Need to completely turn off Nvidia card to avoid thermal shutdown

Installing Zorin OS
1

I know this issue well on other distros. I have to install the acpi-call-dkms package to allow me to completely turn OFF my Nvidia card on my old Samsung RF711 laptop with Optimus graphics. If I don't, the GPU stays on and generates extra heat even if it's not being used.

I tried installing Zorin but could not see a way to do the above. I did run sudo apt-get update and was about to try the package install, but the @#$% thing shut down due to overheating.

I've used my MX Linux system to build "live" USB systems, but that only works for MX or Anti-X distros. If I do this, I can do the above install on the "live" environment and turn off the graphics card before doing the install.

Surely there's a way to do this in the Zorin installer?

Thanks so much in advance -- I'd really like to give Zorin a try!

2

You could try to start Zorin in safe graphics mode.
Can't you disable nvidia graphics in your BIOS? This would be easier if you don't want to use it.

3

Welcome to the Forum!

You could download the Package manually from here:
https://pkgs.org/download/acpi-call-dkms

Take the Version from Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy for amd64:

Bildschirmfoto vom 2025-06-30 11-54-59
Bildschirmfoto vom 2025-06-30 11-54-59571×248 27.6 KB

and then install it offline.

4

Thanks, good idea, but that site doesn't actually appear to let me download the .deb file. I'm not running Ubuntu, maybe that's why? Or maybe I don't understand the site!

Every time I click on a link that I would think does a download, it just takes me to a new web page. (???)

@Forpli -- thanks, but if I could do that in my BIOS, I woulda done that long ago. And yes, I tried safe graphics mode. That still doesn't turn OFF the Nvidia GPU. That's the reason for the acpi-call-dkms package, it give you the tools to do what needs to be done.

5

My idea was you start in safe graphics mode and then install in terminal the acpi call dkms package (sudo apt install acpi-call-dkms) and make your settings.

Edit:
Sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you have already installed Zorin.

For your old hardware Zorin lite would be better, especially when you have problems with overheating.

6

Go to this Side:

And there You can download it:
Bildschirmfoto vom 2025-06-30 16-24-16

7

If your laptop is old enough, it might be worth looking at changing the thermal paste in the device itself. That stuff doesn't last forever, and usually around the 5 year mark on a desktop would be worth looking at replacing it. Laptops I would assume would be more frequent given the restrictions to everything.

3 Likes
8

I wish! I did use @Ponce-De-Leon 's idea of downloading the acpi-call-dkms .deb file. I couldn't put it on the Zorin installation USB stick (write-protected), but I did put it in an attached backup SSD.

One of the things I realized was heating up the box during the startup was checking the MD5 checksums, so I cancelled that.

For whatever reason, when I try starting up in "safe graphics" mode, it churns for a while, then I get a "Catch 22" prompt to remove the installation media and press Enter. It doesn't matter whether I remove the USB stick or not, once I press Enter, it shuts down.

If I just use the first menu option, Zorin-to-try comes up (nice!) and I can connect to my WiFi, point to the backup .deb file and install it. I then have to do the sudo modprobe thing to enable it, and run the command to turn off the GPU. That sets up the next "Catch-22". Now, when I fire up the installer, it gets to a point and the screen fills with messages about timeout for the nouveau driver (SHEESH!), then shuts down.

The laptop sits atop a pretty good cooling pad but it's not enough.

Yes, I know, @applecheeks37 . Probably what really needs to be done. I have done it at least once, probably twice, before, and I am always afraid of screwing something up when I do it. The last time I did it, when I thought I had put everything back together, I had a screw left over from somewhere. :frowning: I've got some super thermal paste (last time I used thermal sheet) and a new fan (not that the old one's bad, I just figured I should try replacing it; this laptop chipset does not allow things like CPU undervolting and fan speed control, BTW). I've been putting this off for some time now.

Maybe I can take my laptop into a cold storage room and install Zorin. :smile:

9

But shouldn't You be able to turn off Your Graphics Card in the BIOS? It doesn't have to mean directly ''turn Graphics off''. It can be an Option where You can set up the Graphics Output and You only have the Options for IGP or a PCIe or something similar.

Could You say what Hardware Spec You have? I mean CPU, GPU, RAM etc.?

10

Nope, nope, nope. Ain't there. Hardware (and software) specs can be seen here (inxi -Fxxxrza):

System: Kernel: 6.1.0-37-amd64 [6.1.140-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash resume=UUID=<filter> resume_offset=35203072 i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 i915.lvds_downclock=1 drm.vblankoffdelay=1 zswap.enabled=1 zswap.compressor=zstd zswap.zpool=zsmalloc video=VGA-1 :d Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto September 15 2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) Machine: Type: Laptop System: SAMSUNG product: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required> Mobo: SAMSUNG model: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX serial: <superuser required> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 10HX.M034.20110426.SSH date: 04/26/2011 Battery: ID-1: BAT1 charge: 34.2 Wh (77.0%) condition: 44.4/48.8 Wh (90.9%) volts: 10.6 min: 11.1 model: SAMSUNG Electronics type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: not charging Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech ERGO M575 Trackball serial: <filter> charge: 80% rechargeable: yes status: discharging CPU: Info: model: Intel Core i7-2630QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge gen: core 2 level: v2 built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6 model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB Speed (MHz): avg: 878 high: 1200 min/max: 800/2900 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 839 2: 799 3: 800 4: 798 5: 798 6: 1200 7: 900 8: 893 bogomips: 31928 Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx Vulnerabilities: Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected Type: retbleed status: Not affected Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected Type: srbds status: Not affected Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected Graphics: Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics vendor: Samsung Co driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 code: Sandybridge process: Intel 32nm built: 2011 ports: active: LVDS-1,VGA-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0116 class-ID: 0300 Device-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 540M] vendor: Samsung Co driver: N/A alternate: nouveau non-free: series: 390.xx+ status: legacy-active (EOL~late 2022) arch: Fermi code: GF1xx process: 40/28nm built: 2010-16 pcie: speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 6 speed: 64 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0df4 class-ID: 0302 Device-3: Silicon Motion WebCam SCB-1100N type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-1.1:3 chip-ID: 2232:1008 class-ID: 0e02 Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: intel dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1600x2820 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 424x747mm (16.69x29.41") s-diag: 859mm (33.82") Monitor-1: LVDS-1 mapped: LVDS1 pos: primary,bottom-l model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x1733 built: 2012 res: 1600x900 hz: 60 dpi: 104 gamma: 1.2 size: 390x220mm (15.35x8.66") diag: 448mm (17.6") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1600x900 Monitor-2: VGA-1 mapped: VGA1 pos: top-right model: Dell P2214H serial: <filter> built: 2015 res: 1080x1920 hz: 60 dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 size: 270x480mm (10.63x18.9") diag: 547mm (21.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400 API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) direct-render: Yes Audio: Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio vendor: Samsung Co 6 driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 3-1:2 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8087:1024 chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0300 class-ID: 0403 serial: <filter> Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 6 speed: 64 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0bea class-ID: 0403 Device-3: Intel USB2.0 Device type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid Device-4: AKAI MPKmini2 type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 3-2.2:4 chip-ID: 2011:0715 class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter> API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-37-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl Network: Device-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Askey driver: wl v: kernel modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4727 class-ID: 0280 IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Samsung Co driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: b000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> Drives: Local Storage: total: 2.73 TiB used: 134.5 GiB (4.8%) SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: BUP Slim BK size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0109 scheme: GPT Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 273.44 GiB size: 268.08 GiB (98.04%) used: 49.35 GiB (18.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7 Swap: Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 10.67 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0 C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A Repos: Packages: 2609 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2595 libs: 1406 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 14 No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware 2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 1: deb http://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free Info: Processes: 269 Uptime: 4h 57m wakeups: 15 Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 3.33 GiB (43.4%) Init: SysVinit v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26 Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

11

Clear the top two shelves of your fridge, remove the top shelf so you have room to open the laptop, set it in there, get the install started, then quickly shut the fridge door for half an hour. <_<

(Don't do this; it's a terrible idea. <_<)

1 Like
12

Hahaha! No, I actually DO have a cold storage room (wine cellar) that I can use, but its WiFi access sucks due to where it's located.

I'd be okay, I think, if I could get beyond whatever the installer is trying to do with the nouveau driver, to tell the installer to fuggeddaboutit and move on.

And @Forpli -- according to the current Zorin web site, the Lite version is being put out to pasture, saying the improvements in Core and above make it as light as Lite. And anyway, trying to install the Lite version isn't going to change the issue at hand. But thanks for your thoughts!!!

Are there any developers lurking on this forum who might be able to address the issue with the nouveau driver stuff during install?

13

Sadly, the devs (there are only two, the Zorin brothers) aren't very active on the forum. If you paid for Zorin Pro, it does come with installation support directly with them, but obviously I don't encourage that if you haven't paid--spending money without a guarantee of a fix doesn't make sense. If you're really open to trying the cold storage room, you can turn off the download updates during install option, install from USB, take any necessary steps to disable the Nvidia card (I believe you said above that you got the package onto a separate USB drive), and then leave the cellar and run updates.

I agree that that shouldn't be necessary, but this is kind of an edge case that I don't really blame Zorin not having a tool on hand for. <_<

1 Like
14

Released in 2011.

I would just pull the card out.

1 Like
15

If I take up @applecheeks37 's suggestion to re-do the thermal paste (and replace the fan), this would be an appropriate time to try this. I really don't like opening up the box, however. Not sure it's worth paying a computer shoppe to do it either but it might be another option.

Thanks all.

16

So, this doesn't run with Zorin?

17

Sorry, I don't understand the question. (??) Could you please re-state it for a 5 year old? :slight_smile:

18

The Quote shows MX Linux is the System and not Zorin. And that is the Reason why I asked my Question. I thought, You have Zorin Core installed on the Laptop but You aren't be able to install the Package. That would affect the Download for the File, too. Because what I have posted is for Ubuntu 22.04 and not for Debian 12.

19

Ah. No, the problem is, as it stands right now, I cannot install Zorin at all, any flavor. I'm just using my working MX Linux system to post in this forum.

I might try fiddling with the "live" Zorin environment to see if doing things like blacklisting nouveau would let me do the install. Otherwise, it's down to brass tacks and (ugh!) opening up the box and doing some thermal maintenance as mentioned above.

20

You could first simply clean up a bit. To remove Dust and Dirt - especially from Fan and Vents - maybe could be enough. And if that shouldn't be enought, You could go the Way to replace the Thermal Paste.