GPU Drivers baked into unRaid


Recommended Posts

Hello, would it be possible to bake in Nvidia and AMD GPU drivers directly into unRaid? Or maybe an easy way of activating the drivers? The folks over at LinuxServer are doing an amazing job with their Plugin (Which I do use) but it would be really nice if you could provide this out of the box, or an easy driver store to install from. The unRaid nvidia plugin is pretty popular, I am sure I am not the only one wishing for this. Of course I have no clue what kind of licensing this would require :(

  • Like 2
Link to comment

If unraid adds driver support for graphics cards, then that would mean that I wouldn't have to run a VM 24x7 for no reason. Currently I have to run a VM 24x7 just to get my graphics cards to enter low power mode. I only have need for a VM a couple dozen hours a month. I hope LimeTech does add Graphics driver support soon.

Link to comment
On 12/1/2019 at 6:09 AM, Koshy said:

If unraid adds driver support for graphics cards, then that would mean that I wouldn't have to run a VM 24x7 for no reason. Currently I have to run a VM 24x7 just to get my graphics cards to enter low power mode. I only have need for a VM a couple dozen hours a month. I hope LimeTech does add Graphics driver support soon.

I'm curious what graphics card you're running. My experience recently has been that GPUs are in a lower power state before my VMs start. I did notice that I could squeeze a single extra watt of savings out of my AMD cards if I used the drivers that turn off the fan and display but it was still only 1 watt.

Link to comment
8 hours ago, scorcho99 said:

I'm curious what graphics card you're running. My experience recently has been that GPUs are in a lower power state before my VMs start. I did notice that I could squeeze a single extra watt of savings out of my AMD cards if I used the drivers that turn off the fan and display but it was still only 1 watt.

I'm running a RTX 2060. There is about a 30 watt increase in power draw when the VM is not running. 

Link to comment
On 12/5/2019 at 3:12 AM, Koshy said:

I'm running a RTX 2060. There is about a 30 watt increase in power draw when the VM is not running. 

Try switching machine type. I noticed if shutting down Q35 VM = GPU fans still spinning but shutting down i440fx VM = GPU fans stop. That suggests at least a difference in power draw when VM is not running between the 2 machine types.

Link to comment
On 12/8/2019 at 4:57 AM, testdasi said:

Try switching machine type. I noticed if shutting down Q35 VM = GPU fans still spinning but shutting down i440fx VM = GPU fans stop. That suggests at least a difference in power draw when VM is not running between the 2 machine types.

Should I try this on a new VM? Can changing the Machine attribute form Q35 to i440fx screw up an existing VM? And can I change it back to Q35 later if I choose to do so?

Link to comment
34 minutes ago, Koshy said:

Should I try this on a new VM? Can changing the Machine attribute form Q35 to i440fx screw up an existing VM? And can I change it back to Q35 later if I choose to do so?

Always create a new VM template when changing machine type (i440fx is based on PCI and Q35 is based on PCIe, the GUI cannot deal with such drastic changes).

 

You can always have 2 VM templates using the same hardware (and vdisk) and switch between them, in a sense, "change it back".

From my experience, it is only 10-15s longer initial boot after changing machine type.

However, note that frequent switching may cause Windows to require reactivation.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
On 12/7/2019 at 6:27 PM, testdasi said:

Try switching machine type. I noticed if shutting down Q35 VM = GPU fans still spinning but shutting down i440fx VM = GPU fans stop. That suggests at least a difference in power draw when VM is not running between the 2 machine types.

Interesting, I always use i440fx.

 

I noticed today that my oldest card a HD3450 uses ~8watts before the VM starts. It goes up when Windows is running in a VM using it, but unlike other cards...when I shut it down the card continues to use extra power.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...
On 12/7/2019 at 2:15 PM, Squid said:

And if / when unRaid adds built-in GPU drivers for nVidia / AMD, then we'll see updates to the OS every other day as people will begin screaming why doesn't unRaid have the latest version that was released an hour ago?

You're right, I follow the  nVidia unRaid thread... :(  But still it would be nice to have out of the box.

Link to comment

Limetech has already provided a system for extending the base OS which is being used as intended to provide users with a wide variety of different use cases flexibility in their setups to do what they need to do with their box.

 

As squid alluded to, the support requirements, stability considerations, complexity this adds to development and QA, and the fact that the solution already exists for the users that want and need this feature in exchange for a modest and occasional improvement in convenience for these users alone leads me to believe that this is probably not the best idea.

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...

Please add GPU drivers to unraid builds.  Doesn't Limetech already do this for some NICs, SAS controllers, etc?  If so, I see no reason why GPU drivers (specifically for Nvidia in my case) shouldn't be added as well.

 

There's no need to keep up to date with the latest driver, unless there are serious bugs/exploits that need to be patched, just like with any other driver Unraid uses. 

 

I really don't get all the "sky is falling" negativity surrounding this request.  The work involved for Limetech to include these drivers is far less than for the Linuxserver.io team (and a huge thanks to each of them for that effort!) to add them after the fact.

 

Edited by brainbone
  • Like 1
Link to comment
4 hours ago, BRiT said:

I'd rather Limetech focus their limited development efforts and time on NAS functions and features.

 

Sure, if they had unlimited time then include everything. Alas, that's not reality.

That could be said about any feature request.  You may not find it useful, but many others would. 

 

For this specific feature, I think some of you may be conflating the burden for Linuxserver.io to do each Unraid Nvidia release with what it would be for Limetech.   The burden on Limetech would be many orders of magnitude less, which is why this feature would be beneficial. 

Edited by brainbone
  • Like 1
Link to comment
1 hour ago, BRiT said:

I am not confusing anything. I'd rather even just 5 minutes of LimeTech time be spent on genuine NAS functions and features than on any and all GPU-related work.

Yeah, let's just get rid of docker, VMs, the whole plugin system ... all that stuff that's not "genuine NAS", whatever that means.

Edited by brainbone
  • Like 1
Link to comment

As I have said in the past, we should have gotten multiple array support long before any and all of those. I'd gladly have traded the order of features added to move multiple array support earlier.

 

Stop being silly goose, I am not proposing to use a time machine to change the past nor to remove features, just proposing to focus on NAS features. Once its added then go for the fringe cases.

Link to comment
9 minutes ago, BRiT said:

focus on NAS features. Once its added then go for the fringe cases.

But I currently have no use for multiple array support.  I'd much rather have HA and replication as core features.

 

But above that, I'd like GPU drivers baked in and officially supported.

 

May I suggest cheering in the multiple array thread instead of jeering in the GPU one?

Edited by brainbone
  • Like 2
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.