NVIDIA have put out a new Linux beta driver with support for 'G-SYNC Compatible monitors'

Do you think the problem will be resolved in Xserver? how does gsync work under wayland? better?

That's the trillion dollar question. Will Free/G-Sync work better in Wayland in theory? Will it even work at all? It currently doesn't work though.

I think the real problem is that 99% of games run through xwayland which still has some serious synchronisation issues even on fixed refresh rate displays.

Would almost make you think that fixing X to work better with gsync/freesync tech would be the easier approach.

I guess its going to be one of those things Windows 10 will hold over Linux, being able to seamlessly use these adaptive sync tech in any display mode with any setup without issue. (I've tested this under Win10 btw, yes it works seamlessly)


Last edited by TheRiddick on 31 Jan 2019 at 11:24 am UTC

Yes seems better to use nvidia-settings for switching modes, I was thinking of doing that.

How do you determine when to run freesync or not? are you simply turning it on in your monitor settings when needed? that would be painful for me to do! I'd just use a global env variable and flip it on and off when needed.

PS. I'm a terrible coder, basically whenever I try to do coding it comes out looking like some caveman wall paintings compared to the next persons..lol

Well since everything is enabled from nvidia settings and i pass {AllowGSYNCCompatible=On} for non compatible displays on my script, it will be automatically enabled if i disable all other monitors. I can see it with the green G-SYNC appearing on the screen.

Maybe just make a environmental variable so that when its 1 or true it just disables everything but primary screen and enables gsync for you etc... Like ItJustWorksKinda = 1, then it switches off secondary displays and enables gsync, do it via alt-f2.

Maybe just make a environmental variable so that when its 1 or true it just disables everything but primary screen and enables gsync for you etc... Like ItJustWorksKinda = 1, then it switches off secondary displays and enables gsync, do it via alt-f2.

same goal with different code pretty much :)
I find my current one easy enough specially if its binded to my keyboard macro key, i can switch it even while gaming, it will turn it off once second monitor comes online and press same button again and it turns freesync on when second monitor will be disabled :)

Yeah, I haven't setup a monitor switching thingo key binding yet, that's even easier really.

I was hoping we'd get this feature, although I didn't expect it so soon. The good thing about it is that it's easy to turn on and off if you only want it on for games.

Do you think the problem will be resolved in Xserver? how does gsync work under wayland? better?

That's the trillion dollar question. Will Free/G-Sync work better in Wayland in theory? Will it even work at all? It currently doesn't work though.

Sort of moot given that I seem to remember NVidia doesn't work with Wayland.

Sort of moot given that I seem to remember NVidia doesn't work with Wayland.

I'm not a technical guy and I don't follow this subject closely, but I think it works via EGLStreams at least in last iterations of GNOME/Mutter and the code is currently under review for Plasma/KWin (source for Plasma/KWin. :)


Last edited by riusma on 31 Jan 2019 at 6:20 pm UTC

Sort of moot given that I seem to remember NVidia doesn't work with Wayland.

I'm not a technical guy and I don't follow this subject closely, but I think it works via EGLStreams at least in last iterations of GNOME/Mutter and the code is currently under review for Plasma/KWin (source for Plasma/KWin. :)

Good to hear.

Ahh... good ol' G-Sync. :(
Disabling secondary monitors is unacceptable, at least to me. I do not expect Xorg to ever be fixed, all Linux hopes for the adaptive sync future currently lies with Wayland. But when? Or even if... :S:

Hey,

For all the people wondering, what disables gsync, check the file you have here:
$ ls /usr/share/nvidia/nvidia-application-profiles-*-rc
/usr/share/nvidia/nvidia-application-profiles-415.25-rc

And grep gsync from it, to see the nvidia bundled application blacklist
$ grep GSYNC /usr/share/nvidia/nvidia-application-profiles-415.25-rc
          "name" : "No GSYNC/OSD",
              "key"   : "GLGSYNCAllowed",
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "cinnamon" },               "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "compiz" },                 "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "compton" },                "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "enlightenment" },          "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "gnome-shell" },            "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "kscreenlocker_greet" },    "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "kwin" },                   "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "kwin_x11" },               "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "plasmashell" },            "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "ksplashqml" },             "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "systemsettings5" },        "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "muffin" },                 "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "dso",      "matches" : "libmutter" },              "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "steam" },                  "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },
        { "pattern" : { "feature" : "procname", "matches" : "steamcompmgr" },           "profile" : "No GSYNC/OSD" },

Basically you dont want those apps to be synced anyway.
But since X11 does not have exclusive fullscreen, you can only enjoy the game (or video: mpv player, youtube from browser) while fullscreen on a single monitor.

Using a macro for switching second display off during gaming, is currently the best way to switch between gsynced game and dual screen.

My display switch script:

Spoiler, click me

# Script to switch second monitor off or back on again
# sterky was here...

# Check if second display (DP-2) is enabled
check=$(nvidia-settings -q dpys | grep DP-2 | grep enabled)

# Switch display config
if [ -z "$check" ]; then
# If disabled - notify and enable second screen
nvidia-settings --assign CurrentMetaMode="DP-4: 2560x1440_165 +0+0, DP-2: 2560x1440_165 +2560+0"
notify-send "Dualscreen - enabled" -t 4000 -i messagebox_info
else
# If enabled - notify and disable second screen
nvidia-settings --assign CurrentMetaMode="DP-4: 2560x1440_165 +0+0"
notify-send "Dualscreen - disabled" -t 4000 -i messagebox_info
fi

And anybody waiting for a "fix", check those links from 2012
https://mail.gnome.org/archives/wm-spec-list/2012-October/msg00001.html
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTIxNDg