logi Webcam C920e type: USB
driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-1.4:6 chip-ID: 046d:08b6
class-ID: 0102 serial: FE50F87F
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1
compositor: gnome-shell v: 43.9 driver: gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 model: 27N1 serial: 0000000000001 built: 2021
res: 1920x1080 dpi: 81 gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.7x11.7")
diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ADL GT2)
v: 4.6 Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.3 direct render: Yes

4

It seems inxi can't see you card either. Try login into Xorg (which is recommendable for Nvidia cards atm. on Zorin). It may be a wayland fluke.
Have you tested it with other OS? I'm no expert on Nvidia (I got Radeon).

5

Welcome to the Forum!

First, I would recommend to switch to Xorg like @Storm already wrote. When you are on the Login Screen, click on Your Profile so that the Password Field appears. It has to be appeared. When it is appeared, You should see a Gear Icon in the bottom right Corner. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in.

Then you should install the Nvidia Driver. You can do that in the ''Additional Drivers'' Tab in Software & Updates or int he Terminal with the Command:

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-[Version-Number] nvidia-dkms-[Version-Number]

Replace [Version-Number] with the Number of the Driver. For Example: 570, 550 or 535. Let's say, You want use the 570 Driver, it would look this Way:

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-570 nvidia-dkms-570

When it is installed, type again nvidia-smi to check if Your Card is detected. Then to use the Card type sudo prime-select nvidia to use Your Nvidia Graphics.