Ubuntu 16.04 using Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.8, 256 bits) instead of intel or nvidia

Question

Just started using Ubuntu 16.04 and for the first while everything was great. I could switch between my two graphic cards no problem. But after a regular update the graphics are being reported as Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.8, 256 bits)

I've tried following some answers on this site (for earlier versions of Ubuntu) about how to get rid of Gallium but to no avail.

Any help on this matter will be appreciated.

Solution 1

That would seem to indicate that you are now using the open source noveau drivers for your NVidia card. You need to go to the Additional Drivers tab under Software & Updates in System Settings, and select the proprietary NVidia drivers to use.

Solution 2

I had the same problem with XPS13 ON INTEL HD 620 graphic card.

I tried several options, the only thing which worked was to upgrade kernel to 4.9. now the system uses the hardware gpu instead of cpu. You also might see the cpu usage will drop.

Here is the link to upgrade to 4.9 kernel version http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2016/12/install-linux-kernel-4-9-ubuntu-linux-mint/

Comments

[Student95]

thanks for the response dobey. Under additional drivers in software & updates all drivers are open source none proprietary. My options are nvidia 361, 364, 358, 367, or x.org x server Nouveau diaplay driver

[dobey]

NVidia 3xx are all proprietary drivers. Noveau is the open source driver.

[David Foerster]

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! I recommend editing this answer to expand it with specific details about how to do this. (See also How do I write a good answer? for general advice about what sorts of answers are considered most valuable on AskUbuntu.)