Eco mode / brightness controls on NVidia GPUs

[seerge]

Notice for users who sometimes(!) can't turn on Eco mode or adjust screen brightness

There is a known issue with the Nvidia Drivers / Windows that occurs if you shutdown or restart a system with dGPU disabled (Eco mode or Optimized mode on battery).

This situation can happen for BOTH Armoury Crate and G-Helper

as it doesn't depend on them in a first place

Scenario to reproduce (for both AC / GH):

1. Set Eco mode and shutdown / start or reboot your computer
2. After booting in Eco set Standard -> brightness controls may not work
3. Try to set Eco mode -> it won't work
4. G-Helper would offer you to restart GPU in Device Manager, after that you will be able to set Eco, AC won't be able to do anything

To prevent this from happening

• For G14 2023 G-Helper by default would try to enable dGPU before each shutdown / restart
• For other devices go to Extra -> Enable GPU on shutdown

Change is live in latest release

P.S. Looks like using this "workaround" also fixes not working GPU fan on some old models (like old G14, G15 or TUFs) who suffer from that!

[joe-700]

Can you implement the feature to re-select the last mode, i.e. if shutdown from eco/optimised it will go back to eco/optimised on reboot?

[seerge]

Optimized will be remembered and act as it always acts on boot - i.e. enable gpu on power / disable on battery.

As for the eco - I have intentionally turned that off, as it may be a bit too invasive given this workaround is enabled by default

[XyKER1]

I'm also having a similar issue on my TUF F15 2022, so I would love to see this workaround enabled for this model too. It's slightly different in that I can't set Eco mode without restarting dGPU, which causes the dGPU to be disabled until I restart Windows (even if I put it back in standard mode, the dGPU doesn't appear in task manager).

[TommyMacpherson]

Hi, Asus tuf A17 ryzen 7 6800h there are no undervolt settings, how to fix it

[seerge]

@TommyMacpherson your device doesn't support undervolting. How is this related to Nvidia brightness controls topic tho ?

[Dante82a]

@seerge I have a computer Asus TUF A15 FA506IV is the year 2022. I recently installed 8Mb in ram and as of this moment the RTX2060 card is disabled. Unfortunately Armory Crate does not have the EcoGPU option on this older version. That's why I can't get the card to activate. The system does not recognize it and through the bios there is no way to activate any parameter. I installed G-helper but it only recognizes the AMD radeon card. I need your help. I can not move forward.

[seerge]

@Dante82a hello, by quickly googling I see that you have a very ancient device from 2020. It never supported GPU disabling (Eco mode) in a first place, so you obviously don't see this switch in Armoury or G-Helper.

If you don't see your GPU in windows device manager - most likely it's some hardware issues. You can try hard-reset or reinstall GPU drivers to see if it helps.

[Dante82a]

@seerge I fear it may be a physical component of the card's boot hardware. Which complicates the solution. I understand that these cards have a bios (rtx2060). In fact there is a utility to update it. Could this be the case? I don't have direct ASUS hardware support nearby and I don't want them to end up damaging the computer. Upgrading to WIN11 might help? Before the Hardreset. Thanks for responding so promptly.

[ColdPopeye]

The same issue seems to be present also on the new rog flow (2023).
Edit:
Tried to reproduce the steps. Set on Eco - reboot.
Once rebooted the change to standard puts the display to 100% brightness and no brightness control possible.
If i change back to Eco in GHelper it works and the brightness goes back to normal and is controllable. (not the same as for G14)

[ColdPopeye]

Yes if I switch to standard before the shutdown/restart is fine. I assume is bios/driver too. If you make the switch available for the Rog Flow X13 I can give it a try. If you need help testing things let me know.

[ColdPopeye]

I think is a different series, I don't see the option with the new version. Or maybe is because of region name.

[seerge]

Sorry, my bad, try this build
GHelper.zip

[ColdPopeye]

Beautiful, thank you. I checked the box and will see how it goes. First reboot seems to work.

[seerge]

Let me know if enabling gpu every time is too invasive or not. As it's possible to consider making this option selected ON by default for all GV302 serie

[cheskyx]

Could you, please, add power profiles which can be set up for selected apps, for example : BLENDER - Turbo, Win desktop - silent etc.

[CodeRunner42]

Any possibility for this option to be brought to other G series devices? I have a 2023 G16 and it has the same problems. It also seems if your device goes to sleep with the iGPU it allows you to switch modes and still change brightness on the iGPU.

Edit: I've tried to reproduce the error while plugged in, it still allows you to change GPU modes back to eco, however brightness controls are still broken on standard.

[CodeRunner42]

Can you replicate scenario explained in main post? If so - is it constant and happens each time?

The scenario can be replicated, only difference is that I can still switch between eco and standard when rebooted with brightness controls working on eco, but not carrying over to standard.

Does shutting down laptop in Standard mode "solve" it?

Yes, full brightness controls are regained once rebooting using standard mode.

Not sure if this would happen with AC as well as I'm dumped it in exchange for a much better experience with GHelper.

[seerge]

That's quite strange, cause I had G16 (both Zephyrus and Strix) and didn't encounter that. What exact model do you have ? I can add it to the list of ones with the "fix" available

[CodeRunner42]

It's a Zephyrus G16 GU603VV-BS91-CB running Win 11 22H2. May be a driver issue between intel UHD and GeForce but I'm none the wiser as they're all up to date and functioning properly. Thanks for the hard work.

[seerge]

I have added your model to the list of supported models, but honestly (given that you don't have problems with disabling enabling Eco) i think it's not your case ...

Check this build

GHelper.zip

[CodeRunner42]

Build works perfectly with first restart. Thanks for your work.

[narker]

I'm encountering a similar issue with my x13 2022 which when I power up the device after letting it sleep in eco mode I find the AMD igpu disabled in device manager (error 22). Then when I enable it I encounter error 31 followed by error 43.

[narker]

would that mean switching to standard mode before shutdown?

[seerge]

Yes, if you do that - and after you don't experience any issues, I can add your model to the list where g-helper can do that for you automatically )

[narker]

That seems to have fixed the problem.

[narker]

The driver issue only happens when the laptop is put to sleep from eco mode. Please add the 2022 x13 to the list with the fix.

[seerge]

GHelper.zip

I have added your model to the list, but please keep in mind, that when laptop turns off in sleep - all apps are suspended by windows, so most probably even g-helper won't turn dGPU on :)

[ChrisG661]

I am also having this issue when my 2023 X13 shuts down while in Eco mode, but instead of using the Enable GPU on shutdown workaround, I only restarted the NVIDIA Display Container LS Service after switching back to Standard mode to gain brightness control as mentioned by AudreyAP in this issue. Maybe this can be another workaround instead of enabling the GPU on shutdown? I do not know if other models would work this way or if any other servies also requires restarting though.

[seerge]

@ChrisG661 I was trying that, but it didn't solve "main" issue, inability to turn on Eco mode again for me (on G14 2023 and G16 2023 where I've tested this)

[MrxSiN]

Would this fix gpu fan not spinning after shutdown with fast startup enable in eco/optimized mode?

[seerge]

@MrxSiN you can try :) if the reason for that thing was rebooting in Eco mode (i.e. with GPU disabled) - then it may help you

[MrxSiN]

Unfortunately, it still not spinning. Still need a restart.

[seerge]

Hello everyone in this thread,

I'm now testing G14 2024, and it seems like it doesn't suffer from this "Shutdown in Eco mode" issue at all.

I'm able to shutdown device in Eco, start over and switch Standard <-->Eco any number of times w/o any issues.

I run latest official Nvidia drivers tho. Can you confirm it's "fixed" now ? or is it only 2024 models

[Sawa-i]

Hi @seerge , It occurs on my system as well.

System - ASUS ROG STRIX G17 ( G713PV ) [ 2023 ] , with RTX 4060.
BIOS - 329
NVIDIA - 31.0.15.3645
AMD - 31.0.14038.8002

PS: Using G-Helper - V0.176.0

[iampereziii]

looking good on my end. Using g14 2024

[iampereziii]

However, I kept it enabled just in case. Do you know @seerge if it has any other advantage keeping it enabled?

[seerge]

@iampereziii i don't think it makes sense to enable GPU every time on shutdown, if 2024 device is not suffering from the described problem in a first place :)

[iampereziii]

just considering if ever sometimes(!) happens hehe

[TommyMacpherson]

My Zephyrus g15 supports voltage reduction, but why doesn’t it support Tuf a17? ср, 7 авг. 2024 г., 12:56 Serge ***@***.***>:

…

@TommyMacpherson <https://github.com/TommyMacpherson> your device doesn't support undervolting. How is this related to Nvidia brightness controls topic tho ? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1042 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BKMBOWHT6AN5NHVR5NRQXS3ZQH4NLAVCNFSM6AAAAAA3KPVPQ6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTAMRWGM2DCNQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Sentry99]

Thanks a lot for sharing the below solution. It worked for me. I Had to install the Nvidia Geforce Driver, and for some reason, it got uninstalled.

"There is a known issue with the Nvidia Drivers / Windows that occurs if you shutdown or restart a system with dGPU disabled (Eco mode or Optimized mode on battery).

This situation can happen for BOTH Armoury Crate and G-Helper
as it doesn't depend on them in a first place

Scenario to reproduce (for both AC / GH):

Set Eco mode and shutdown / start or reboot your computer
After booting in Eco set Standard -> brightness controls may not work
Try to set Eco mode -> it won't work
G-Helper would offer you to restart GPU in Device Manager, after that you will be able to set Eco, AC won't be able to do anything
To prevent this from happening
For G14 2023 G-Helper by default would try to enable dGPU before each shutdown / restart
For other devices go to Extra -> Enable GPU on shutdown
Change is live in latest release

P.S. Looks like using this "workaround" also fixes not working GPU fan on some old models (like old G14, G15 or TUFs) who suffer from that!"

[thecmod]

I am still having the issue that Windows brightness controls are greyed on when in "NVIDIA GPU only" mode (G14 2024, GTX 4070), FN+F7/F8 still changes brightness though. Enabe GPU on shutdown is activated.

Is there any solution so that brightness controls work while on dGPU?

[thecmod]

Any other ideas what might be the problem here?

[seerge]

@thecmod whole purpose of this post - is to make sure that when windows boots, GPU is enabled (i.e. in Standard mode), so Nvidia driver starts properly. Did you try checking Enable GPU on shutdown or just set Standard mode and rebooting ?

[thecmod]

@thecmod whole purpose of this post - is to make sure that when windows boots, GPU is enabled (i.e. in Standard mode), so Nvidia driver starts properly. Did you try checking Enable GPU on shutdown or just set Standard mode and rebooting ?

Enable GPU on shutdown is checked and even if set to "standard", the moment I switch to Nvidia GPU only, brightness controls are greyed out

[seerge]

@thecmod then it looks more like some nvidia driver hiccup. Did you try doing a clean install using DDU ?

[thecmod]

@seerge Yes, I did, no change.
Also, the Nvidia taskbar symbols disappear randomly after the laptop wakes up from sleep, sometimes they reappear. Slight mess.

[joe-700]

Hi,

I reported this issue to ASUS when I first got my machine (G14 2023 - 4080), I had a number of replacements for this issue, they were all the same.

I informed ASUS of the issue; I gave them detailed instructions on how to replicate it, informed them of the G-Helper solution, and let them know that it affected multiple product lines. ASUS engineers were unable to replicate and fix this for me. I used the G-Helper function as a work around for 9 months. I eventually got tiered of the issue and returned mine for a full refund after 9 months of ownership.

I write this because it is a legitimate solution for folks that live in the UK... this is a product line defect, so anyone affected can request a refund or replacement from the merchant that sold you the laptop. This is covered by the 'Sale of Goods Act 1979' and the 'Consumer Rights Act 2015'. I believe that you can request a refund from up to 2 years from the sale, regardless of the returns and refund policy of the merchant. Its a legal right, but you may have to jump through hoops to get some vendors to honour it, unfortunately.

I don't think as consumers we should be accepting this from ASUS, not taking anything away from Serge or the G-Helper app, I loved using and contributing to the software and I would have used it even if it was not required to fix this issue; fantastic software Serge.

If we all returned our laptops they would at least have some incentive to fix this issue and do proper testing in the first place.